Politics of Jordan

Arab League Member State of the Arab League

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(18th Parliament)
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  • Judiciary of Jordan
    • The Constitutional Court
    President: Taher Hikmat
    • The Cassation Court
    President: Mohammad Ghazo
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Local government
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Jordan is divided into twelve historical regions (almanatiq altaarikhia), further subdivided into districts (liwa), and often into sub-districts (qada).[1]

1994 reform

In 1994, four new governorates were created as part of the administrative divisions system of the Ministry of Interior: Jerash, Ajloun, Madaba and Aqaba. Jerash Governorate and Ajloun Governorate were split from Irbid Governorate, Madaba Governorate was split from Amman Governorate and Aqaba Governorate was split from Ma'an Governorate.[1]

Geographical regions vs. metropolitan areas

Geographically, the governorates of Jordan are located in one of three regions (aqalim): the North Region, Central Region and the South Region. The three geographical regions are not distributed by area or populations, but rather by geographical connectivity and distance among the population centres. The South Region is separated from the Central Region by the Mountains of Moab in Karak Governorate. The population centres of the Central and North Region are separated geographically by the mountains of Jerash Governorate.

Socially, the population centres of Amman, Salt, Zarqa and Madaba form together one large metropolitan area in which business interactions in these cities are under the influence of Amman, while the cities of Jerash, Ajloun, and Mafraq are mostly under the influence of the city of Irbid.

The 12 governorates

Map of the governorates of Jordan
Governorates of Jordan
Governorate Area[2] (km2) Population (2022)[3] Density[2] Annual Change (%) Capital
North Region
1 Irbid 1,572 2,050,300 1304/km2 +4.7% Irbid
2 Ajloun 420 204,000 485.7/km2 +3.19% Ajloun
3 Jerash 410 274,500 669.5/km2 +3.42% Jerash
4 Mafraq 26,551 637,000 23.99/km2 +5.72% Mafraq
Central Region
5 Balqa 1,120 569,500 508.5/km2 +2.93% Salt
6 Amman 7,579 4,642,000 612.5/km2 +5.18% Amman
7 Zarqa 4,761 1,581,000 332.1/km2 +4.3% Zarqa
8 Madaba 940 219,100 233.1/km2 +3.07% Madaba
South Region
9 Karak 3,495 366,700 104.9/km2 +3.45% Al Karak
10 Tafilah 2,209 111,500 50.48/km2 +2.3% Tafilah
11 Ma'an 32,832 183,500 5.589/km2 +3.94% Ma'an
12 Aqaba 6,905 217,900 31.56/km2 +4.49% Aqaba
HK of Jordan: (total) 88,794 11,057,000 124.5/km2 +4.58% Amman

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Annex B: Analysis of the municipal sector" (PDF). Third Tourism Development Project, Secondary Cities Revitalization Study. Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 24 May 2005. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Estimated Population of the Kingdom, Area (Km2) and Population Density by Governorate, at End-year 2012" (PDF). Department of Statistics - Jordan. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Estimated Population of the Kingdom by Urban* and Rural, at End-year 2012" (PDF). Department of Statistics - Jordan. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
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