Jordan

Jordan shares borders with Israel and the West Bank, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, and has a small stretch of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba. Population in 2009 was estimated at 6.3 million. According the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan ranks 86 out of 179. The Index's Gender-related Development Index (GDI) ranks Jordan as 79. The GDI ranking translates into a life expectancy of 73.8 years for Jordanian women and a female adult literacy rate of 87 percent, with a compelling 99 percent female youth literacy rate. At the education level, the primary enrollment ratio for females is 96 percent, the secondary enrollment ratio is 88 percent, and the tertiary enrollment ratio is 40 percent.

In recent decades, ...