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The Jordan Company Lp Business Information, Profile, and History

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History of The Jordan Company Lp

The Jordan Company LP is a New York City-based private investment firm. Although formed in the 1980s and a practitioner of leveraged buyouts, TJC has never adopted the corporate raider approach of that era, selling assets and slashing costs as a way to realize a quick profit, however harmful to the long-term health of the acquisition. Instead, the management team, led by partners John "Jay" Jordan and David Zalaznick, prides itself on being "patient money" and taking steps to insure an acquired company is positioned for future growth. TJC targets well-run companies, enlisting management as partners by offering an equity stake in the business. TJC also makes sure the company is not overburdened with debt, then provides the capital necessary for internal growth and acquisitions. All told, TJC has completed approximately 100 major acquisitions, supplemented by the purchase of another 200 companies serving as tuck-ins. Middle market companies, worth from $50 million to $1 billion, are TJC's primary interest. The current slate of companies are involved in such industries as women's swimwear, home healthcare mobility products, electric motors and gearboxes, lubrication pumps, precision metal stamping, property and casual insurance, outsourced direct marketing, maritime containers, and private post-secondary education. A separate company, Jordan Industries, concentrates on smaller companies, owning about 20, and is essentially run by the same management team at TJC. Jordan and Zalaznick also make investments in Europe through a fund, JZ Equity Partners plc.

Jordan and Zalaznick Partner in the 1970s

The more senior of TJC's founding partners was Jay Jordan. He grew up in Kansas City and attended Pembroke Country Day School, where, according to Forbes, he dreamed of buying companies. He then earned a degree in business administration at the University of Norte Dame and took a job in the trust department at First National Bank of Kansas City, working as a stock specialist. There he met another Norte Dame alumnus, G. Robert Fisher, who helped him put together an investment group which bought stock in a trucking outfit for $3 a share and later sold it at $67 a share, reaping a hefty profit. Jordan now moved to New York where in 1972 he enrolled in the Columbia Business School to earn an MBA. However, he would never complete his degree, as he became increasingly involved at Carl Marks & Co., a bond firm where he had originally taken part-time work. At Carl Marks, Jordan carved a niche for himself as a venture capitalist at a time when few Wall Street firms operated mergers and acquisitions departments. By employing typical real estate financing techniques, he became a pioneer in the leveraged buyout. Over the course of the 1970s, he acquired a number of small companies for Carl Marks Capital, including PCI Group Inc. and Pressed Steel Tank. He was joined in 1980 by Zalaznick. Born in 1954, Zalaznick earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1976, followed by an MBA from Columbia in 1978. He then went to work as an associate in investment banking at Merrill Lynch White Weld Capital Markets Group before becoming a vice-president at Carl Marks.

In 1982, Jordan elected to strike out on his own, forming The Jordan Company, and taking with him Zalaznick as well as interests in 20 buyouts he accomplished at Carl Marks. TJC began searching out little heralded companies in the heartland of the United States, ones that were profitable yet could be acquired inexpensively. Jordan once told the Chicago Tribune," We're masters of the mundane, the prosaic. ... We look for old-line, historically profitable, well-managed companies that have a market niche, a proprietary product that's withstood the test of time where we can minimize our business risk." Many of those companies were family owned, launched in the years after World War II, and were now facing succession issues. To assuage fears that the New York LBO firm would strip the business of assets and fire employees, TJC made a point of keeping younger management talent and motivating them through the offer of equity stakes. Just as important was Jordan's willingness to personally close a deal. According to a competitor quoted by Forbes in a 1986 profile, "Jay comes in. His suits are wrinkled, and they can't help but like the guy. With Jay it's not really a financial transaction. The essence of Jay is that he knows what makes people tick. He doesn't play an adversarial game."

TJC was also selective about the companies it sought to buy. According to Forbes, Jordan, Zalaznick, and their associates considered about 500 annual prospects presented to them by a network of business brokers. About 100 warranted further research, and about half of those were paid a visit. In the end, TJC acquired four or five of these candidates. An early success story for the firm was the $22.5 million purchase in 1982 of Piece Goods Shops, a family-owned North Carolina-based chain of 90 home-sewing stores. After adding another 40 stores and paying off the debt taken on to make the acquisition, TJC sold the business for $65 million, representing a tidy profit on the $1 million cash TJC laid out originally.

By 1988, TJC owned controlling interests in 30 companies. As the cost of acquiring the types of companies TJC targeted began to increase, however, the firm began to diversify somewhat. In 1986, it moved into real estate and money management through the acquisition of Penn Square Management Corp., a Reading, Pennsylvania-based real estate firm that ran the $200 million Penn Square Mutual Fund. Jordan and Zalaznick also looked overseas, setting up JZ Equity Partners in 1987 and raising a pool of investment money on the London Stock Exchange.

Late 1980s Creation of Jordan Industries

Several of the companies TJC had acquired in the first six years were not achieving the kind of growth rate management had hoped for, however. Jordan believed they needed to make some strategic acquisitions in order to boost their performance, but he and Zalaznick were already stretched too thin. Thus, he formed Jordan Industries, a holding company to house six of the companies. He also enlisted the help of Thomas H. Quinn, a former roommate and fellow member of the football team at Notre Dame. Quinn had 15 years of experience at American Hospital Supply Corporation, rising to the rank of Group Vice-President, and stayed on when the company was acquired by Baxter Travenol Laboratories Inc. in 1985. He welcomed the opportunity to head Jordan Industries, telling Venture magazine in February 1989 that he had been "a highfalutin hired hand for a long time," adding, "I wanted to build something for myself." The headquarters for the company was located in Deerfield, Illinois, a Chicago suburb where Quinn lived. In some sense, this new conglomerate was as diverse as many of the old ones, which had proven inefficient and bloated and fell out of favor with businessmen and investors. Jordan Industries was involved in such far flung industries as Venetian blinds and plastic pipe products. However, the operation was kept lean and retained an entrepreneurial spirit. In a matter of months, the company acquired seven more companies. The main benefit of putting this baker's dozen of companies together on the same balance sheet was that Jordan Industries was able to raise additional capital at better terms, thereby allowing the parts to command the financial power of the whole to make acquisitions and achieve the kind of growth that eluded them as standalone operations.

TJC and Jordan Industries shared some of the same management team, with Jordan serving as managing partner of the one and chairman of the board of the other, while Zalaznick and Quinn were sometimes named officers to new acquisitions. As a result, the two companies were often confused for one another. As they grew into the 1990s, however, the two staked out their own territories. TJC tended to focus on better-known consumer brands and franchised food operations, while Jordan Industries concentrated on products with industrial or business applications.

One of the largest acquisitions TJC completed during its first decade was American Safety Razor Company, which was bought for $140 million in cash in 1989. The Virginia-based company made shaving blades and industrial/surgical blades for the global market, controlling such tradenames as Personna, Gem, and Flicker. It was also a major custom bar soap manufacturer through a Dayton, Ohio-based subsidiary, Hewitt Soap Subsidiary.

In the early 1990s, TJC enjoyed a number of successes. It scored a hit with an investment in Georgia-based Carmike Cinemas Inc., which enjoyed success in fielding movie screens in second-tier cities, mostly in the South. In 1991, TJC became involved in the candy industry, acquiring Fannie May Candy Shops Inc. and its manufacturing branch, Archibald candy. A year later, the business was bolstered with the acquisition of Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, thereby merging two of America's oldest candy chains. Fannie May was founded in 1915 and Fanny Farmer in 1919. TJC entered the fast food business in 1994, forming National Restaurant Enterprises Inc. to become a Burger King franchisee. It teamed up with Larry Jaro, who owned 11 Chicago Burger King restaurants, and Bill Osborne, who owned another three stores. Former Burger King executive Gary Hubert was then recruited to help run National Restaurant Enterprises. Within three months, the new company purchased 68 Chicago stores from Burger King, as well as 14 units in the West, and bought another 29 Chicago-area stores from several franchisees. As a result, National Restaurant Enterprises was the third-largest Burger King franchisee. Doing business as AmeriKing, the company topped the 200-unit mark in 1997, and by the end of the decade approached the 400 level, with restaurants located in 12 states, ultimately emerging as Burger King's largest franchisee.

By the end of 1995, the TJC stable of companies combined for sales in excess of $500 million, drawn from such diverse products and services as specialty advertising products, watches, pressure-sensitive labels, electronic hardware, crystal and glassware, bicycle reflectors, security locks, electronics connectors and switches, precision machined parts, religious musical recordings, and Bibles. One of the major deals engineered by TJC in the second half of the 1990s was the $240 million LBO of sports apparel manufacturer Winning Ways Inc. in 1996. The deal had been originally broached nearly a decade earlier, a clear reflection of the long-term approach Jordan and his associates took in doing business. Founded in 1974 by chairman Bob Wolff, Winning Ways started out designing and selling tennis warmup suits. It expanded into other sportswear in 1979 when it signed a licensing agreement with Wilson Sporting Goods Co., selling the apparel in Sears stores. Winning Ways then scored a major success in 1985 with the creation of its GEAR for Sports division, selling activewear featuring school graphics in the college bookstore market. Annual sales grew to around $185 million when TJC acquired the company. As was the case with previous LBOs, Winning Ways' management team was kept on and received equity stakes in the business.

According to Venture Capital Journal, TJC invested some $600 million from 1997 to 2001, "but had to slough off approximately $125 million more on other equity sponsors because of capital constraints. Such frustrations helped lead the firm toward the realization that it needed to up its own ante." In 2002, the firm launched its first private equity fund, although in truth Jordan and Zalaznick had experience in this area through JZ Equity Partners. Helping to attract investors in the new $1.5 billion fund, named The Resolute Fund, was Greenwich, Connecticut-based Atlantic-Pacific Capital Inc. serving as placement agent. The fund came at a time when the economy was struggling, and it was difficult to raise capital for further acquisitions. Despite less than ideal conditions, the fund met its target, due in large measure to the firm's 20-year reputation for making smart acquisitions and building value.

Challenges in the 2000s

Jordan Industries did not fare as well during the early 2000s, dependent as it was on high-yield bonds to raise new funds. With investors worried about federal deficits, higher oil prices, and a weak dollar, however, the junk bond market tightened considerably and investors turned instead to safer corporate securities and U.S. Treasury bonds. Although there was talk in the press that Jordan Industries was on the verge of default, Jordan downplayed the idea, noting that he and three other shareholders held $145 million of the company's debt. As he told Crain's Chicago Business in March 2004, "If there was any problem, we just wouldn't pay ourselves interest, and the world would be wonderful. ... [The firm is] highly leveraged. We keep it purposefully highly leveraged."

TJC also endured other struggles. AmeriKing and Archibald Candy were both forced into bankruptcy and emerged under new ownership. Nevertheless, TJC was able to continue making acquisitions. In October 2004, Professional Paint, a company it formed in 2000 to become involved in the paint industry, acquired a subsidiary of Consocio Comex S.A. de C.V., picking up the leading architectural paint brand in Mexico. Also in 2004, TJC formed TTS, LLC to acquire Tolin Mechanical Systems Company, a $50 million deal funded by The Resolute Fund. Tolin provided facilities maintenance programs and formed the foundation for what was planned to become a national, contractually based technical facilities services business. TJC also divested some assets during this period, including the sale of Acadia Elastomers Corporation and special-chemicals products company Permatex Inc. Given TJC's successful 20-plus years of deal making and ability to retain key partners, there was every reason to expect the firm to continue to find a way to grow no matter what the economic conditions.

Principal Subsidiaries: Apparel Ventures, Inc.; Healthcare Products Holdings, Inc.; Kinetek, Inc.; Lincoln Industrial Corporation; Precision Engineered Products, Inc.; Safety Insurance Group, Inc.; Tolin Mechanical Systems Company; Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

Principal Competitors: Clayton, Dubilier, & Rice, Inc.; Haas Wheat & Partners; Heico Companies LLC.

Related information about Jordan

Official name Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Arabic Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniya al-Hashemiyah

Local name al'Urdun Timezone GMT +2 Area 89 544 km²/34 564 sq mi population total (2002e) 5 260 000 Status Hashemite kingdom Date of independence 1946 Capital Amman Language Arabic (official) Ethnic groups Arab (99%), Circassian, Armenian, Turkish, Kurd minorities Religions Muslim (Sunni 95%), Christian (including Roman Catholic, Anglican, Coptic, Greek Orthodox, and Evangelical Lutheran) (5%) Physical features Located in Middle East. Divided N–S by Red Sea-Jordan rift valley, much lying below sea level; lowest point, -400 m/-1312 ft at the Dead Sea; highest point, Jebel Ram, 1754 m/5754 ft; land levels out to the Syrian desert (E); c.90% of Jordan is desert. Climate Mediterranean; hot, dry summers, cool, wet winters; desert area uniformly hot, sunny; rainfall below 200 mm/8 in; average annual temperatures 7·5°C (Jan), 24·9°C (Jul) in Amman. Currency 1 Jordan Dinar (JOD) = 1000 fils Economy Oil, cement, potash, phosphate (world's third largest exporter), light manufacturing; cereals, vegetables, citrus fruits, olives. GDP (2002e) $22·63 bn, per capita $4300 Human Development Index (2002) 0·717 History Part of Roman Empire; Arab control, 7th-c; part of Turkish Empire, 16th-c until World War 1; area divided into Palestine (W of R Jordan) and Transjordan (E of R Jordan), administered by Britain; independence as Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan, 1946; British mandate over Palestine ended, 1948, with newly-created Israel fighting to control West Bank area; armistice in 1949 left Jordan in control of West Bank; Israeli control of West Bank after Six-Day War, 1967; civil war, following attempts by Jordanian army to expel Palestinian guerrillas from West Bank, 1970–1; claims to the West Bank ceded to the Palestine Liberation Organization, 1974; links with the West Bank cut, and PLO established a government in exile, 1988; martial law formally abolished by King Hussein in 1992, and ban on political parties lifted; conflict with Israel formally ended, 1994; Monarch is Head of State and appoints a Prime Minister, who selects a Council of Ministers; Parliament consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives.:For other uses, see Jordan (disambiguation).

Al-Mamlakah al-Urdunniyyah al-H??imiyyah |
conventional_long_name = Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan |
common_name = Jordan |
image_flag = Flag of Jordan.svg |
image_coat = Jordan coa.png |
image_map = LocationJordan.png |
national_anthem = [[As-salam al-malaki al-urdoni|??? ??????
]]
("Long Live the King")|
official_languages = Arabic |
capital = Amman|
latd=31|latm=57|latNS=N|longd=35|longm=56|longEW=E|
government_type = Constitutional Monarchy |
leader_title1 = King |
leader_name1 = Abdullah II |
leader_title2 = Prime Minister |
leader_name2 = Marouf al-Bakhit |
largest_city = Amman |
area = 89,342 |
areami²= 34,495 |
area_rank = 112th |
area_magnitude = |
area_highest point=Jabal Ramm|
area_lowest point=Dead Sea|
percent_water = ~0.01% |
population_estimate = 5,703,000 |
population_estimate_year = July 2005 |
population_estimate_rank = 106th |
population_census = 5,460,000 |
population_census_year = 2003 |
population_density = 64 |
population_densitymi² =166 |
population_density_rank = 131st |
GDP_PPP_year = 2005 |
GDP_PPP = $27.96 billion |
GDP_PPP_rank = 97th |
GDP_PPP_per_capita = $ 4,825 |
GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 103rd |
HDI_year = 2003 |
HDI = 0.753 |
HDI_rank = 90th |
HDI_category = medium |
sovereignty_type = Independence |
sovereignty_note = From the League of Nations mandate administered by the United Kingdom |
established_event1 = Date |
established_date1 = 25 May 1946 |
currency = Jordanian dinar |
currency_code = JOD |
time_zone = UTC+2 |
utc_offset = |
time_zone_DST = UTC+3 |
utc_offset_DST = |
cctld = .jo |
calling_code = 962 |
|ISO_3166-1_alpha2 =JO |
|ISO_3166-1_alpha3 =JOR |
|ISO_3166-1_numeric =400 |
|sport_code =JOR |
|vehicle_code =JOR |
|footnotes = |
}}
Jordan (Arabic: ???????, transliterated ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Arabic: ??????? ????????), is an Arab country in the Middle East. It is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, and Israel and the Palestinian Territories to the west. It shares with Israel and the Palestinian Territories the coastlines of the Dead Sea, and the Gulf of Aqaba with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

History


Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

At the end of WWI, with the break up of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations created French Mandate Syria and British Mandate Palestine. It is one of only two countries that is named after a family, the other being Saudi Arabia, named after the family Saud, the winners in the civil war against the Hashemites.

In 1950, Transjordan annexed the West Bank, which it had conquered in the Arab League's war against Israel in 1948. The annexation was recognised only by the United Kingdom.

Following the formation of the United Arab Republic by Egypt and Syria, and the Iraqi Revolution in 1958, the Hashemite kingdom was threatened, its trade routes and Iraqi oil supply cut. In consequence, Jordan had to request aid from the USA and United Kingdom, which prevented escalations between Jordan and the UAR. (See the Conflict between the United Arab Republic and Jordan.)

In the year 1965 there was an exchange of territories between Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Jordan gave up a relatively large area of inland desert in return for a small piece of sea-shore near Aqaba.

Jordan signed a mutual defense pact in May 1967 with Egypt, and it participated in the June 1967 war against Israel along with Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. During the war, Jordan lost its control of the West Bank and all of Jerusalem. The international community as represented in the United Nations considers the West Bank to be territory occupied by Israel and believes that its final status should be determined through direct negotiations among the parties concerned on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 242 and UN Security Council Resolution 338. The battle in which Palestinian fighters from various Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) groups were expelled from Jordan is commonly known as Black September, and this was from Palestinians point of view.
Other Arab governments attempted to work out a peaceful solution, but by September, continuing fedayeen actions in Jordan – including the destruction of three international airliners hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and held in the desert east of Amman – It is said by some people, such as Ahmad Jubreel, that King Hussein has asked the help from IsraelAljazeera.net article (Arabic article), then Israel threatened that it will invade Jordan if Syria internvenes dubious. Sporadic violence continued, however, until Jordanian forces led by Habis Al-Majali and with the help of the Iraqi forces (which had basis in Jordan after the war of 1967)Aljazeera.net article won a decisive victory over the fedayeen in July 1971, expelling them from the country.

At the Rabat summit conference in 1974, Jordan agreed, along with the rest of the Arab League, that the PLO was the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people", thereby relinquishing to that organization its role as representative of the West Bank Palestinians.

Post Black September and Peace Treaty

No fighting occurred along the 1967 Jordan River cease-fire line during the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, but Jordan sent a brigade to Syria to fight Israeli units on Syrian territory. Jordan did not participate in the Gulf War of 1990-91. In 1991, Jordan agreed, along with Syria, Lebanon, and Palestinian representatives, to participate in direct peace negotiations with Israel at the Madrid Conference, sponsored by the U.S. and Russia. It negotiated an end to hostilities with Israel and signed a declaration to that effect on July 25, 1994 (see Washington Declaration). As a result, an Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty was concluded on October 26, 1994.

Modern History

On November 9, 2005, Jordan experienced three simultaneous bombings at hotels in Amman. Al-Qaeda in Iraq, a group led by native Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility.

On September 4, 2006, 38 year old Nabil Ahmed Issa Jaoura, a welder from the nearby town of al Kadisyeh, took a pistol to a Roman amphitheatre in the capital of Amman and proceeded to shoot at a group of 12 Western tourists.

Politics



Constitution

Jordan is a constitutional monarchy based on the constitution promulgated on January 8, 1952. Executive authority is vested in the king and his council of ministers. His veto power may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the National Assembly. He appoints and may dismiss all judges by decree, approves amendments to the constitution, declares war, and commands the armed forces. Cabinet decisions, court judgments, and the national currency are issued in his name. Administratively, Jordan is divided into twelve governorates, each headed by a governor appointed by the king. They are the sole authorities for all government departments and development projects in their respective areas.

The Royal Armed Forces and General Intelligence Department of Jordan are under the control of the king.

Legal System and Legislation

The Legal System of Jordan is based on Islamic law and French codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

Legislative power rests in the bicameral National Assembly. Nine seats are reserved for Christians, six for women, and three for Circassians and Chechens. At that time his son, Hussein, was too young to rule, and hence a committee ruled over Jordan.

After Hussein reached 18, he ruled Jordan as king from 1953 to 1999, surviving a number of challenges to his rule, drawing on the loyalty of his military, and serving as a symbol of unity and stability for both the East Bank and Palestinian communities in Jordan. King Hussein ended martial law in 1991 and legalized political parties in 1992. In 1989 and 1993, Jordan held free and fair parliamentary elections.

King Abdullah II succeeded his father Hussein following the latter's death in February 1999. Abdullah moved quickly to reaffirm Jordan's peace treaty with Israel and its relations with the United States.

Administrative Divisions


Administratively, Jordan is divided into 12 governorates, each headed by a governor appointed by the king. The governorates are subdivided into approximately 52 nahias.

The governorates include:

  • Ajlun
  • Amman
  • Aqaba
  • Balqa
  • Irbid
  • Jerash
  • Kerak
  • Ma'an
  • Madaba
  • Mafraq
  • Tafilah
  • Zarqa

Geography


Jordan is a Middle Eastern country, bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south and both Israel and the West Bank to the west. The Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea also touch the country, and thus Jordan has a coastline of 26 kilometers (16 mi).

Jordan consists mostly of arid desert plateau in the east, with Highland area in the west. The Great Rift Valley of the Jordan River separates Jordan and Israel. Jordan is part of a region considered to be "the cradle of civilization".

Major cities include the capital Amman in the northwest, Irbid and Az Zarqa, both in the north.

The climate in Jordan is dry and hot, since the country is mainly desert.

Economy


Jordan is a small country with limited natural resources. In addition, a natural gas pipeline from Egypt to the southern port city of Aqaba was completed in 2003. Similar growth in exports to the United States under the bilateral US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement that went into effect in December 2001, to the European Union under the bilateral Association Agreement, and to countries in the region, holds considerable promise for diversifying Jordan's economy away from its traditional reliance on exports of phosphates and potash, overseas remittances, and foreign aid. Jordan has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 2000. More information on the FTA is available on www.jordanusfta.com.

Textile and apparel exports from Jordan to the United States shot up 2,000 percent from 2000 to 2005, following introduction of the FTA. According to the National Labor Committee, a U.S.-based NGO, Jordan has experienced sharp increases in sweatshop conditions in its export-oriented manufacturing sector.NLCNet.Org

Jordan is classified by the World Bank as a "lower middle income country." On the positive side, however, there is huge potential in the solar energy falling on Jordan's deserts, not only for the generation of pollution-free electricity but also for such spin-offs as desalination of sea water (see Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC)). The best known attractions include:

  • Ancient Sightseeing
    • Petra in Ma'an, the home of Nabateans, is a complete city carved in a mountain. In the city are various structures, all (except 2) are carved in rock, including the treasury, which is now nominated by the New Seven Wonders organisation to be one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
    • Umm Qais, a town located on the site of the ruined Hellenistic-Roman city of Gadara.
    • Ajlun, famous for the Islamic al-Rabadh Castle.
    • Jerash, famous for its its ancient Roman architecture, like columns and arches.**Amman contains the Roman theater, in addition to several museums.
    • Al Karak contains an important castle from the times of Salah al-Din, known as Al-Karak Castle.
  • Religion-related
    • Madaba is probably the center for religion-related tourism in Jordan and contains several important religious objects such as:
      • The Madaba Map
      • The River Jordan, which is the river where Jesus Christ was baptised, by John the Baptist.
      • Mount Nebo
  • Seaside
    • The Dead Sea, for the unusual floating and natural salts that occur excessively. It is the lowest point on earth, 402 meters below sea level, and becomes 1 meter lower each year fact. It is located near River Jordan.
    • Aqaba is a town on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba with numerous shopping centers, hotels and access to water sports.
  • Other Tourist Sites
    • Wadi Rum is a desert full of mountains and hills located south of Jordan. It is popular for its wonderful sights in addition to a variety of sports that are practiced there, such as rock-climbing.
    • Amman is a very modern city with lots of malls, shopping centers, hotels and an ancient Roman amphitheatre etc.

Influence of the Middle East conflict

The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, the Gulf War, and other conflicts in the Middle East have made huge impacts on the economy of Jordan. The fact that Jordan has peace with the surrounding countries, combined with its stability, has made it a preference for many Palestinians, Lebanese, and people from the Persian Gulf immigrants and refugees. These relations were damaged by Jordan's neutrality and maintaining relations with Iraq during the first Gulf War. The Government of Jordan signed a memorandum of understanding with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq to facilitate the training of up to 30,000 Iraqi police cadets at a Jordanian facility.

Jordan signed a nonbelligerency agreement with Israel (the Washington Declaration) in Washington, DC, on 25 July 1994. King Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin negotiated this treaty. Jordan and Israel signed a historic peace treaty on 26 October 1994, witnessed by President Bill Clinton, accompanied by US Secretary, Warren Christopher. Jordan also is a member of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Nonaligned Movement (NAM), and Arab League.

Since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, Jordan has worked hard, in a variety of forums, to maintain lines of communication between the Israelis and the Palestinians to counsel moderation and to return the parties to negotiations of outstanding permanent status issues.

Following the Al-Aqsa Intifada, though, Jordan along with Egypt withdrew its ambassadors from Israel. Following the Sharm-al-Sheik Summit in Egypt on 8 February 2005, both countries announced plans to return ambassadors to the country.

Demographics


With a population of 5,759,732, Jordanians are primarily of indigenous Levantine Semitic stock, admixed with various other peoples who have through its history come to conquer or settle the area — principally Arabians (also a Semitic people) during the Islamic expansionism that brought Arab culture, language and the Muslim faith. But also about 60% of Jordan's population are originally Palestinian Arabs (while their origin is in debate, they might have settled in southern Palestine around the 12th century bc- and Canaanitesfact or after the Islamic conquests in the 7th century AD).


Christians form approximately 5% of the population and they have 9% of the seats in the parliament.

The population of Christians in Jordan has been subject to great changes since the Iraq Conflictfact, as many Christians from Iraq have settled permanently, or temporally in Jordan.

Along with the majority of Muslims, followed by Christian there are also a few smaller communities of Chechens, Circassians, who are Muslims, Assyrians, Armenians, and Kurds, some of which have also adapted to Arab culture.

The official language is Arabic, but English is used widely in commerce and government and among educated people. About 3 million persons registered as Palestinian refugees and displaced persons reside in Jordan, most as citizens.

Culture


  • Religion in Jordan
    • Islam in Jordan
    • Christianity in Jordan
  • Music of Jordan
  • Sports in Jordan

Education


Jordan has given great attention to education in particular. It is ranked 47th in the world according to literacy rate, and the second in the Arab world after the Palestinian territories. The academic stream qualifies students for entrance to universities, whereas the vocational or technical type qualifies for entrance to Community colleges or universities or the job market, provided they pass the two additional subjects.

  • Vocational secondary education, which provides intensive vocational training and apprenticeship, and leads to the award of a Certificate (not the Tawjihi). These programs include:
  • IGCSE
  • SAT
  • International Baccalaureate

Private schools in Jordan also used to offer GCSE examinations, but they have now been replaced by IGCSE examinations.

Higher education

Access to higher education is open to holders of the General Secondary Education Certificate who can then choose between private Community Colleges, public Community Colleges or universities (public and private). Those who pass are awarded the Associate Degree / Diploma.

  • University level studies:
  • University level first stage: Undergraduate level:
The universities in Jordan follow the English-American education systems and associated with many American and English universities. Candidates should hold a Master's Degree with "very good" as a minimum rating.
  • Teacher education: Training of pre-primary and primary/basic school teachers
Basic school teachers must hold a Bachelor's Degree.
Training of secondary school teachers:
Secondary school teachers must hold a Bachelor's Degree and a one-year postgraduate Higher Diploma in Education.
Training of higher education teachers:
They must hold a Doctorate (PhD). Some are designed for specific occupations, in which case a work experience in the relevant field is needed to attend such courses.

Universities and Schools


References



  1. CIA World Factbook www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/jo.html
  2. US State Department www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3464.htm
  3. Encyclopaedia Britannica www.britannica.com/nations/Jordan
  4. UNESCO www.unesco.org
  5. MOHE www.mohe.gov.jo

Miscellaneous topics

  • Communications in Jordan
  • Foreign relations of Jordan
  • Famous people from Jordan
  • List of Prime Ministers of Jordan
  • Military of Jordan
  • Public holidays in Jordan
  • Royal Jordanian Airlines
  • Royal Jordanian Air Force
  • Transport in Jordan
  • Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC)
  • Jordanian Association for Boy Scouts and Girl Guides
  • Gay rights in Jordan
  • Hashemite
  • Human rights in Jordan

Chronology

  • Key Dates:
  • 1982: A financial firm is founded by Jay Jordan and David Zalaznick.
  • 1987: JZ Equity Partners is formed.
  • 1988: Jordan Industries is formed.
  • 1991: The firm becomes involved in the candy industry through a Fannie May acquisition.
  • 1994: National Restaurant Enterprises is created for Burger King franchise operations.
  • 2002: The Resolute Fund is launched.

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