Jordan Cultural Groups

Middle East Jordan

For centuries the population of Jordan was fairly stable with about 200,000 inhabitants. By 1921 there were 400,000 inhabitants. In 1975 the population had reached 1,750,000. Estimates for the year 2000 place the population at 6,330,000 of which 95% were Sunni Muslim, 5% Christian (Maronite-Syrian, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Armenian Apostolic, etc.).

Ethnic groups mostly fall along religious lines. Arabs are the dominant majority (a third of Arabs consider themselves Palestinians). Smaller groups include Armenians (from the former Soviet Union, Turkey and Iran), Circassians (immigrants from the Black Sea area of the Ukraine), and Kurds (immigrants from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan).