Jordan Civil Registration

Offices to Contact
National Archives in Amman and local government offices

Coverage and Compliance
Time period: 1921-present. Early years only included Europeans. Registration of the general populous became compulsory in 1957.

Population coverage: Before 1957, 5%; after 1957, as high as 80%.

Birth Records

 * Child’s name
 * Birth date and place
 * Parents’ names, residence, and occupation
 * Witnesses’ ages, relationships, residences

Marriage Records

 * Names of Bride and groom
 * Ages
 * Residences
 * Occupations
 * Marriage date and place
 * Sometimes ages and/or birth dates and places
 * Parents' names, residences, occupations
 * Witnesses

Death Records

 * Name of deceased
 * Age
 * Death date and place
 * Occupation
 * Name of surviving spouse
 * Informant’s name and residence
 * Cause of death
 * Sometimes birth date and place
 * Parents’ names
 * Children’s names

Marriage contracts
These records are the only source prior to civil registration of specific marriage information and provide a marriage date. They also provide relationships.

Legal contracts of marriage are the closest thing in Islamic society to marriage records. In Islamic tradition marriage is considered a legal contract between two families and is not considered a religious sacrament. Islamic law courts [sharia] handled the majority of litigation, particularly in the domain of personal and family status including marriage and divorce.

Time period: 1400-present.

Contents: Names of marriage candidates, dates of contract and marriage, parents (at least the father) of marital partners, details concerning dowry.

Location: At Islamic law court [sharia] archives in various cities.

Population coverage: As high as 75%; these records pertain to Muslim marriages only.