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Syria vs. Jordan

Demographics

SyriaJordan
Population20,384,316 (July 2021 est.)

note: approximately 22,900 Israeli settlers live in the Golan Heights (2018)
10,909,567 (July 2021 est.)

note: increased estimate reflects revised assumptions about the net migration rate due to the increased flow of Syrian refugees
Age structure0-14 years: 33.47% (male 3,323,072/female 3,170,444)

15-24 years: 19.34% (male 1,872,903/female 1,879,564)

25-54 years: 37.31% (male 3,558,241/female 3,679,596)

55-64 years: 5.41% (male 516,209/female 534,189)

65 years and over: 4.46% (male 404,813/female 459,417) (2020 est.)
0-14 years: 33.05% (male 1,837,696/female 1,738,935)

15-24 years: 19.77% (male 1,126,567/female 1,012,812)

25-54 years: 38.39% (male 2,250,328/female 1,903,996)

55-64 years: 5.11% (male 290,633/female 262,827)

65 years and over: 3.67% (male 194,464/female 202,386) (2020 est.)
Median agetotal: 23.5 years

male: 23 years

female: 24 years (2020 est.)
total: 23.5 years

male: 23.9 years

female: 22.9 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate5.32% NA (2021 est.)0.82% (2021 est.)
Birth rate23.25 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)22.79 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate4.36 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)3.44 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate34.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population NA (2021 est.)-11.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female

total population: 1 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.11 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.18 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1.11 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female

total population: 1.11 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 16.27 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 17.95 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 14.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total: 14.25 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 15.43 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 13 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 74.01 years

male: 72.54 years

female: 75.57 years (2021 est.)
total population: 75.75 years

male: 74.25 years

female: 77.35 years (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate2.85 children born/woman (2021 est.)3 children born/woman (2021 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate<.1% (2020)<.1% (2020 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Syrian(s)

adjective: Syrian
noun: Jordanian(s)

adjective: Jordanian
Ethnic groupsArab ~50%, Alawite ~15%, Kurd ~10%, Levantine ~10%, other ~15% (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Nusairi, Assyrian, Turkoman, Armenian)Jordanian 69.3%, Syrian 13.3%, Palestinian 6.7%, Egyptian 6.7%, Iraqi 1.4%, other 2.6% (includes Armenian, Circassian) (2015 est.)

note: data represent population by self-identified nationality
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS<1,000 (2020)<1,000 (2020 est.)
ReligionsMuslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili, and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (includes Orthodox, Uniate, and Nestorian), Druze 3%

note:  the Christian population may be considerably smaller as a result of Christians fleeing the country during the ongoing civil war
Muslim 97.1% (official; predominantly Sunni), Christian 2.1% (majority Greek Orthodox, but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), Buddhist 0.4%, Hindu 0.1%, Jewish <0.1, folk <0.1, unaffiliated <0.1, other <0.1 (2020 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths<100 (2020)<100 (2020 est.)
LanguagesArabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian, French, English

major-language sample(s):
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The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Arabic (official), English (widely understood among upper and middle classes)

major-language sample(s):
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The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Literacydefinition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 86.4%

male: 91.7%

female: 81% (2015)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 98.2%

male: 98.6%

female: 97.8% (2018)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)total: 9 years

male: 9 years

female: 9 years (2013)
total: 11 years

male: 11 years

female: 11 years (2012)
Education expendituresNA3.1% of GDP (2019)
Urbanizationurban population: 56.1% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 5.38% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 91.6% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 0.98% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Drinking water sourceimproved: urban: 99% of population

rural: 99.3% of population

total: 99.4% of population

unimproved: urban: 1% of population

rural: 0.7% of population

total: 0.6% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 100% of population

rural: 97.7% of population

total: 98.9% of population

unimproved: urban: 0% of population

rural: 2.2% of population

total: 1.1% of population (2017 est.)
Sanitation facility accessimproved: urban: 99.6% of population

rural: 98.6% of population

total: 99.1% of population

unimproved: urban: 0.4% of population

rural: 1.4% of population

total: 0.9% of population (2017 est.)
improved: urban: 98.6% of population

rural: 96.6% of population

total: 98.5% of population

unimproved: urban: 1.4% of population

rural: 3.7% of population

total: 1.5% of population (2017 est.)
Major cities - population2.440 million DAMASCUS (capital), 2.004 million Aleppo, 1.362 million Hims (Homs), 940,000 Hamah (2021)2.182 million AMMAN (capital) (2021)
Maternal mortality rate31 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)46 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight5.8% (2009/10)3% (2012)
Physicians density1.29 physicians/1,000 population (2016)2.32 physicians/1,000 population (2017)
Hospital bed density1.4 beds/1,000 population (2017)1.5 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate27.8% (2016)35.5% (2016)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 55.4

youth dependency ratio: 47.8

elderly dependency ratio: 7.6

potential support ratio: 13.2 (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 58.2

youth dependency ratio: 52

elderly dependency ratio: 6.3

potential support ratio: 16 (2020 est.)

Source: CIA Factbook