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To which language should you translate to localize in Jordan?

What we know from our community

In the heart of the Middle East, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan sits like a jewel, pulsing with diversity and cultural richness. Arabic is the official language of the country, and it serves as a unifying force for people of all backgrounds, beautifully blending the authenticity of the past with the pulse of the present. About 95% of the population speaks colloquial Arabic as a language of informal communication, while Modern Standard Arabic is used in official government communication, education, and the media.

The kingdom has a diverse linguistic fabric. In addition to Modern Standard Arabic, many dialects flourish in different parts of the country. These include the Rural dialect spoken in the north, the Bedouin dialect spoken in the central and southern regions, and the Ammani Urban dialect spoken in the capital, Amman. While Modern Standard Arabic is the official language, many Jordanians use their local dialects for everyday communication, which enriches the vibrant cultural character of all parts of the country.

Cultural diversity is also rooted in Jordan through the beautiful assortment brought by a group of Circassian, Chechen, and Armenian immigrants who moved to the country from the Caucasus and Anatolia in the late 18th century. The members of these communities have succeeded in preserving their native languages, and they continue to use them to communicate with each other alongside Arabic to this day. This linguistic diversity is a testament to Jordan’s rich history as a melting pot of cultures and civilizations.

Jordan is characterized by its rich and miscellaneous history, with the many civilizations that have succeeded one another on its soil, most notably the Nabataean and Roman civilizations, contributing to its formation. The country has a constitutional monarchy with a strong influence on regional politics. It is home to important historical and cultural landmarks, including Petra, which was chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Jordan has long been a contributor to stability in the Middle East, and it always seeks to contribute to resolving conflicts and promoting peace and regional cooperation. Sunni Muslims form the majority in Jordan, with a Christian minority, and relations between these two communities are characterized by harmony and mutual respect. Jordan’s strategic location and moderate political stance further enhance its role as a key player in the region.

Jordan has a modern and developed educational system. The University of Jordan is a testament to the country’s commitment to quality education, ranking in the 401-500 range in the global university rankings in 2024 and the 201-300 range in the Asian university rankings. This is a testament to Jordan’s dedication to providing quality education and maintaining its high standards.

In essence, the linguistic landscape in Jordan is a wonderful mosaic, with Arabic working to unite the people, while not preventing the flourishing of the diverse local dialects and minority languages. This makes Jordan a unique and vibrant country linguistically and culturally.

Arabic

في قلب الشرق الأوسط، تتربع المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية كجوهرة تنبض بالتنوع والغنى الثقافي. اللغة العربية هي اللغة الرسمية للبلاد، إلى جانبِ دورها كداعمٍ لوحدة أبناء وبنات الشعب من كافة أصولهم، في سيمفونية تدمج بشكل جميل بين أصالة الماضي ونبض الحاضر. يستخدم حوالي 95% من السكان اللغة العربية العامية كلغة للتواصل غير الرسمي، بينما تُستخدم اللغة العربية الفُصحى في التواصل الحكومي الرسمي وفي التعليم ووسائل الإعلام.

تحظى المملكة بنسيجٍ لغويٍ متنوع، فإلى جانب اللغة العربية الفصحى، تزدهر العديد من اللهجات في مناطق مختلفة من البلاد، فهناك اللهجة الفلاحية الدارجة في مناطق الشمال، واللهجة البدوية الدارجة في مناطق الوسط والجنوب، واللهجة العَمّانية المدنية الدارجة في العاصمة عَمّان. وعلى الرغم من أن اللغة العربية الفصحى هي اللغة الرسمية، إلا أن العديد من الأردنيين يستخدمون لهجاتهم المحلية للتواصل اليومي، مما من شأنه أن يُثري الطابع الثقافي النابض بالحياة في كافة أرجاء البلاد.

تترسخ التعددية الثقافية في الأردن من خلال التنوع الجميل الذي جاء به مجموعة من المهاجرين الشراكسة والشيشان والأرمن، والذين انتقلوا إلى البلاد قادمين من مناطق القوقاز والأناضول في أواخر القرن الثامن عشر. لقد نجح أبناء هذه الجاليات في الحفاظ على لغاتهم الأصلية، حيثُ ما زالوا يستخدمونها للتواصل مع بعضهم جنبًا إلى جنب مع اللغة العربية حتى يومنا هذا. يعتبر هذا التباين اللغوي خيرَ شاهدٍ على تاريخ الأردن الغني باعتباره بوتقة تنصهر فيها الثقافات والحضارات.

يتميز الأردن بتاريخه العريق والمتنوع، حيث ساهمت الحضارات المُتعددة التي تعاقبت على أرضه، وأهما الحضارتين النبطية والرومانية، في تشكيل تاريخه. تتمتع الدولة بنظام ملكي دستوري، ولها تأثير قوي في السياسة الإقليمية. تزخر البلاد بمعالم تاريخية وثقافية هامة، ومنها البتراء التي اختيرت كواحدة من عجائب الدنيا السبع الجديدة. لطالما ساهم الأردن في تحقيق الاستقرار في منطقة الشرق الأوسط، ويسعى دائمًا للمساهمة في حل الصراعات وتعزيز السلام والتعاون الإقليمي. المسلمون السنة يشكلون الأغلبية في الأردن، مع وجود أقلية مسيحية، وتتسم العلاقات بين هذين المجتمعين بالتناغم والاحترام المتبادل. إن موقع الأردن الاستراتيجي وموقفه السياسي المعتدل يعززان من دوره كلاعبٍ حاسمٍ في المنطقة.

يتمتع الأردن بنظام تعليمي حديث ومتطور. تعد الجامعة الأردنية خيرَ دليلٍ على التزام البلاد بجودة التعليم، حيث حلّت في العام 2024 ضمن المراتب 401-500 في الترتيب العالمي للجامعات، وضمن المراتب 201-300 في ترتيب الجامعات الآسيوية. وهذا يدل على تفاني الأردن في توفير التعليم الجيد والحفاظ على سويته المُرتفعة.

في جوهره، يعد المشهد اللغوي في الأردن لوحةً فسيفسائيةً رائعة، تعمل اللغة العربية فيه على ربط أبناء الشعب ببعضهم البعض، دون أن يمنع ذلك من ازدهار اللهجات المحلية المتنوعة ولغات الأقليات، مما يجعل الأردن دولة فريدة ونابضة بالحياة لغوياً وثقافيًا.
Mohammad T. Al-Momani, Senior linguist

LANGUAGE INSIGHT

Official language

Arabic (97.9%)

Actual languages

Arabic (97.9%), Cherkessia (1%), Armenian (1%), other (0.1%).

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Jordan

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

32/150 localize by translating into Arabic

3M
ABB
Accenture
Adidas
Adobe
Airbnb
Aldi
Amazon
American Airlines
American Express
Apple
Audi
Autodesk
Avis
Bayer
BMW
Booking.com
Bosch
British Airways
Bumble
Burberry
BYD
Canon
Capgemini
Cartier
Caterpillar
Chevrolet
Cisco Systems
Citibank
Coca-Cola
Costco
Dell
Deloitte
Delta
DHL
Disney+
Dyson
eBay
Eli Lilly
Emirates
Ernst & Young
Facebook
FedEx
Ford
Four Seasons
Fujifilm
GE
Gillette
GoDaddy
Google
Gucci
Haier
Heineken
Hermès
Hertz
Hilton
Hisense
Hitachi
Honda
Hotels.com
HP
HP Enterprise
HSBC
Huawei
Hyatt
Hyundai
IBM
IKEA
Intel
InterContinental Hotels
J&J
Jack Daniel's
Jehovah’s Witnesses
John Deere
Kellogg's
Kia
KPMG
L'Oréal
Land Rover
LEGO
Lenovo
Lexus
LG
Louis Vuitton
Lululemon
LUSH
Marriott
MasterCard
McDonald's
Mercedes-Benz
Merck
Microsoft
Mitsubishi Electric
Nestlé
Netflix
Nike
Nikon
Nintendo
Nio
Nissan
NIVEA
Oracle
Pampers
Panasonic
PayPal
Pepsi
Pfizer
Philips
Pitney Bowes
Porsche
Procter & Gamble
PWC
Revolut
Rolex
Royal Caribbean
Salesforce
Samsung
Sanofi
SAP
Sephora
Shopify
Siemens
Sony
Spotify
Starbucks
Steelcase
Stripe
Subaru
Tesla
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Tiffany
Tinder
Toshiba
Toyota
TripAdvisor
Uber
United Airlines
UPS
Visa
Volkswagen
Volvo Cars
Vrbo
Walmart
Western Union
Wikipedia
Wise
WordPress
Workday
Xerox
Xiaomi (Mi)
Zara
Zoom

If you need others information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data

Index of content

Overview
Facts and data
Languages research

Overview

Language

Official language
Arabic (97.9%)

Actual languages
Cherkessia (1%), Armenian (1%), other (0.1%).

T-index
0.08%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

Most studied languages
English, French

English
Low proficiency (EF) – 90 of 111 countries/regions in the world- 8/12 position in the Middle East.

Demography

Capital: Amman
Currency: Jordanian dinar
Population: 11,28 m
Population density: 123 /km²

Economy

GDP: 47.45 billion USD (2022)
GDP per capita: 4,204.5 USD (2022)
Exports: $12 billion (2021)

Statistics

Internet users: 88% penetration, 9.95 million
Unemployment rate: 19.8% (2021)
Urbanisation: 91.63% (2021)
Literacy: 98% (2021)

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numerals with comma as decimal separator, space as thousands separator.

Date format: yyyy-mm-dd / dd-mm-yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 0033

Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal

Facts and data

Economy

Imports
$12 billion (2021). Cars ($1.59B), Refined Petroleum ($1.09B), Gold ($1.08B), Crude Petroleum ($956M), and Broadcasting Equipment ($727M), importing mostly from China ($4.17B), Saudi Arabia ($3.39B), United Arab Emirates ($2.69B), United States ($1.31B), and Turkey ($821M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of age)

• 43.4% have an account with a financial institution
• 2.8% have a credit card
• 10.7% have a mobile money account
• 3.9% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
It is easy to conduct business (rated 69 out of 100), 6th out of 20 Middle East & North Africa countries, and 75th worldwide out of 186 countries (2019, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Exports
Potassic Fertilizers ($1.2B), Other Knit Garments ($860M), Calcium Phosphates ($672M), Phosphoric Acid ($635M), and Packaged Medicaments ($507M), exporting mostly to United States ($3.13B), India ($1.58B), Saudi Arabia ($1.29B), Iraq ($615M), and China ($486M).

In 2021, Jordan was the world’s biggest exporter of Phenol Derivatives ($260M).

Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (rated 58.8 out of 100) ranked 5^th out of 14 Middle Eastern countries ranked 93^rd out of 186 countries worldwide (2019, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal)

Global Innovation Index

Ranked 12^th out of 19 Northern Africa ad Western Asia countries, 78^th out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal

Service Imports (2020)

Service Exports (2020)

Source: OEC

Most complex products by PCI

Product Complexity Index measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters

Source: OEC

Most Specialised Products by RCA Index

Specialisation is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage, an index that takes the ratio between Jordan observed and expected exports in each product

Source: OEC

Export Opportunities by Relatedness

Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product, the barchart show only products that Jordan is not specialized in

Source: OEC

T-index

Reach most of the online purchasing power

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.

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Media

Media language
English, French, Arabic.

Information channels
The Jordanian media have traditionally been under tight state control. The media take care not to cross editorial red lines and journalists are subject to surveillance by the intelligence services, says Reporters Without Borders. Journalists rarely face violence or lengthy prison terms for their work, but they often self-censor, says Freedom House. TV is the most popular medium. State broadcaster Jordan Radio and TV Corporation’s (JRTV) networks operate alongside dozens of commercial satellite stations, most of them carrying entertainment. Jordan Media City is a hub for regional satellite TV broadcasters. BBC World Service radio in Arabic broadcasts on FM in Amman (103.1) and in northern Jordan (89.1). Private, music-based FM radio stations have sprung up. There are more than 40 licensed stations. The press law gives officials the power to block websites. Site owners are responsible for posted comments and news websites must have a licence from the government.

The press

Addustour (“The Constitution”) – privately-owned daily
Al Rai (“The Opinion”) – privately-owned daily
Al Ghad (“Tomorrow”) – privately-owned daily
Jordan Times – English-language daily, sister publication to Al Rai

Television

Jordan Radio and Television – state-run, operates Jordan TV and Sport TV
Roya TV – privately-owned
Jordan Now – privately-owned
Amman TV – privately-owned

Radio

Jordan Radio and Television – state-run; services in Arabic, English and French
Radio Fann – FM entertainment station run by armed forces
Rotana FM – private, entertainment-based
Mood FM – private, pop music, English-language
Play FM – private, pop music, English-language

News agency

Petra – state-run, operated by Information Ministry
Ammon News – news website, English-language pages
Ain News – news website
Amman Net – news website
7iber – online magazine

Media data source: BBC

Internet Data

Internet users
88% penetration, 9.95 million

Share of web traffic by device
72.90% mobile phones, 26.01% computers (laptops and desktops), 1.04% tablet devices, others 0.04%

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
16.60 Mbps

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
74.46 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 76.1%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 82.8%

Most popular web search engines
Google (95.56%), Bing (2.11%), Petal Search (1.63%), Yahoo! (0.47%), YANDEX (0.12%), other (0.11%).

Most used social media
Facebook (87.34%), Twitter (4.11%), Instagram (4.02%), YouTube (3.73%), Pinterest (0.6%), LinkedIn (0.12%), reddit (0.06%), other (0.03%).

Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter

Social statistics

Life expectancy
74 years (2021)

Current healthcare expenditure
7.47% of GDP (2020)

Current education expenditure
88% of total expenditure in public institutions

Co2 emissions
1.9 metric tons per capita

Corruption Perceptions Index
Jordan scored 47 out of 100, ranked 61 out of 180 countries worldwide.

The CPI measures perception of corruption due to the difficulty of measuring absolute levels of corruption.

World Happiness Index
Jordan ranked 134 out of 146 countries, with a score of 4.152.

The World Happiness Index measures happiness based on respondent ratings of their own lives, correlated with other life factors.

Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF

Tertiary education in Jordan, by sex

Source: UNESCO

Jordan: Ratio of military spending to gross domestic product (GDP) from 2009 to 2019

Source: WorldBank

The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com

Languages research

Languages in Jordan

The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com

Photo credit: Daniel Qura, Unsplash

To which language should you translate to localize in Jordan?

Official language

Actual languages

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Jordan

Overview

Language

Demography

Economy

Statistics

Conventions

World news for global citizens.

One email on the 1st of the month

One email on the 15th of the month

Facts and data

Economy

Service Imports (2020)

Service Exports (2020)

Most complex products by PCI

Most Specialised Products by RCA Index

Export Opportunities by Relatedness

T-index

Reach most of the online purchasing power

Media

The press

Television

Radio

News agency

Internet Data

Social statistics

Tertiary education in Jordan, by sex

Jordan: Ratio of military spending to gross domestic product (GDP) from 2009 to 2019

Languages research

Languages in Jordan

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