Figure 9. Transportation System, 1989

An underdeveloped system of transportation and communications for many years impeded Jordanian economic development, hampering in particular efforts to attract foreign direct investment and to conduct transit trade. The government lavished spending on transportation and communication facilities in the late 1970s and early 1980s. By 1989 in many respects Jordan had surpassed its Arab neighbors in such facilities. Most such development, however, has been confined to a narrow north-south corridor between Amman and Al Aqabah.

Data as of December 1989