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Zarqa الزرقاء Az-zarqā
City
Counter-clockwise from top: View of Zarqa, Jabal Tariq quarter, The Zarqa Chamber of Commerce
Zarqa
Coordinates: 32°05′N 36°06′E / 32.083°N 36.100°E / 32.083; 36.100
Country	Jordan
Governorate	Zarqa Governorate
Settled	1902
Municipality	1929
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Mayor	Hijazi Assaf
Area
• Total	60 km (20 sq mi)
Elevation	619 m (2,031 ft)
Population
• Total	635,160
• Density	11,000/km (27,000/sq mi)
Time zone	+3
Area code	+(962)5

Zarqa (Arabic: الزرقاء) is the capital of Zarqa Governorate in Jordan. Its name means "the blue (city)". It had a population of 635,160 inhabitants in 2015, and is the second most populous city in Jordan after Amman.

History

Although the area has been inhabited since the first century AD, the city of Zarqa was only established in 1902, by Chechen immigrants who were displaced due to the wars between the Ottoman and Russian Empires. They settled along the Zarqa River. At that time a station on the Hejaz Railway was built in the new settlement. The railway station turned Zarqa into an important hub. On 10 April 1905, the Ottoman governor issued a decree that allowed the Chechen immigrants to own the land they had settled on. The population then quickly grew in size. On 18 November 1928, the new Jordanian government issued a decree to establish the first municipal council for Zarqa.

After the Transjordan Frontier Force was formed in 1926, military bases were constructed in the city by the British Army, and the city later became known as the "military city". The headquarters of Jordan's Arab Legion were also located in Zarqa.

The oldest Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, known as Zarqa Camp, is located near the city. It was set up by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1949, after the Nakba and the subsequent exodus of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Although the camp initially consisted of tents, UNRWA eventually replaced these tents with concrete shelters. More refugees came to Zarqa after the 1990–91 Gulf War, when the Kuwaiti government expelled a quarter-million Palestinians, whom it suspected of supporting Saddam Hussein's Iraq in that war. More than half of those expelled went to Zarqa or the nearby city of Russeifa.

During the Black September conflict in 1970, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members hijacked five airplanes, and forced three to land at Dawson's Field, an airstrip in the desert near Zarqa.

Zarqa is regarded today as a "marginalized" and "conservative" city, with a large Palestinian population. It is a stronghold of political Islamism, and is home to many supporters of the opposition Islamic Action Front party, which is the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. The city was home to jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the first leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. About one-third of Jordanians who left to fight in the Syrian Civil War, mainly for Islamist groups, are believed to have come from Zarqa - more than from any other area in the country.

Geography

Zarqa is located in the Zarqa River basin in northeast Jordan. The city is situated 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Amman, and its area is 60 square kilometers.

Climate

Zarqa has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk). The average annual temperature is 17.4 °C (63.3 °F), and around 182 mm (7.17 in) of precipitation falls annually, mostly in winter months. Zarqa's elevation is 619 meters above sea level, and the city occasionally receives snowfall in winter.

Demographics

With 700,000 people as of 2010, Zarqa has the third-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman and Irbid. Zarqa city proper is the second-most populous in Jordan after Amman, with a population of about 635,000.

Districts of Greater Zarqa Municipality

The city of Zarqa is divided into five districts that have a combined area of about 60 km (23 sq mi), and another two districts within the radius of influence of the city.

Economy and infrastructure

Transportation

From 1908-20, the Hejaz Railway connected Zarqa to Amman, to the south; and to Syria, to the north.

Zarqa lies on the international highway that connects Saudi Arabia with Syria, and the international Amman-Baghdad highway also passes through the city.

Industry

Zarqa is Jordan's industrial centre. It is home to over 50% of Jordanian factories. The growth of industry in the city is the result of low real estate costs and proximity to the capital Amman.

Several facilities that are vital to Jordan's economy are based in Zarqa, such as Jordan's only oil refinery plant. According to the Zarqa Chamber of Commerce, 10% of Jordan's total exports in 2011 came from Zarqa Governorate, amounting to more than US$512 million. Leather and garment products constituted about 52% of Zarqa'a exports, followed by chemical, agricultural and pharmaceutical products.

In September 2020, massive explosions occurred at an army munitions depot for mortars near Zarqa, caused by a short circuit.

Education

There are three universities in Zarqa, the largest of which is Hashemite University. The other two are Al-Balqa` Applied University and Zarqa University. Other community colleges and research centres are based in Zarqa such as the Al-Zarqa Educational & Investment. The city is also home to many secondary schools (or high schools), most notably the Zarqa Secondary School for Boys, which is considered one of the oldest high schools in Jordan.

Twin towns

• Oran, Algeria
• Sfax, Tunisia

Notable people

• Ahmad Alhendawi, Secretary-General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement
• Saleh Al-Sharabaty, Olympic silver medallist in Taekwondo
• Taghreed Hikmat, judge and Senator, first female judge in Jordan
• Lobo Ismail, singer
• Amjad Nasser, writer, journalist and poet
• Samih al-Qasim, a Palestinian Druze poet
• Ayman Safadi, a Jordanian politician who serves as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq

See also

• Railways in Jordan

References

1. "The General Census - 2015" (PDF). Department of Population Statistics.
2. Natho, Nadir I., 1927- (2009). Circassian history. New York: Nadir I. Natho. p. 480. ISBN 978-1-4415-2389-1. OCLC 712591748.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. Ibragimova, Zarema Ch. (2007). Mir čečencev - XIX vek. Moskva: Probel-2000. pp. chapter 19. ISBN 978-5-98604-089-9. OCLC 220247120.
4. "تاريــخ مديــنة الزرقــــاء | وحدة التنمية و التخطيط - محافظة الزرقاء". zarqa.gov.jo. Archived from the original on December 12, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
5. "Zarqa Camp". UNRWA. United Nations. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
6. ^ Riedel, Bruce (2010). The Search for Al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future. Washington: Brookings Institution Press. p. 89.
7. Pizzi, Michael (June 5, 2015). "Foreign fighters come home to roost in Jordan". Al Jazeera. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
8. Cambanis, Thanassis (November 16, 2007). "Jordan's Islamists Seek Offices Their Allies Scorn". New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
9. Hubbard, Ben (April 12, 2014). "In Jordan Town, Syria War Inspires Jihadist Dreams". New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
10. Su, Alice (14 February 2014). "In the Middle East, Arabic Misplaced Pages is a flashpoint — and a beacon". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
11. "Climate: Zarqa". 17 January 2018.
12. "Major explosion rocks arms depot in Jordan, but no casualties reported". France 24. 11 September 2020.

External links

• Zarka Chamber of Industry
• Zarqa Discussion Forum (in Arabic)
• Photos of Zarqa at the American Center of Research

v t e Palestine refugee camps locations and populations as of 2015
Gaza Strip 518,000 UNRWA refugees  West Bank 188,150 UNRWA refugees  Syria 319,958 UNRWA refugees  Lebanon 188,850 UNRWA refugees  Jordan 355,500 UNRWA refugees Al-Shati (Beach camp) 87,000 Bureij 34,000 Deir al-Balah 21,000 Jabalia 110,000 Khan Yunis 72,000 Maghazi 24,000 Nuseirat 66,000 Rafah 104,000 Canada closed Aqabat Jaber 6,400 Ein as-Sultan 1,900 Far'a 7,600 Fawwar 8,000 Jalazone 11,000 Qalandia 11,000 Am'ari 10,500 Deir 'Ammar 2,400 Dheisheh 13,000 Aida 4,700 Al-Arroub 10,400 Askar 15,900 Balata 23,600 'Azza (Beit Jibrin) 1,000 Ein Beit al-Ma' (Camp No. 1) 6,750 Tulkarm 18,000 Nur Shams 9,000 Jenin 16,000 Shu'fat 11,000 Silwad Birzeit Sabinah 22,600 Khan al-Shih 20,000 Nayrab 20,500 Homs 22,000 Jaramana 18,658 Daraa 10,000 Hama 8,000 Khan Danoun 10,000 Qabr Essit 23,700 Unofficial camps Ein Al-Tal 6,000 Latakia 10,000 Yarmouk 148,500 Bourj el-Barajneh 17,945 Ain al-Hilweh 54,116 El Buss 11,254 Nahr al-Bared 5,857 Shatila 9,842 Wavel 8,806 Mar Elias 662 Mieh Mieh 5,250 Beddawi 16,500 Burj el-Shamali 22,789 Dbayeh 4,351 Rashidieh 31,478 Former camps Tel al-Zaatar  ? Nabatieh  ? Zarqa 20,000 Jabal el-Hussein 29,000 Amman New (Wihdat) 51,500 Souf 20,000 Baqa'a 104,000 Husn (Martyr Azmi el-Mufti camp) 22,000 Irbid 25,000 Jerash 24,000 Marka 53,000 Talbieh 8,000 Al-Hassan  ? Madaba  ? Sokhna  ?
References "Camp Profiles". unrwa.org. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Retrieved 2 July 2015.

• Zarqa
• Municipalities in Jordan
• Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan
• Populated places in Zarqa Governorate