Zarqa, Jordan

🇯🇴 Zarqa is the capital of Zarqa Governorate in Jordan. Its name means "the blue (city)". It is the most populous city in Jordan after Amman. Zarqa is located in the Zarqa River basin in north-east Jordan. The city is situated 15 miles (24 km) north-east of Amman.

History Although inhabited since the 1st century, the city of Zarqa was established in 1902 by Chechen immigrants who were displaced from 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 lands which they 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 was 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 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 north-east Jordan. The city is situated 15 miles (24 km) north-east of Amman, and its area is 60 square kilometers.

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 The city of Zarqa is divided into five districts that all together have an area of about 60 km² (23 sq mi) and another two districts within the radius of influence of the city.

Transport Zarqa is connected by the Hejaz Railway to Amman to the south and to Syria to the north. A new railway is under construction to connect Amman with Zarqa.

Zarqa lies on the international highway that connects Saudi Arabia with Syria and on the international Amman-Baghdad highway.

Economy: 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 an electric 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. Also, there are many secondary schools (or high schools) in Zarqa, most notably is the Zarqa Secondary School for Boys which is considered one of the oldest high schools in Jordan.