Al-Azraq
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الأزرق al-Azraq |
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| Coordinates | 31 ° 50 ′ N , 36 ° 49 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Jordan | ||
| Zarqa | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | JO-AZ | ||
| height | 512 m | ||
| surface | 92.9 km² | ||
| Residents | 5866 (2016) | ||
| density | 63.1 Ew. / km² | ||
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Al-Azraq ( Arabic الأزرق, DMG al-Azraq , German: the blue) is a small town in central-eastern Jordan , 100 km east of Amman . The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and a refugee camp with 27,000 inhabitants are located in al-Azraq .
history
Al-Azraq has long been an important settlement in a remote and now arid desert area of Jordan. The strategic value of the city and its castle ( Qasr al-Azraq ) lies in the middle of the al-Azraq oasis , the only permanent freshwater source in around 12,000 square kilometers of desert.
The city is on a major desert route that has facilitated trade within the region. The al-Azraq oasis has a long history starting with the Old Paleolithic . Many Paleolithic sites have been found in the al-Azraq oasis . In the Epipalaeolithic the oasis was also an important settlement area.
The settlement activities of the Nabatean period have also been proven in the region. Qasr Azraq was built by the Romans in the 3rd century AD and greatly modified by the Mamluks in the Middle Ages . During the Umayyad period , a reservoir was built in southern al-Azraq. During the Arab Revolt in the early 20th century, Qasr Azraq was an important headquarters for TE Lawrence .
The al-Azraq refugee camp, which houses refugees from the Syrian civil war , opened in 2014 and is located 20 kilometers west of al-Azraq. The site had previously been used as a transit camp for displaced Iraqis and Kuwait during the Second Gulf War .
Demographic data
In 2016, the population of al-Azraq was 5,866, of whom 3,080 (52.5%) are male and 2,786 (47.5%) are female. In 2004, 84.5% of the population were Jordanians.
Nature reserve
Al-Azraq is also known as the location of one of the seven nature reserves of Jordan (established by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature ): the al-Azraq oasis (English: Azraq Wetlands Reserve) in al-Azraq al-Janoubi (southern al- Azraq).
The separate and larger Shaumari nature reserve is also near al-Azraq, just 10 kilometers south of the city.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ tagesschau.de: Donor conference: No peace - but billions for Syria. Retrieved July 9, 2017 .
- ↑ Azraq Refugee Camp Opens For 130,000 Syrians Fleeing War. September 10, 2014, accessed March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Azraq Refugee Camp officially opened. April 30, 2014, accessed March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Al-Azraq al-Janūbī (Qaṣabah az-Zarqā ', Zarqa Governorate, Jordan) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information. Retrieved March 6, 2019 .