Ruwaished () is a town in the far east of Jordan belonging to the administrative district of the Mafraq Governorate. As of 2010, it had a population of 14,400. Ruwaished is the farthest Jordanian settlement to the east. The Karameh Border Crossing between Jordan and Iraq administratively belongs to the Ruwaished Department.
After the war on Iraq in 2003, about 800 refugees fled from Iraq to the Jordanian border, mostly Palestinians and Somalis, where they were allocated in the Ruwaished Refugee Camp in the no-man's-land between Jordan and Iraq.Angelina Jolie in Ruwaished Ref. Camp UNHCR report
Geography The town is located in Mafraq Governorate about 240 km to the east of Amman. Ruwaished has a desert climate with an average annual precipitation of 82.9 mm. About eight wadis converge in the plains of Ruwaished, making it the second largest water basin in the northern desert region after Azraq. The water floods from these wadis in the winter compensate for the low annual precipitation rate of Ruwaished. The town is at an elevation of 683 meters above sea level. It is also located on the desert highway connecting Jordan to Iraq. The town has a strategic importance from its location as a rest area for travelers to and from Iraq. There is also a military airport in Ruwaished.
Climate
History It is not known exactly when was the Ruwaished basin first inhabited, however existing Roman water dams, such as the Burqu Dam, indicate that the basin has been used as a traffic stop by the Roman and Byzantine imperial armies, and marked the eastern borders of the Byzantine empire, or was part of the Roman vassal states.
During the War on Iraq in 2003, Ruwaished came to world attention, as tens of media correspondents used it as a base for their coverage of the war.
Demographics The Jordan National Census of 2004 showed that the town of Ruwaished had a population of 12,098, of whom 55.5% were males and 44.5% females. Only 67.5% of the population were Jordanian citizens. Among the Jordanian citizens, 53.4% were males, while males made up 58% of the foreign nationals .Census 2004
Economy
Agriculture constitutes the backbone of the town's legal economy.
Due to its location in plains where eight wadis converge,Al-Qawasmi, A.A., Ghasem, A. (2015). Evaluation of Environmental Impacts of Water Harvesting... International Journal of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, 9(12), 1-8. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286469695_Evaluation_of_Environmental_Impacts_of_Water_Harvesting_on_Subsurface_Water_Resources_in_Rwaishd_Area there are several dams built in the Ruwaished basin, to efficiently utilize the winter floods in the wadis: North Ruwaished (Abu Alsafa) Dam has a capacity of 10.3 million m3.Al-Qawasmi, A., Al-Qawasmi, M. (2008). Impacts of Dams on Environment and Water Resources: A Case Study from Ruwaishid Area, Jordan. Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, 2(2), 159-173. URL: http://jjce.just.edu.jo/Journals/pdf/vol_2_no_2/4.pdf Burqu Dam: Originally a Roman built dam and still in use, has a capacity of about 4 million m3. Shaalan Dam has a capacity of 1 million m3. Alrisha Alsharqiyya Dam has a capacity of 2 million m3. Hadlat Dam: The largest dam with a capacity of 20 million m3.Al-Qawasmi, A., Al-Qawasmi, M. (2008). Impacts of Dams on Environment and Water Resources: A Case Study from Ruwaishid Area, Jordan. Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, 2(2), 159-173. URL: http://jjce.just.edu.jo/Journals/pdf/vol_2_no_2/4.pdf Raqban Dam Buwaidha Dam The main economy of the town has lately been cross-border smuggling due to its border location.Al-Rousan, O. & Al-Sheyab, N. (2021). The Social and Economic Transformation of Ruwaished, a Border Town in Jordan. Journal of Borderland Studies. DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2021.2007797.
See also Karameh Border Crossing Mafraq Governorate H-4 Air Base (Jordan) and Ruwayshid Air Base (Iraq)
References