Balqa' ( Al Balqā’) is one of the governorates of Jordan. It is located northwest of Amman, Jordan's capital.
The governorate has the fourth largest population of the 12 governorates of Jordan, and is ranked 10th by area. It has the third highest population density in the kingdom after Irbid Governorate and Jerash Governorate.
History The "Balqa" historically referred to the entire area of the eastern plateau of the Jordan Valley as early as the 7th century when Heraclius' brother Theodore fought an early campaign against the Arabs on the approaches to southern Syria.Howard-Johnston, James, Witnesses to a World Crisis: Historians and Histories of the Middle East in the Seventh Century, Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 373 During biblical times, the southern part of Balqa was known as the Plains of Moab.
During World War I, the British army led by General Edmund Allenby entered Salt on 24 March 1918, in the Battles for Amman campaign, marking the end of a 500-year Ottoman rule.
On March 21, 1968, the town of Karameh near Shouna al-Janubiyya was the site of Battle of Karameh, between Israel on one side, and Jordan and Palestinian forces (Fatah, PLO) on the other side. It was one of the largest military confrontations of the War of Attrition, in the period between the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Administrative divisions The capital of the Balqa' Governorate is Salt. Other cities and towns in the governorate are Mahis, Fuhais and Ain Al-Basha.
+ Departments of Balqa Governorate by population (2004)2004 Census DepartmentArabic namepopulation (2004)Administrative Center1Capital Department (Al-Qasaba)لواء قصبة اﻟﺴﻠﻂ 109,877Salt 2ﻟﻮاء اﻟﺸﻮﻧﺔ اﻟﺠﻨﻮﺑﻴﺔ38,757Shuna al-Janubiyya3Deir Alla Districtﻟﻮاء دﻳﺮ ﻋﻼ46,481Deir Alla4Ain Al Basha Districtﻟﻮاء ﻋﻴﻦ اﻟﺒﺎﺷﺎ128,949Ain Al-Basha5Mahis and Fuheis Districtﻟﻮاء ﻣﺎﺣﺺ واﻟﻔﺤﻴﺺ22,290Mahis
Demographics
The population of districts according to census results:
District Population(Census 1994) Population(Census 2004) Population(Census 2015)Balqa Governorate 276,082 346,354 491,709'Aīn al-Bāshā ... 128,949 176,726Ash-Shūnah al-Janūbīyah 33,598 38,757 52,714 Dīr 'Allā 39,538 46,481 73,477Māḥeṣ & al-Fuḥaīṣ ... 22,290 36,670Qaṣabah as-Salṭ ... 109,877 152,122
Economy Due to its fertile mountains, the governorate's economy is based on agriculture, as well as industry, such as the cement factory in Fuheis, run by Jordan Cement Factories Ltd - Lafarge, and pharmaceutical companies including the Arab Pharmaceutical Manufacturing company.
There are two universities in the governorate: Balqa Applied University (BAU), located near the Salt ring road, and Al-Ahliyya Amman University (AAU) located on the main highway between Amman and Salt. It is also home to the SESAME facility, the first research facility of its type in the Middle East.
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References