Balqa Governorate

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Balqa Governorate
محافظة البلقاء
Salt
Government
 • GovernorNayef Al-Hidayat
Area
 • Total1,120 km2 (430 sq mi)
Population
 (2012)
 • Total428,000
 • Density380/km2 (990/sq mi)
Time zoneGMT +2
 • Summer (DST)+3
Area code+(962)5
Urban71.8%
Rural28.2%
HDI (2021)0.716[1]
high · 4th of 12

Balqa' (

Arabic: البلقاء 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 "

early campaign against the Arabs on the approaches to southern Syria.[2] During biblical times, the southern part of Balqa was known as the Plains of Moab.[citation needed
]

During

Battles for Amman campaign, marking the end of a 500-year Ottoman rule.[citation needed
]

On March 21, 1968, the town of

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.

First Battle of the Jordan
in World War I

Administrative divisions

The capital of the Balqa' Governorate is

Fuhais
and Ain Al-Basha.

Departments of Balqa Governorate by population (2004)[3]
Department Arabic name population (2004) Administrative Center
1 Capital Department (Al-Qasaba) لواء قصبة اﻟﺴﻠﻂ 109,877
Salt
2 Ash-Shunah al-Janubiyah District [ar] ﻟﻮاء اﻟﺸﻮﻧﺔ اﻟﺠﻨﻮﺑﻴﺔ 38,757
Shuna al-Janubiyya
3 Deir Alla District ﻟﻮاء دﻳﺮ ﻋﻼ 46,481 Deir Alla
4 Ain Al Basha District ﻟﻮاء ﻋﻴﻦ اﻟﺒﺎﺷﺎ 128,949 Ain Al-Basha
5 Mahis and Fuheis District ﻟﻮاء ﻣﺎﺣﺺ واﻟﻔﺤﻴﺺ 22,290 Mahis

Demographics

The population of districts according to census results:[4]

District Population
(Census 1994)
Population
(Census 2004)
Population
(Census 2015)
Balqa Governorate 276,082 346,354 491,709
'Aīn al-Bāshā ... 128,949 176,726
Ash-Shūnah al-Janūbīyah 33,598 38,757 52,714
Dīr 'Allā 39,538 46,481 73,477
Māḥeṣ & al-Fuḥaīṣ ... 22,290 36,670
Qaṣabah 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:

Salt. It is also home to the SESAME
facility, the first research facility of its type in the Middle East.

Gallery

  • The town of Mahis
    The town of Mahis
  • Fuheis, one of the municipalities of Balqa Governorate
    Fuheis, one of the municipalities of Balqa Governorate

References

  1. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ 2004 Census Archived July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Jordan: Administrative Division, Governorates and Districts". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 25 December 2016.