Balqa' ( ar, البلقاء ''Al Balqā’'') is one of the

governorates of Jordan Jordan is divided into three regions, further into twelve governorates ('' muhafatha''), further subdivided into districts ('' liwa''), and often into sub-districts ('' qada''). 1994 reform In 1994, four new governorates were created as part of ...

. It is located northwest of

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...

, 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 Irbid or Irbed ( ar, إربد) is a governorate in Jordan, located north of Amman, the country's capital. The capital of the governorate is the city of Irbid. The governorate has the second largest population in Jordan after Amman Governorate, ...

and Jerash Governorate.

History

The " Balqa" historically referred to the entire area of the eastern plateau of the

Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

as early as the 7th century when

Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revol ...

' brother

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...

fought an early campaign against the Arabs on the approaches to southern Syria. During biblical times, the southern part of Balqa was known as the

Plains of Moab The Plains of Moab ( he, עַרְבוֹת מוֹאָב, translit=Arboth Mo'av, lit=Dry areas of Moab) are mentioned in three books of the Hebrew Bible ( Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua) as an area in Transjordan, stretching along the Jordan "a ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the British army led by General

Edmund Allenby Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led th ...

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 Al-Karameh ( ar, الكرامة), or simply Karameh, is a town in west-central Jordan, near the Allenby Bridge which spans the Jordan River. Karameh sits on the eastern bank of the river, along the border between Jordan, Israel, as well as the Is ...

near

Shouna al-Janubiyya Ash-Shunah al-Janubiyah ( ar, الشونة الجنوبية, also Shoonah Janoobiyah, South Shuna or Southern Shouneh, etc.) is a populated place in Balqa Governorate, Jordan, in the eastern Jordan Valley, not far from the place where the Jordan ...

was the site of

Battle of Karameh The Battle of Karameh ( ar, معركة الكرامة) was a 15-hour military engagement between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and combined forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) in the Jor ...

, between Israel on one side, and Jordan and

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

forces (

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and s ...

, PLO) on the other side. It was one of the largest military confrontations of the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies fro ...

, in the period between the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

of 1967 and the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

of 1973.

Ottoman prisoners being escorted from Es Salt

Administrative divisions

The capital of the Balqa' Governorate is

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

. Other cities and towns in the governorate are

Mahis Mahis ( ar, ماحص, Māḥis, alternatively spelled Mahas) is a town in the Balqa Governorate northwest from the governorate's capital Salt, and west of Amman. Its population was 17,754 in 2015. Most of the population of Mahis descends from the ...

Fuhais Fuheis ( ar, الفحيص) is a Christian majority town in the central Jordanian governorate of Balqa. It lies in Wadi Shueib between Salt and Amman, at a distance of 6 and 13 kilometers respectively. It has an elevation between 740-1050 meter ...

and Ain Al-Basha.

Demographics

The

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of districts according to

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

results:

Economy

Due to its fertile mountains, the governorate's economy is based on agriculture, and a light industry, mainly the Cement factory in

Fuheis Fuheis ( ar, الفحيص) is a Christian majority town in the central Jordanian governorate of Balqa. It lies in Wadi Shueib between Salt and Amman, at a distance of 6 and 13 kilometers respectively. It has an elevation between 740-1050 meter ...

by the Jordan Cement Factories Ltd- Lafarge. Some pharmaceutical industries are based in Salt, such as the Arab Pharmaceutical Manufacturing company. There are 2 universities in the governorate of Balqa:

Balqa Applied University Balqa may refer to the following places: *Balqa (region), the central highland region of Jordan where Amman is situated. *Balqa Governorate, one of the governorates of Jordan, covering the part of the Balqa region around the city of Salt ...

(BAU) located near the Salt Ringroad and Al-Ahliyya Amman University (AAU) located on the main highway between

and

. It is also home to the

SESAME Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cul ...

facility, the first research facility of its type in the Middle East.

Gallery

File:Mahis late winter.JPG, The town of

File:Fuheis2.JPG,

, one of the municipalities of Balqa Governorate

References

{{Authority control Governorates of Jordan