Ruwaished ( ar, الرويشد) is a town in the far east of
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. Administratively it belongs to
Mafraq Governorate
Mafraq ( ar, محافظة المفرق ''Muhāfaẓat al-Mafraq'', local dialects ''Mafrag'' or ''Mafra' '') is one of the governorates of Jordan, located to the north-east of Amman, capital of Jordan. It has a population of 287,300 (2010 estimat ...
. It has a population of 14,400 (2010 estimate). Ruwaished is the farthest Jordanian settlement to the east. The
Karameh Border Crossing
Karameh Border Crossing (Arabic: مركز حدود الكرامة) is the only border crossing between Jordan and Iraq.
On the Iraqi side there is Turaibil Border Compound (Arabic: مجمع طريبيل الحدودي).
The crossing served about ...
between
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
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.
Geography
The town is located in
Mafraq Governorate
Mafraq ( ar, محافظة المفرق ''Muhāfaẓat al-Mafraq'', local dialects ''Mafrag'' or ''Mafra' '') is one of the governorates of Jordan, located to the north-east of Amman, capital of Jordan. It has a population of 287,300 (2010 estimat ...
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
Azraq ( ar, الأزرق meaning "blue") is a small town in Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq.
History
Prehistory
Archaeol ...
. 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.
History
It is not known exactly when was the Ruwaished basin first inhibited, however existing Roman water dams, such as the Burqu Dam, indicate that the basin has been used as a traffic stop by the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
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
{{unreferenced section, date=March 2020
Agriculture constitutes the backbone of the town's legal economy.
Due to its location in plains where eight wadis converge, 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.
*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.
*Raqban Dam
*Buwaidha Dam
However close to so many borders; for some time now the main economy of the town has been cross-border smuggling.
See also
*Karameh Border Crossing
Karameh Border Crossing (Arabic: مركز حدود الكرامة) is the only border crossing between Jordan and Iraq.
On the Iraqi side there is Turaibil Border Compound (Arabic: مجمع طريبيل الحدودي).
The crossing served about ...
*Mafraq Governorate
Mafraq ( ar, محافظة المفرق ''Muhāfaẓat al-Mafraq'', local dialects ''Mafrag'' or ''Mafra' '') is one of the governorates of Jordan, located to the north-east of Amman, capital of Jordan. It has a population of 287,300 (2010 estimat ...
References
Populated places in Mafraq Governorate