Aqaba ( ''al-ʻAqabah'') is one of the

governorates of Jordan Jordan is divided into twelve historical regions (''muhafazah, almanatiq altaarikhia''), further subdivided into districts (''Liwa (Arabic), liwa''), and often into sub-districts (''qada (sub-district), qada''). 1994 reform In 1994, four new gov ...

, located south of

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

, capital of

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. Its capital is

Aqaba Aqaba ( , ; , ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...

. It is the fourth largest governorate in Jordan by area and is ranked 10th by population. Aqaba, the port at the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, plays an important role in the economic life of Jordan. Two of Jordan's top three tourist destinations lie in Aqaba Governorate,

Wadi Rum Wadi Rum ( ''Wādī Ramm'', also ''Wādī al-Ramm''), known also as the Valley of the Moon ( ''Wādī al-Qamar''), is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan, near the border with Saudi Arabia and about to the east of ...

, and the port city of

. The port is Jordan's most important import/export hub. The industrial port lies about 15 km to the south from the beaches and the Aqaba city center.

Geography

Aqaba Governorate lies in the south western tip of Jordan, it borders

Ma'an Governorate Ma'an () is one of the governorates of Jordan. It is located south of Amman, Jordan's capital. Its capital is the city of Ma'an. This governorate is the largest in the kingdom of Jordan by area. History The land of the Governorate of Ma'an host ...

from the east,

Tafilah Governorate Tafilah () is one of the governorates of Jordan, located about 180 km south-west of Amman, Jordan's capital. Tafilah Governorate is bordered by Karak Governorate to the north, Ma'an Governorate to the east and south, Aqaba Governorate to th ...

from the north, Saudi Arabia from the south, Israel from the west, and the

Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba () or Gulf of Eilat () is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian Peninsula. Its coastline is divided among four countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. ...

from the southwest. There are two international crossing points in Aqaba Governorate, the Durra Border Crossing and Wadi Araba crossing. The Jordanian- Saudi border originally ran a few kilometers south of Aqaba. In 1965 the late King

Hussein Hussein, Hossein, Hussain, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein, Hussin, Hoessein, Houcine, Hocine or Husain (; ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-N (), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", "handsome" or ...

exchanged of the valuable coastal strip for areas in the desert.

History

The city of

was inhabited since 4000 BC, it reached its peak during the Roman era, when the Romans constructed the

Via Traiana Nova The or for, la, Via Nova Traiana, Trajan's New Road, previously known as the ''Via Regia'' or King's Highway, was an ancient Roman road built by Emperor Trajan in the province of Arabia Petraea, from Aqaba on the Red Sea to Bostra. It was sp ...

route that terminates in

. Aqaba (known then as Ayla) was also the garrison of the Roman 10th Legion of the Sea Strait (Legio X Fretensis). Aqaba was also the site of some of the adventures of

Sinbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (; or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a Literary cycle, story-cycle. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages thr ...

in the famous Arabian Nights. In modern history, the city of Aqaba is known for Lawrence of Arabia and the

Battle of Aqaba The Battle of Aqaba was fought for the Red Sea port of Aqaba (now in Jordan) during the Arab Revolt of World War I. The attacking forces, led by Sherif Nasir and Auda abu Tayi and advised by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), were victoriou ...

, one of the key battles in World War I in the Middle East. The greatest archaeological treasure of the region is

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

. Petra lies on the eastern slope of

Mount Hor Mount Hor (Hebrew: , romanized: ''Hōr hāHār'') is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to two distinct mountains. One borders the land of Edom in the area south of the Dead Sea, and the other is by the Mediterranean Sea at the Northern border ...

in Wādī ʻAraba, a section of the

Rift Valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges produced by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear ...

that runs from the

on the

to the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

. The oldest script written in Arabic alphabets was found in

in Aqaba Governorate, and dates back to the 4th century.

Economy

The governorate's population depends heavily on tourism as a major source of income. The port of

is the only sea port for Jordan. Almost all of Jordan's foreign trade comes through Aqaba. During the Iraqi-Iranian War, Iraq used the port of Aqaba for its foreign trade.

Administrative divisions

Aqaba Governorate is divided into three departments according to article 15 of the Administrative Divisions System of the year 2000 by the Ministry of Interior:

Demographics

The

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of districts according to

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

results:

Gallery

File:AqabaVueDeLaMer.JPG, The city of

is the capital of Aqaba Governorate File:Wadi Rum2.jpeg,

File:Aqaba Railway Corporation BW 1.JPG, A train coming from the port of

File:Aqaba Subdistrict Map.png, Aqaba Subdistrict Map

References

{{Authority control Governorates of Jordan Aqaba