Azraq (Jordan)

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Azraq (Arabic: الأزرق ) is a small town with a population of approximately 5,000 people (1990) in central-eastern Jordan, 100km east of Amman. It is in Zarqa Governorate.

[edit] History

Azraq has long been an important settlement in a remote and now-arid desert area of Jordan. The strategic value of the town and its castle (Qasr Azraq) is that it lies in the middle of the Azraq oasis, the only permanent source of fresh water in approximately 12,000 square kilometres of desert.

The town is located on a major desert route that would have facilitated trade within the region. The Azraq oasis has a long history beginning in the Lower Palaeolithic period. Many Palaeolithic sites have been documented in the Azraq Wetlands Reserve. During the Epipalaeolithic period the oasis was also an important focus of settlement. Nabatean period settlement activity has also been documented in the area. Qasr Azraq was built by the Romans in the 3rd century A.D., and was heavily modified in the Middle Ages by the Mameluks. In the Umayyad period a water reservoir was constructed in southern Azraq. During the early 20th century Qasr Azraq was an important headquarters for T.E. Lawrence during the Arab Revolt.

[edit] Wildlife Reserve

Azraq is also notable as being the site of one of Jordan's seven protected nature reserve areas (setup by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature): the Azraq Wetlands Reserve in Azraq al-Janoubi (South Azraq).

The separate and larger Shaumari reserve is also close to Azraq, being only 10km south of the town.