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. Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a residential community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer) (symbol: km) is a unit of length equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words khilia = thousand and metro = count/measure). ... For other meanings, see Amman (disambiguation) and Ammann. ... Zarqa (Arabic الزرقاء az-Zarqā, local dialects ez-Zergā or ez-Zera, The Blue One) is one of the governorates of Jordan. ...

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. The Lower Paleolithic or Palaeolithic refers to the earliest period of human existence, the first of the three Paleolithic (Stone Age) periods. ... The Epipalaeolithic (or Epi-Palaeolithic, Epipaleolithic, or Epi-Paleolithic) was a period in the development of human technology that immediately precedes the neolithic period, as an alternative to mesolithic. ... Petra, the Nabataean capital The Nabataeans, a people of ancient Arabia, whose settlements in the time of Josephus gave the name of Nabatene to the border-land between Syria and Arabia from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. ... An Ottoman Mamluk, from 1810 Mamluks (or Mameluks) (the Arabic word usually translates as owned, singular: مملوك plural: مماليك) comprised slave soldiers used by the Muslim Caliphs and the Ottoman Empire, and who on more than one occasion seized power for... The Courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, one of the grandest architectural legacies of the Umayyads. ... Thomas Edward Lawrence (August 16, 1888 – May 19, 1935), also known as Lawrence of Arabia, and (apparently, among his Arab allies) Aurens or El Aurens, became famous for his role as a British liaison officer during the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918. ... Combatants Hashemite Arabs Great Britain Ottoman Empire Commanders Faisal T.E. Lawrence Ahmed Djemal Strength 5,000 (?) 25,000 (?) This article is about the Arab Revolt of 1916. ...

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 Royal Society for The Conservation of Nature (RSCN) is an independent voluntary organization devoted to the conservation of Jordans natural resources established in 1966 under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Noor with the late King Hussein as Honorary President. ...

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

Coordinates: 31°50′ N 36°49′ E (31.8333333333, 36.8166666667) Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...