page_title: Zarqa Governorate
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Zarqa Governorate / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Self made at the Azraq wetlands reserve.
context_page_description: Zarqa Governorate is the third largest governorate in Jordan by population. The capital of Zarqa governorate is Zarqa City, which is the largest city in the governorate. It is located 25 kilometres east of the Jordanian capital Amman. The second largest city in the governorate is Russeifa.
  Zarqa Governorate hosts the largest military and air bases of the Jordanian armed forces.
context_section_description: The land of Zarqa Governorate has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, most prominent were the Ammonite kingdom and the Nabateans, who constructed the fort known as Qasr al Hallabat, which then was used as a fort by the Romans, and then as a desert palace by the Umayyads.
  The most significant historical remains are the Umayyad desert palaces, such as Qasr Amra, a World Heritage site, Qasr al Hallabat, Qasr Shabib in the center of the city of Zarqa, as well as the Castle of Azraq.
  After the construction of the Hedjaz railway by the Ottoman Turks at the beginning of the 1900s, Zarqa became a strategically important hub that connects Damascus to Medina, the cities along the railway started flourishing. Later, Jordan's Arab Legion led by Glubb Pasha had its main bases in Zarqa.
caption: The wetlands in Azraq
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