Baqa'a refugee camp
The **Baqa'a refugee camp** (Arabic: البقعة) is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, and it is one of the six "emergency" camps that were established in 1968 with the aim of accommodating Palestinian refugees and displaced persons who left the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Location
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The camp is located on the northwestern border of the Jordanian capital, Amman, 20 kilometers north of Amman on the "Amman-Irbid" road, near the Sweileh area. It is affiliated with the Ain Al-Basha in the Balqa Governorate.

History
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In the period between June 1967 and February 1968, refugees and displaced persons were accommodated in temporary camps in the Jordan Valley area, but they were transferred when military operations escalated in the area.

When al-Baqa'a camp was established, it was a large camp, with 5,000 tents designated to accommodate 26,000 refugees over an area of 1.4 square kilometres. Between 1969 and 1971, UNRWA replaced the tents with a total of 8,000 pre-built houses in order to protect people from the harsh winter conditions in Jordan. Since then, most of the residents have built stronger and more durable concrete housing.

The land of the camp is owned by the Al-Wareikat (Al-Adwan) clan, and the Jordanian government leased it to UNRWA. In 1950, UNRWA set up tents for the displaced in the areas called "Palestinian camps" on government land and private land leased or acquired by the Jordanian government from its owners. The camp is surrounded by agricultural lands irrigated by groundwater. In the eighties, the Baqa’a basin was classified as the second largest area in agricultural production after the Jordan Valley, where there were approximately 5,000 greenhouses, but now, after legalizing the use of groundwater, it has become the fifth area in agricultural production.


| * v
* t
* e
Palestine refugee camps locations and populations as of 2015 |
| --- |
| 

|  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  Gaza Strip518,000 UNRWA refugees |  West Bank188,150 UNRWA refugees |  Syria319,958 UNRWA refugees |  Lebanon188,850 UNRWA refugees |  Jordan355,500 UNRWA refugees |
| 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Al-Shati (Beach camp) | 87,000 |
| Bureij |  34,000 |
| Deir al-Balah |  21,000 |
| Jabalia |  110,000 |
| Khan Yunis |  72,000 |
| Maghazi |  24,000 |
| Nuseirat |  66,000 |
| Rafah |  104,000 |
| Canada Camp |  closed |

 | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Aqabat Jaber | 6,400 |
| Ein as-Sultan |  1,900 |
| Far'a |  7,600 |
| Fawwar |  8,000 |
| Jalazone |  11,000 |
| Kalandia Camp |  11,000 |
| Am'ari |  10,500 |
| Deir 'Ammar |  2,400 |
| Dheisheh |  13,000 |
| Aida |  4,700 |
| Al-Arroub |  10,400 |
| Askar |  15,900 |
| Balata Camp |  23,600 |
| 'Azza (Beit Jibrin)  |  1,000 |
| Ein Beit al-Ma' (Camp No. 1) |  6,750 |
| Tulkarm Camp |  18,000 |
| Nur Shams |  9,000 |
| Jenin Camp |  16,000 |
| Shu'fat Camp |  11,000 |
| Silwad |

 | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Sbeineh | 22,600 |
| Khan al-Shih |  20,000 |
| Neirab |  20,500 |
| Homs |  22,000 |
| Jaramana camp |  18,658 |
| Daraa camp  |  10,000 |
| Hama camp  |  8,000 |
| Khan Dannun |  10,000 |
| Qabr Essit |  23,700 |
|  |  |
| **Unofficial camps** |
| Ein Al-Tal |  6,000 |
| Latakia Camp |  10,000 |
| Yarmouk |  148,500 |

 | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Bourj el-Barajneh | 17,945 |
| Ain al-Hilweh |  54,116 |
| El Buss |  11,254 |
| Nahr al-Bared |  5,857 |
| Shatila |  9,842 |
| Wavel |  8,806 |
| Mar Elias |  662 |
| Mieh Mieh |  5,250 |
| Beddawi |  16,500 |
| Burj el-Shemali |  22,789 |
| Dbayeh camp  |  4,351 |
| Rashidieh |  31,478 |
|  |  |
| **Former camps** |
| Tel al-Zaatar |  ? |
| Nabatieh refugee camp |  ? |

 | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Zarqa camp | 20,000 |
| Jabal el-Hussein |  29,000 |
| Amman New Camp (Wihdat)  |  51,500 |
| Souf |  20,000 |
| Baqa'a |  104,000 |
| Husn (Martyr Azmi el-Mufti camp)  |  22,000 |
| Irbid camp |  25,000 |
| Jerash camp |  24,000 |
| Marka |  53,000 |
| Talbieh |  8,000 |

 |

 |
| **References**
1. ↑  "Camp Profiles". *unrwa.org*. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
 |

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