Ma'an
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Ma'an
مدينة معان | |
|---|---|
City | |
| Nickname: Capital of the Great Arab Revolt | |
| Country | Jordan |
| Governorate | Ma'an Governorate |
| Municipality established | 1898 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Mayor | Khalid Alshummary |
| Area | |
| • City | 2.9 sq mi (7.5 km2) |
| • Metro | 40 sq mi (100 km2) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • City | 50,350 |
| Time zone | GMT +2 |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 |
| Area code | +(962)3 |
| Website | http://www.maan.gov.jo |
Ma'an (Arabic: معان) is a town in southern Jordan 218 km away from the capital Amman. It is the capital of Ma'an Governorate. Ma'an has a population of around 50,000. The city had a population of 22,989 in the 1992 census and is estimated as being about 50,000 as of 2007 according to the Ma'an Municipality.[1] Civilizations with the name of Ma'an have existed since at least Nabatean times - the modern city is to the north and west of the ancient town. The city is an important transport hub situated on the ancient King's Highway and also on the modern Desert Highway. Ma'an was the site of clashes between the Jordanian army and Islamic groups in 2002 after the death of a U.S. diplomat.
History
in the pre-Islamic times Ma'an was inhabited by the Ghassanids, who installed Farwa Al-Juthamiyy as Emir on Ma'an. The Ghassanide kingdom was under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, and followed the Christian faith. After the Battle of Mu'tah, Farwa was accused of being muslim, the Ghassanids arrested Farwa and crucified him, near the Afra hot springs, in response, the newly formed muslim state in Medina, sent an army led by Ussama bin Zaid, who conquered Ma'an.
When the Umayyads took control of the muslim empire, Ma'an flourished, and is until today a major hub and a rest area for the pilgrims coming from Syria and Turkey on their way to Mecca. In 1559, the Ottomans built the Saraya fort in Ma'an, to be a rest area for the pilgrims going to Mecca. In 1902 the Ma'an train station connected the city to Damascus in Syria, and Medina in the Hejaz. Following the fall of Damascus to the French in 1920 after the Battle of Maysaloon, Emir Abdullah arrived to Ma'an to gather support and reorganize the Arab forces to reclaim Syria, on 5 January 1920, he issued a statement to call for war against the occupation of Syria, later in that year a small force was organized and named the Arab Army, and was the nucleus of the later to be known the Arab Legion.
Climate
Ma'an has an arid climate with hot summers and mild to cold winters with most rainfall falling during the winter.
| Climate data for Ma'an, Jordan | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.4 (56.1) |
15.4 (59.7) |
19.0 (66.2) |
24.2 (75.6) |
28.7 (83.7) |
32.4 (90.3) |
33.9 (93.0) |
34.1 (93.4) |
32.3 (90.1) |
27.2 (81.0) |
20.3 (68.5) |
15.1 (59.2) |
24.7 (76.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 7.5 (45.5) |
9.1 (48.4) |
12.2 (54.0) |
16.9 (62.4) |
20.8 (69.4) |
24.0 (75.2) |
25.5 (77.9) |
25.6 (78.1) |
23.8 (74.8) |
19.5 (67.1) |
13.5 (56.3) |
9.0 (48.2) |
17.3 (63.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.6 (34.9) |
2.8 (37.0) |
5.3 (41.5) |
9.5 (49.1) |
13.0 (55.4) |
15.6 (60.1) |
17.2 (63.0) |
17.2 (63.0) |
15.4 (59.7) |
11.7 (53.1) |
6.8 (44.2) |
3.0 (37.4) |
9.9 (49.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 7.1 (0.28) |
7.3 (0.29) |
6.9 (0.27) |
3.6 (0.14) |
2.0 (0.08) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.2 (0.01) |
3.8 (0.15) |
4.3 (0.17) |
7.5 (0.30) |
42.7 (1.69) |
| Average precipitation days | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 9.3 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 229.4 | 228.8 | 263.5 | 270.0 | 322.4 | 369.0 | 384.4 | 365.8 | 318.0 | 291.4 | 246.0 | 223.2 | 3,511.9 |
| Source: Hong Kong Observatory,[2] | |||||||||||||
Education
Al-Hussein Bin Talal University is the only university in Ma'an, it offers a range of 38 undergraduate degrees, these being across the disciplines of engineering, arts, science, business administration, archaeology, education and nursing. It also offers postgraduate diplomas in education and in higher administration.
The university is located on the outskirts of the City of Ma'an.
Economy
A new economic zone was established to encourage new industries to operate in the Ma'an Special Economic Zone.
Famous people from Ma'an
- Bahjat Talhouni. Former Prime Minister
- Tawfiq Kreishan. Deputy Prime Minister
- Omar Maani. Mayor of Amman
- Nabil Talhouni. Ambassador of Jordan. Kuwait (1987-1990) Austria (1991-1993) U.A.E (1997-1999) India (2001-2005)
- Saad Abudayeh. Author. Chairman of the Political Science Department at the University of Jordan
References
- ^ "Jordan: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population". Worldgazetteer. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
- ^ "Climatological Information for Ma'an, Jordan". Hong Kong Observatory.
External links
30°11.6′N 35°44′E / 30.1933°N 35.733°E
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