Aqaba

For other uses, see Al Aqabah (disambiguation).

Aqaba
الْعَقَبَة
City
Clockwise from the left top: Aqaba's skyline, Aqaba Fort and Aqaba Fields, Al-Hammamat Al-Tunisyya Street in Down Town, Resort in Aqaba, Ayla old City, Aqaba Port, Aqaba Flagpole.
Clockwise from the left top: Aqaba's skyline, Aqaba Fort and Aqaba Fields, Al-Hammamat Al-Tunisyya Street in Down Town, Resort in Aqaba, Ayla old City, Aqaba Port, Aqaba Flagpole.
Nickname: 
The Bride of the Red Sea
Location of Aqaba
Aqaba is located in Jordan
Aqaba
Aqaba
Coordinates: 29°31′55″N 35°00′20″E / 29.53194°N 35.00556°E / 29.53194; 35.00556
Country Jordan
GovernorateAqaba Governorate
Founded4000 BC
Authority2001
Area
 • City375 km2 (145 sq mi)
Elevation
6 m (20 ft)
Population
 (2021)
 • City95,048 [1]
 • Density502/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
 • Urban
148,398
DemonymAqabawi
Time zone+2 Eastern European Standard Time
 • Summer (DST)+3 Arabia Standard Time
Postal code
77110
Area code+(962)3
Website

Aqaba (English: /ˈækəbə/ AK-ə-bə,[2] US also /ˈɑːk-/ AHK-;[3] Arabic: الْعَقَبَة, romanized: al-ʿAqaba, pronounced [ælˈʕæqɑba, ælˈʕæɡæba]) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba.[4] Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate.[5] The city had a population of 148,398 in 2015 and a land area of 375 square kilometres (144.8 sq mi).[6] Today, Aqaba plays a major role in the development of the Jordanian economy, through the vibrant trade and tourism sectors. The Port of Aqaba also serves other countries in the region.[7]

Aqaba's strategic location at the northeastern tip of the Red Sea between the continents of Asia and Africa has made its port important throughout thousands of years.[7] The ancient city was called Elath, adopted in Latin as Aela and in Arabic as Ayla. Its strategic location and proximity to copper mines made it a regional hub for copper production and trade in the Chalcolithic period.[8] Aela became a bishopric under Byzantine rule and later became a Latin Catholic titular see after Islamic conquest around AD 650, when it became known as Ayla; the name Aqaba is late medieval.[9] The Great Arab Revolt's Battle of Aqaba resulted in victory for Arab forces over the Ottoman defenders.[10]

Aqaba's location next to Wadi Rum and Petra has placed it in Jordan's golden triangle of tourism, which strengthened the city's location on the world map and made it one of the major tourist attractions in Jordan.[11] The city is administered by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, which has turned Aqaba into a low-tax, duty-free city, attracting several mega projects like Ayla Oasis, Saraya Aqaba, Marsa Zayed and expansion of the Port of Aqaba.[12] They are expected to turn the city into a major tourism hub in the region.[13] However, industrial and commercial activities remain important, due to the strategic location of the city as the country's only seaport.[14] The city sits right across the border from Eilat, likewise Israel's only port on the Red Sea. After the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty, there were plans and hopes of establishing a trans-border tourism and economic area, but few of those plans have come to fruition.[15][16][17]

  1. ^ "The General Census – 2015" (PDF). Department of Population Statistics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  2. ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 3-12-539683-2
  3. ^ "Aqaba". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  4. ^ "العقبة.. مدينة الشمس والبـــحر والسلام". Ad Dustour (in Arabic). 1 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016. [permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Fact Sheet". Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority. Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority. 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  6. ^ Ghazal, Mohammad (22 January 2016). "Population stands at around 10.24 million, including 2.9 million guests". The Jordan Times. The Jordan News. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Port expansion strengthens Jordanian city of Aqaba's position as modern shipping hub". The Worldfolio. Worldfolio Ltd. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  8. ^ Florian Klimscha (2011), Long-range Contacts in the Late Chalcolithic of the Southern Levant. Excavations at Tall Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan and Tall al-Magass near Aqaba, Jordan, archived from the original on 31 August 2021, retrieved 22 April 2016
  9. ^ "العقبة.. ثغر الاردن الباسم". Ad-Dustor Newspaper. 21 June 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  10. ^ "The Taking of Akaba – 1917 – T.E. Lawrence, Auda abu Tayi, Prince Feisal, Port of Aqaba". www.cliohistory.org. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  11. ^ "Jordan tapping popularity of UEFA Champions League to promote tourism". The Jordan Times. The Jordan News. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  12. ^ "King checks on Aqaba Mega-Projects". The Jordan Times. 7 June 2012. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Aqaba has caught mega-project fever from its Gulf neighbours". Your Middle East. 29 April 2013. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  14. ^ Jean-Eric Aubert; Jean-Louis Reiffers (2003). Knowledge Economies in the Middle East and North Africa: Toward New Development Strategies. World Bank Publications. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-8213-5701-9. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  15. ^ "Cross border interactions across a formerly hostile border: The case of Eilat, Israel and Aqaba, Jordan". Researchgate.net. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  16. ^ Gradus, Yehuda (1 May 2001). "Is Eilat-Aqaba a bi-national city? Can economic opportunities overcome the barriers of politics and psychology?". GeoJournal. 54 (1): 85–99. doi:10.1023/A:1021196800473. S2CID 141312410. Retrieved 5 December 2021 – via Springer Link.
  17. ^ "Working Paper 15 : Municipal Cooperation across Securitized Borders in the PostConflict Environment: The Gulf of Aqaba" (PDF). Euborderscapes.eu. Retrieved 5 December 2021.