Irbid

Irbid old the Arabella , is the 3rd most populated city Jordan, 85 km in the north of the capital Amman, not far from the historic sites of Pella and Umm Qais.

It counts approximately 300.000 inhabitants, 650.000 with the agglomeration. It is the prefecture of the governorship of Irbid.

It is also the town of birth of the former Jordanian Prime Minister Wasfi Tall, with the capacity during the dramatic events of black September.

History

The city is traditionally in the center of the garden of Jordan, its most sprinkled grounds and most fertile. The hills around are cultivated since millenia.

The area is inhabited at least since the Bronze Age. It was known under the name of Arabella before the arrival of the Islam. The Moslem armies gain a decisive victory over the Byzantine in 636 with the Bataille of Yarmouk, to 30 km of the current site of Irbid. After the arrival of the Moslems, the culture of the vine is abandoned with the profit of that of the olive-tree, which remains very important today.

The city remained of very reduced size until the arrival in 1948 - 1949 and in 1967 of many refugees Palestinians, who still form for a significant share of the population.

Teaching

Irbid is the university town of Jordan. One finds in full center town the Université Yarmouk (founded in 1976, 17.000 students), and 20 km in the east the University of sciences and technology (founded in 1986, 16.500 students). The environment of Irbid is a mixture of means-Eastern conservatism and liberal influence of this important population coed, inconceivable in the other Jordanian cities of province.

Localization

The city is located on a plate dominating the valley of the the Jordan. The close tops stop the moisture come from the Mediterranean, distant of 80 km. The immediate surroundings are definitely wet (up to 600 mm of precipitations per annum) whereas to just 50 km in the east the desert extends.

The Syrian border is in the vicinity, the border post of Ramtha is with Juste 30 km. The city is a point of passage quasi obliged for the ways in the north of the country.

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