Introducation of Zarqa

Zarqa (az-Zarqa, local dialects ez-Zerga or ez-Zer’a, “The Blue One") is a city in Jordan located in the northwest of Amman. It has 792,665 inhabitants (2000) with a percentage of 15.5% of Jordan’s population. Zarqa is the capital of Zarqa Governorate (Arabic Muhafazat az-Zarqa).

Zarqa is Jordan’s industrial center, with 50% of the country’s industry located in the city. This is the result of inexpensive real estate and the city’s closeness to Amman. People from all over the kingdom have moved there since the 1940’s. Additionally, more than 50% of its population have came from Palestine after the Israeli invasion of the West Bank. Its climate is desert like. The majority of peoples work in low income jobs like soldiers, technichians and laborers.

Zarqa became known outside Jordan when, on September 6, 1970, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked four passenger aircraft from Pan Am, TWA and Swissair on flights to New York from Brussels, Frankfurt and Zurich; and on September 9, 1970, hijacked a BOAC flight from Bombay to Rome.

The TWA, Swissair and BOAC flights, and their 400 passengers, were diverted to what became known as Dawson’s Field in Zarqa. The passengers were released and the aircraft were subsequently blown up by the PFLP on September 12.