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{{Short description|City in Mafraq Governorate, Jordan}}
{{For|the village in Saudi Arabia|Mafraq, Saudi Arabia}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Mafraq
| native_name        = مدينة المَفْرَق
| settlement_type    = City
<!--images and maps----------->| image_skyline      = Al-Mafraq, Jordan - panoramio.jpg
| imagesize          = 250px
| image_caption      = Mafraq city center
| image_flag         = Flag of Greater Mafraq Municipality.png
| image_seal         = <!-- Mafraqlogo.png-->
| pushpin_map        = Jordan
| pushpin_label_position = Mafraq
| coordinates        = {{coord|32.339939|36.205166|region:JO|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|Jordan}}
| subdivision_type1  = Province
| subdivision_name1  = [[Mafraq Governorate]]
| established_title  = Founded <!-- Settled -->
| established_date   = 333 B.C.
| established_title1 = Municipality established <!-- Settled -->
| established_date1  = 1945
| leader_title       = [[Mayor]]
| leader_name        = Abdullah arqan
| area_total_km2     = 14
| area_metro_km2     = 128
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 700
| population_footnotes = <ref>[http://www.mafraq.gov.jo/GeneralInformation.aspx Official city website] {{in lang|ar}}. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204213333/http://www.mafraq.gov.jo/GeneralInformation.aspx |date=2010-02-04 }}</ref>
| population_total   = 580,000
| population_as_of   = 2017
| population_Alqasaba District = 206,920
| timezone           = [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]] +2
| utc_offset         = 
| timezone_DST       = +3
| area_code          = +(962)2
| website            = {{URL|http://www.mafraq.gov.jo}}
}}
'''Mafraq''' ({{langx|ar|المفرق}} ''Al-Mafraq'', local dialects: ''Mafrag'' or ''Mafra''; {{lit|crossroads}}) is the capital city of [[Mafraq Governorate]] in [[Jordan]], located 80&nbsp;km to the north of the national capital, [[Amman]]. It is located at a crossroads, with a road north going to [[Syria]] and another road to the east going to [[Iraq]]. It had 56,340 inhabitants in 2004.

==History==
[[File:20100922 umaljamal09.jpg|thumb|left|The ancient city of [[Umm el-Jimal]]]]

Mafraq was first settled in the 4th century BC. It is located about 17&nbsp;km west of the historic [[Nabataeans|Nabataean]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] town of [[Umm el-Jimal]], which was built in the 1st century.

The city was first named "Fudain",{{when |date=April 2024}} which comes from the word for fortress in [[Arabic]].

In [[Ottoman Syria|Ottoman]] times, there was a pilgrims' inn or [[khan (inn)|''khan'']] there, known as Khan or Qal'at el-Mafraq, which was part of the [[Syrian Hajj route]], used annually by Muslims on their way to [[Medina]] and [[Mecca]].<ref name=Shqour>{{Cite book |last= Al Shqour |first= Reem Samed |title= The Aqaba Khans and the Origin of Khans in Jordan: An Archaeological Approach |year= 2019 |publisher= Gorgias Press |location= Piscataway, NJ |isbn= 978-1-4632-0651-2 |oclc= 1106116517 |chapter= Ch. 6, Late Islamic Khans of Jordan: Ottoman Khans/''Qila' '' |url= https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781463239541_A43599316/preview-9781463239541_A43599316.pdf |access-date= 27 March 2024}}</ref> The city gained more significance after the establishment of the [[Hejaz Railway]] connecting Damascus (and by extension Istanbul) to Medina in 1908. The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]] renamed the city "Mafraq", which means "crossroads" in Arabic.

[[File:Z Mafraq JO 18.jpg|thumb|left|A tank on display in the Martyrs Memorial in Mafraq]]

Mafraq was the location of a British military base and airport during the British post-[[WWI]] [[League of Nations mandate|Mandate]]. During the [[Second World War]], the city's military base hosted British troops from India, Australia and other British colonies. It later became the base for the [[Arab Legion]] during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]. Mafraq is the headquarters of the Third Division of the [[Jordanian Army]]. [[King Hussein Air College]] and an air base of the [[Royal Jordanian Air Force]] are also located in the city.

In 1945, the Municipality of Mafraq was established, with Ali Abdeyyah as its first mayor.

As of 2016, 50% of the population of Mafraq were [[Refugees of the Syrian Civil War|Syrian refugees]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Increasingly, hungry refugees receive aid not as food, but as cash|url=https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21707983-increasingly-hungry-refugees-receive-aid-not-food-cash-fat-help|accessdate=4 October 2016|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=1 October 2016}}</ref>

==Geography==
The city of Mafraq is located in northern Jordan at the boundary between the [[Hauran]] plateau and the [[Syrian Desert]], about 80&nbsp;km north of [[Amman]]. It is the capital and largest city of Mafraq Governorate. The city is close to three major cities in the region, Amman to the south, [[Irbid]] to the west, and [[Damascus]] to the north.

==Climate==
Mafraq has a [[cold semi-arid climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''BSk''). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Mafraq is {{convert|16.6|°C|1}}. About {{convert|184|mm|2|abbr=on}} of precipitation falls annually.

{{Weather box|width=auto
|metric first=y
|single line=y 
|collapsed = Y
|location =  Mafraq, elevation {{convert|683|m|ft|abbr=on}} (1991–2020 normals)
|Jan high C = 13.5
|Feb high C = 15.2
|Mar high C = 19.5
|Apr high C = 24.6
|May high C = 29.5
|Jun high C = 32.3
|Jul high C = 34.1
|Aug high C = 34.0
|Sep high C = 31.7
|Oct high C = 28.0
|Nov high C = 21.0
|Dec high C = 15.4
| year high C = 
|Jan mean C = 8.0
|Feb mean C = 9.4
|Mar mean C = 12.7
|Apr mean C = 16.8
|May mean C = 21.2
|Jun mean C = 23.9
|Jul mean C = 25.8
|Aug mean C = 25.8
|Sep mean C = 24.0
|Oct mean C = 20.3
|Nov mean C = 14.3
|Dec mean C = 9.7
| year mean C = 
|Jan low C = 2.5
|Feb low C = 3.6
|Mar low C = 6.0
|Apr low C = 9.1
|May low C = 12.7
|Jun low C = 15.3
|Jul low C = 17.4
|Aug low C = 17.8
|Sep low C = 15.9
|Oct low C = 12.7
|Nov low C = 7.5
|Dec low C = 3.8
| year low C = 
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 37.0
|Feb precipitation mm = 28.3
|Mar precipitation mm = 15.6
|Apr precipitation mm = 5.3
|May precipitation mm = 1.5
|Jun precipitation mm = 0.2
|Jul precipitation mm = 0.0
|Aug precipitation mm = 0.0
|Sep precipitation mm = 0.0
|Oct precipitation mm = 4.5
|Nov precipitation mm = 15.3
|Dec precipitation mm = 26.9
|year precipitation mm = 
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 5.7
| Feb precipitation days = 5.5
| Mar precipitation days = 3.0
| Apr precipitation days = 1.5
| May precipitation days = 0.4
| Jun precipitation days = 0.1
| Jul precipitation days = 0.0
| Aug precipitation days = 0.0
| Sep precipitation days = 0.0
| Oct precipitation days = 1.0
| Nov precipitation days = 2.8
| Dec precipitation days = 4.7
| year precipitation days =
|source 1 =Starlings Roost Weather<ref>{{cite web |url=http://starlingsroost.ddns.net/weather/worldclimate/graphs.php?climate=9120&code=40265
|title= MAFRAQ Climate: 1991–2020
|publisher=Starlings Roost Weather
|access-date= 21 December 2024}}</ref>}}

[[File:Prisoners.jpg|thumb|right|Prisoners of war being escorted to the military base in Mafraq in 1948]]

==Transport==
The international highway that connects Damascus to [[Riyadh]] passes through the city. Mafraq has a station on the {{railgauge|1050mm}} national railway system.
[[File:JHR Bahnhof Marfaq.jpg|thumb|left|The railway station in Mafraq]]

==Education==
[[Al al-Bayt University]] is the only university in the city. It was established in 1992 and is located on the south-eastern outskirts of Mafraq city.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aabu.edu.jo/aboutAABU/genInfo.html |title=Al al-Bayt University |accessdate=21 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234018/http://www.aabu.edu.jo/aboutAABU/genInfo.html |archivedate=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[King Hussein Air Base]] {{airport codes|OMF|OJMF}}
* [[Railway stations in Jordan]]
* [[List of cities in Jordan]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160109235654/http://www.mafraq.gov.jo/ Official website]
* [https://acor.digitalrelab.com/index.php?s=filter=place_name:Al%20Mafraq%20(Jordan) Photos of Al Mafraq] at the [[American Center of Research]]

{{Ottoman hajj routes}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in Mafraq Governorate]]