Tafilah

Tafilah (Tafila) مدينة الطفيلة Tophel (in Edomite)
Ceety
Tafilah (Tafila)
Coordinates: 30°50′24″N 35°36′0″E
Kintra	Jordan
Province	Tafilah Governorate
Foondit	1100 B.C.
Municipality established	1914
Govrenment
• Teep	Municipality
• Mayor	Khalid Huneifat
Area
• Ceety	18.518 km2 (7.150 sq mi)
• Metro	38.771 km2 (14.970 sq mi)
Elevation	940 m (3,080 ft)
Population  (2009)
• Metro	38,428
Time zone	GMT +2
• Summer (DST)	+3
Area code(s)	+(962)3
Website	http://www.tafila.jo

for the veelage in Yemen see Tafilah, Yemen

At-Tafilah (an aa spelled Tafila) (Arabic: الطفيلة‎) is a sma ceety wi a population o 39,000 fowk in soothren Jordan, locatit 183 kilometers (114 mi) soothwast o Amman. It is the caipital ceety o Tafilah Govrenorate. It is well-kent for haein green gardens which contain olive an fig trees, an grape-vines. The ceety o Tafilah wis first biggit bi the Edomites an wis cried Tophel.

Thare are mair nor 360 natural springs in the at-Tafilah aurie, includin the natural reservoir o Dana an het natural springs at Afra an Borbeata. Thare are twa phosphate an cement mines in at-Tafilah which are ane o the kintra's main income soorces.

History

As ither pairts o the Levant, signs o inhabitation in Tafilah Govrenorate hae been foond datin frae the Palaeolithic periods. In 1984 a team o archeologists frae the University o Arizona discovered Stane tuils estimatit at 90,000 year auld in caves in Ain Defla an Hessa. Awtho nae human remains coud iver be foond datin frae that era, the discoveries o prehistoric tuils supplied scientists wi muckle information aboot human ceevilization stages in the Levant

The auldest kent civilization tae establish a kinrick on Tafilah soils wis the kinrick o Edom, the ceety o Tafilah lies on the ruins o the Edomite ceety o Tophel. The caipital o Edom wis at Busairah 23 Km tae the sooth o Tafilah. The Edomites aften allied wi thair neighbors in Moab. Tafilah wis then annexed tae the Nabatean kinrick who haed thair caipital in Petra, follaeing the Roman invasion, it wis ruled bi the Ghassanids, unner Roum's authority.

Tafilah then came unner Muslim rule, but wis for a brief period o time, unner the Crusader rule.

Education

Thare is ane varsity in Tafilah, Tafila Technical University, the varsity wis foondit in 1986 as a varsity college. The college then expandit tae a varsity in 2005. the varsity as o the academic year 2009/2010 includes sax colleges.

Districts

The ceety o Tafilah is organized intae sax districts:

• Al Een (منطقة العيص)
• Al Baqee' (منطقة البقيع)
• Wadi Zaid (منطقة البقيع)
• Aimah (منطقة عيمه)
• Al Hussein (منطقة الحسين )
• Ain Al Baidha (منطقة العين البيضاء)

Economy

Awtho Tafilah Govrenorate is rich in its history, whaur it wis the land o the auncient kinrick o Edom, it haes ane o the lawest nummer o tourists in Jordan. This is due tae the fact that Tafilah is a "locked ceety", i.e. the internaitional hieways dae no pass throu or nearbi the ceety, the twa internaitional hieways connectin north tae sooth Jordan are the Dead Sea hieway (Highway 65) an the Desert Hieway (Hieway 15), tae go tae Tafilah frae the Desert Highway, ane must tak hieway 60 wast at Jurf Al Darawish.

Housomeivver, Tafilah Govrenorate is rich in its natural resoorces, Copper reserves in the govrenorate are estimatit at ane million tons, an hauf million tons o Manganese. While Phosphate minin is ane o the main industries in the govrenorate.

The touns in Tafilah govrenorate are maistly locatit at elevations exceedin 1000m abuin sea level. In the year 2008 thare wis a tot aurie o 42.210 Km² o fruit an olive farms in Tafilah Govrenorate o which mair nor 31 Km² wur olive farms. In the tourism section, Tafilah depends maistly on the naitional tourists frae ither pairts o the kinrick who veesit the het water springs an the natural reserves in the govrenorate.