Tafilah

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title: "Tafilah" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-tafilah-governorate"] topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-tafilah-governorate" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafilah" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
official_name	Tafilah
native_name	الطفيلة
other_name	Tophel (in Edomite)
settlement_type	City
	image_skyline
image_caption	Tafilah
image_flag	Flag of Greater Tafilah Municipality.png
image_seal	Tafilah Logo.jpg
pushpin_map	Jordan
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Jordan
subdivision_type1	Governorate
subdivision_name1	Tafilah Governorate
government_type	Municipality
established_title	Founded
established_date	1100 B.C.
established_title2	Municipality established
established_date2	1914
leader_title	Mayor
leader_name	Khalid Huneifat
area_total_km2	18.518
area_total_sq_mi	7.149
area_metro_km2	38.771
area_metro_sq_mi	15.355
population_as_of	2015
population_total	27,559
population_metro	60,803
population_footnotes
timezone	GMT +2
timezone_DST	+3
coordinates
grid_name	PAL
grid_position	207/028
area_code	+(962)3
elevation_m	940
elevation_ft	3,084
website	https://web.archive.org/web/20100719221142/http://www.tafila.jo/
::

Tafilah (, ), also spelled Tafila, is a city with a population of 27,559 people in southwestern Jordan, located 183 km southwest of Amman. It is the capital of Tafilah Governorate. It is well known for having green gardens which contain olive and fig trees, and grape-vines. Tafilah was first built by the Edomites and was called Tophel.

There are more than 360 natural springs in the Tafilah nahia, including the natural reservoir of Dana and hot natural springs at Afra and Burbeita. There are two phosphate and limestones mines in the Tafilah nahia, which are one of the country's main income sources.

History

Iron Age to Crusader period

The oldest state formation in Tafilah and South Jordan was the kingdom of Edom, and Tafilah lies on the ruins of the Edomite city of Tophel. The capital of Edom was Bozrah, now known as Busairah, 23 km to the south of Tafilah. Tafilah was later annexed by the Nabatean kingdom, which had its capital at Petra. Following the Roman invasion, it was ruled by the Ghassanids, under Byzantine authority. Tafilah then came under Muslim rule, interrupted for a brief period of time by Crusader rule. A certain Martin, who was a lord of Tafilah during the Crusader period, is mentioned in a text dated 1177. The remains beneath an Ottoman fort in Tafilah appear to belong to a Crusader castle.

Ottoman rule

In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of Tafili, situated in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Karak, part of the Sanjak of Ajlun. It had 33 households who were Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat (6300 a.), barley (3200 a.), olive trees/vineyards/fruit trees (2500 a.), a special product (bayt al–mal), goats and bee-hives (200 a.); in addition to occasional revenues (180 a.), and a market toll (120 a.). Their total tax was 12,500 akçe.

During the Arab Revolt, in January 1918, Tafilah and the region around it were captured in the Battle of Tafilah, thanks to what was described as a "brilliant feat of arms", by Arab troops under the command of T. E. Lawrence, Jaafar Pasha Al-Askari, and Prince Zeid bin Hussein.

Population

In 1961, there were 4,506 inhabitants in Tafila. By 2015, the population had grown to 27,559, resulting in a growth rate of 512.5% from 1961 to 2015.

Education

There is one university in Tafilah, Tafila Technical University. Founded in 1986 as a university college, it expanded to a university in 2005. The university as of the academic year 2009/2010 includes six colleges.

Districts

The city of Tafilah is organized into six districts:

'Ayes (منطقة العيص)
Baqee' (منطقة البقيع)
Wadi Zaid (منطقة وادي زيد)
Aima (منطقة عيمة)
Al Hussein (منطقة الحسين )
Ain Baida (منطقة العين البيضاء)
Mansoura (منطقه المنصورة)

Economy

Agriculture

The region's economy depends partially on agriculture. The towns in the governorate are mostly located at elevations exceeding 1000m above sea level, with Tafilah at 940m above sea level, and the governorate receives an average annual rainfall of 240 mm.

Natural Resources

Tafilah Governorate is rich in natural resources. Reserves in the governorate are estimated at one million tons of copper and half a million tons of manganese, and phosphate. Which Tafilah and Jordan economy depends on.

Tourism

Although Tafilah is rich in history, it attracts fewer tourists compared to other Jordanian cities. The main reason is that Tafilah is off the major tourist routes and highways that do not pass through or near the city. The two main highways connecting northern and southern Jordan through Tafilah Governorate are the Jordan Valley Highway (Highway 65) and the Desert Highway (Highway 15) which are far from Tafilah City; to reach Tafilah from the Desert Highway, travelers must take Tafilah Highway (Highway 60) west at Jurf Al Darawish. On 26 May, 2025, Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan spoke about developing the area, emphasizing its tourist potencial and the government plans to launch major investment projects over the next four years in sectors such as water, energy, railways, infrastructure, transportation, and housing to stimulate economic growth and job creation.

Tafilah and its surrounding areas offer several tourist attractions:

Afra Hot Springs: located northwest of Tafilah City, about 12 km away.
Dana Biosphere Reserve: with a history dating back hundreds of years, this site offers a unique experience as it is home to 703 plant species, 215 species of birds, 38 species of mammals and endangered species like the Nubian Ibex. Visitors can stay at hotels or camps nearby the site.
Khirbet Al Darieh: located north of Tafilah City, beside the King's Highway (Highway 35), about 9 km away.
Sela Castle, also known as the Ruins of Sela: near the district of Ain Al Baida, about 3 km km away.

Climate

|metric first=y |single line=y |collapsed = Y |location = Tafilah, elevation 1000 m |Jan high C = 12.5 |Feb high C = 13.6 |Mar high C = 16.7 |Apr high C = 20.2 |May high C = 25.0 |Jun high C = 27.7 |Jul high C = 28.6 |Aug high C = 28.7 |Sep high C = 27.0 |Oct high C = 23.5 |Nov high C = 18.1 |Dec high C = 13.3 | year high C = |Jan mean C = 9.1 |Feb mean C = 10.0 |Mar mean C = 12.5 |Apr mean C = 15.8 |May mean C = 20.0 |Jun mean C = 22.0 |Jul mean C = 23.2 |Aug mean C = 23.8 |Sep mean C = 22.2 |Oct mean C = 19.1 |Nov mean C = 14.6 |Dec mean C = 10.1 | year mean C = |Jan low C = 5.8 |Feb low C = 6.3 |Mar low C = 8.3 |Apr low C = 11.3 |May low C = 15.0 |Jun low C = 16.2 |Jul low C = 18.0 |Aug low C = 18.8 |Sep low C = 17.5 |Oct low C = 14.8 |Nov low C = 11.1 |Dec low C = 6.8 | year low C = |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 45 |Feb precipitation mm = 33 |Mar precipitation mm = 89 |Apr precipitation mm = 53 |May precipitation mm = 7 |Jun precipitation mm = 0 |Jul precipitation mm = 0 |Aug precipitation mm = 0 |Sep precipitation mm = 0 |Oct precipitation mm = 4 |Nov precipitation mm = 22 |Dec precipitation mm = 65 |year precipitation mm = | source 1 = FAO{{cite web | url = https://www.fao.org/land-water/land/land-governance/land-resources-planning-toolbox/category/details/fr/c/1028000/ | title = World-wide Agroclimatic Data of FAO (FAOCLIM) | publisher= Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations | access-date = 21 December 2024}}

References

Bibliography

{{cite book | title = First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population | author = Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics | year = 1964 |url=http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensus1961bits.pdf}}
{{cite book | last1= Hütteroth|first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth | first2=K. | last2=Abdulfattah |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah | title = Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ | year = 1977 | publisher = Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft |isbn= 3-920405-41-2}}

References

"The General Census - 2015". Department of Population Statistics.
Pringle, D.. (1997). "Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer". Cambridge University Press.
Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 172
(2016). "Lawrence of Arabia's War: The Arabs, the British and the Remaking of the Middle East in WWI". Yale University Press.
(1935). "Seven Pillars of Wisdom". Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc..
Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, pp. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p06.pdf 6], [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p13.pdf 13]
"Tafila Technical University".
(2025). "Hassan: JD25 Million Plan to Improve Water Supply in Tafilah - Jordan News {{!}} Latest News from Jordan, MENA".
Jordan Eco & Nature. Jordan Tourism Board, 2006.

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