Aqaba

The ancient endonym (name given by the local population) of the city was Elath or Ailath. The name may be derived from the Semitic name of a tree in the genus Pistacia, or from the West Semitic word *'ayl 'ram' with the feminine suffix -at. A Phoenician variant of the name אֵלוֹת is mentioned once in the Hebrew Bible in 1 Kings 9:26, reflecting the Phoenician vowel shift. Modern Eilat (established 1947), situated about 5 km (3.1 mi) north-west of Aqaba, also takes its name from the ancient settlement. In the Hellenistic period, it was renamed Berenice (Ancient Greek: Βερενίκη Bereníkē), but the original name survived, and under Roman rule was re-introduced in the forms Aila, Aela or Haila, adopted in Byzantine Greek as Αἴλα Aíla and in Arabic as Ayla (آيلا). The crusaders called the city Elyn. …

Excavations at two tells (archaeological mounds) Tall Hujayrat Al-Ghuzlan and Tall Al-Magass, both a few kilometres north of modern-day Aqaba city, revealed inhabited settlements from c. 4000 BC during the Chalcolithic period, with thriving copper production on a large scale. This period is largely unknown due to the absence of written historical sources. University of Jordan archaeologists have discovered the sites, where they found a small building whose walls were inscribed with human and animal drawings, suggesting that the building was used as a religious site. The people who inhabited the site had developed an extensive water system in irrigating their crops which were mostly made up of grapes, olives and wheat. …

The city lies at Jordan's southernmost point, on the Gulf of Aqaba lying at the tip of the Red Sea. Its strategic location is shown in the fact that it is located at the crossroads of the continents of Asia and Africa, while bordering Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Aqaba has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) with mild, sometimes warm winters and very hot dry summers. Subzero temperatures can be observed every few years. The record high temperature of 49.6 °C (121.3 °F) was registered on 14 August 2025 . The record low temperature of −3.9 °C (25.0 °F) was on January 16, 2008, as in Eilat.

The largest museum in Aqaba is the Aqaba Archaeological Museum. Aqaba has recently experienced a great growth in its nightlife, especially during the dramatic increase of tourist number in the 2000s.

With status as Jordan's special economic zone, Aqaba's economy is based on the tourism and port industry sectors. Aqaba's location next to Wadi Rum and Petra has strengthened the city's location on the world map and made it one of the major tourist attractions in Jordan. The city is administered by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, which has turned Aqaba into a low-tax, duty-free city, attracting several mega projects like Ayla Oasis, Saraya Aqaba, Marsa Zayed and expansion of the Port of Aqaba. They are expected to turn the city into a major tourism hub in the region. Industrial and commercial activities remain important, due to the strategic location of the city as the country's only seaport. Aqaba is the only seaport of Jordan so virtually all of Jordan's exports depart from here. …

The Aqaba railway which transported phosphate to the old port ceased operations in 2018. A successor line to transport phosphate from Al Shidiya and Ghor es-Safi to the new terminal in Port of Aqaba is planned through an agreement between Jordan's Ministry for Transport and Etihad Rail. There has been propositions to connect Eilat to Aqaba by rail. King Hussein International Airport is the only civilian airport outside of Amman in the country, located to the north of Aqaba. It is a 20-minutes drive away from the city center. Regular flights are scheduled from Amman to Aqaba with an average flying time of 45 minutes which is serviced by Royal Jordanian Airlines and Jordan Aviation Airlines. Several international airlines connect the city to Istanbul, Dubai, Alexandria, Sharm el-Sheikh, and other destinations in Asia and Europe. …