Ar-Ramtha

Ar-Ramtha (Arabic: الرَّمثا, romanized: ar-Ramṯā), colloquially transliterated as Ar-Romtha (Arabic: الرُّمثا, romanized: ar-Rumṯā), is a city situated in the far northwest of Jordan near the border with Syria. It covers 40 km2 on a plain 30 km northeast of the Jordan River and Irbid. In the 2017, Ar-Ramtha had a population of approximately 164,211, making it the eleventh largest city in Jordan, and the second in Irbid Governorate, and the city has grown since then.[2] It is part of the Ar-Ramtha district of the Irbid Governorate.[3][4] The origin of the name Ar-Ramtha is debated. Some claim it is named after a local desert plant, al-ramath (Arabic: الرمثا). Many biblical archaeologists identify Ar-Ramtha with the ancient Israelite city of Ramoth-Gilead, Hebrew for "Heights of Gilead"; in that case, the present-day Arabic name might preserve the Biblical Hebrew one.[5][6]