Habaka

Habaka (حَبَكا) is a small hill town in northern Jordan, located 75 km north of the capital Amman, and about 5 km south of Irbid. The region has a very fertile soil along with suitable climate allows the growing of a wide variety of high-quality crops. The main products are olives and grapes. There is a substantial area of pine forests on the hills that are extending from Ajloun. Habaka had a population of 4114 in 2015.

History
Recent discoveries in the area of Tell Johfiyeh, which is in Johfiyeh near Habaka, goes back to the Iron Age. One of the known Islamic scholars called ‘Ali bin ziadah bin abd alrhman alhabaki alshafie’ (in Arabic علي بن زيادة بن عبد الرحمن الحبكي الشافعي) was from Habaka and died in 1364.

In 1596, during the Ottoman Empire, Habaka was noted in the census as being located in the nahiya of  Bani al-Asar in the Liwa of Hawran. It had a population of 18 households and 11 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on various agricultural products which includes wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards/fruit trees, goats and beehives in addition to occasional revenues. The total comes to 8,000 akçe.

In 1838 Habaka was noted as being ruined/deserted.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 428 inhabitants in Habaka.

Demographics
(1994 Est.)
 * Population: 1775
 * Male: 2500
 * Female: 3254
 * Families: 450
 * Buildings: 500
 * Residential units: 326
 * Schools: 3