Maan (arab. معان‎) is a city in southern Jordan, the administrative center of the Maan governorate of the same name, which is the largest and least densely populated administrative entity in Jordan. Located 218 km south of Amman, in an intermountain valley at an altitude of 1108 m above sea level. Maan is located in the desert, so the climate is hot.

History
Maan is mentioned in the Bible (Judges, chapter 10, verse 11) as the capital of the people who fought with the Jews (Maonians), the king of Judah Uzzia defeated Maan (2 Chronicles, 26) during his campaigns to the south.
Civilization has existed on the territory of modern Maan since the time of the Nabataean kingdom. The new city is located slightly to the northwest of its old location. Now there are two main clans in Maan Al-Hejazin (Hijaz in Saudi Arabia) and Al-Shamin (from Syria).

Population
The population of the city has been gradually growing since the middle of the 20th century. So in 1970 there were about 9,000 inhabitants in the city. By the beginning of the 90s (1994), there were already 22,989 people, in 2004 – 26,461 people, and by 2007 the population had increased to 27,573 people.

Economy
Maan is the commercial center of the southern part of the country. The city has a tobacco industry and handicraft enterprises for the production of textiles. A new Jordanian economic zone was created in Ma’an called the Ma’an Special Economic Zone. So far, with its foundation, fruit production has only increased in the city, but in the future industrial enterprises will have to be introduced more widely. Maan is a dusty, poor Jordanian town from which you can get to the main attraction of Jordan – Petra.

Transport
The city is considered an important transportation hub in the country, located on the ancient King’s Highway, a trade route that originates in Egypt and comes through the Sinai Peninsula to the Gulf of Aqaba; further the path turned north to Damascus and to the sources of the Euphrates. The city has a railway station of the so-called Hijaz Railway (built in 1904), and it is also a major road junction, located on the Amman-Maan-Aqaba highway (Desert Highway). There is also a local airfield in Maan.

Modern city
Maan is the most restless and rebellious city of Jordan. When various kinds of protests and demonstrations take place in the country, they take the most extreme and radical forms here. So, in 1984, King Hussein was even forced to personally come here to pacify the protesting residents. Another major conflict between the government and local residents occurred in 2003.
В пустыне (в Джафре) недалеко от Maanа, находится военная база, где в начале 2003 года вместе с танками, вертолётами и другой бронетехникой располагалось несколько тысяч американских солдат. One of the versions explaining the presence of foreign military forces (American soldiers, and possibly British special forces) on the territory of Jordan is the use of its territory to penetrate into the western part of Iraq during the hostilities of 2003.
The Jordanian government did not hide information about the location of 6,000 American soldiers in the country, but explained their presence only by the need to train Jordanian soldiers and defensive functions in the event of a missile attack from Iraq.
Пребывание иностранных военных сил на территории Иордании и способствование их проникновению на территорию Ирака, тем самым, усугубляя военный конфликт, вызвало резкое недовольство населения Maanа. Тогда по всей стране проходили антивоенные демонстрации и митинги в Maanе они были наиболее реакционными и агрессивными. The locals, in preparation for the speeches, called their demonstration “the march of the coffins,” meaning that they would be “ready to die to condemn the actions of their government.”
К тому же Maan считается неспокойным городом с точки зрения преступной деятельности и террористической активности. В 2002 году в Maanе были задержаны четыре активиста радикальной исламистской группировки, возглавляемой Вайелом Мохаммадом аль-Шалаби, совершающие нападения на полицейских и военных, а также причастные к ряду организаций и убийств в городе.
В том же году в Maanе был убит американский дипломат Лоуренс Фоли, ставший первым представителем запада, погибшим в Иордании. Ситуация в Maanе была напряжённой после того, как был ранен в перестрелке с полицией один из лидеров исламистов Мохаммад Чалаби. Jordanian security forces were sent to the city to search for the terrorists involved in the assassination. Operation by their search was called the Maan operation. As a result of its implementation, about a hundred people were interrogated, the main suspect was found, but the local residents refused to extradite him to the authorities, in connection with which there was a need for the intervention of law enforcement agencies.

Mentions in works
Maan упоминается в книге Лоуренса Аравийского «Семь столпов мудрости», где осаде города посвящена одна из глав. Initially, the book was conceived as a memoir about the Arab uprising of 1916-1918, but subsequently absorbed many facts from the history of the First World War. Based on the book, the film “Lawrence of Arabia” was made.

Первым из них являлся Maan. First of all, we had to master it. Если бы усиленные транспортные средства придали большую подвижность частям арабской регулярной армии, они могли бы занять позицию в нескольких милях на север от Maanа и надолго перерезать железную дорогу, вынудив тем самым гарнизон последнего выступить и начать с ними сражение, а в поле арабы легко нанесли бы defeat to the Turks. Нам потребовалось бы семьсот вьючных верблюдов, много пушек и пулеметов и, наконец, уверенность в том, что, пока мы заняты Maanом, мы не подвергнемся фланговой атаке со стороны Аммана.
— Lawrence of Arabia – “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom”

I spent the following days supervising the operations. Abu Tayi’s men captured two outposts east of the station, and Sheikh Saleh Ibn Shefi’a took a parapet with one machine gun and twenty prisoners. Эти выигранные схватки позволили нам беспрепятственно окружить Maan, и на третий день Джафар собрал всю артиллерию на южном кряже, а Нури Сайд повел отряд на штурм железнодорожной станции.
— Lawrence of Arabia – “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom”

Maan доказал мне, что арабы достаточно решительны и без понуканий англичан. Thus, our defeat was not in vain, making it easier for us to draw up further plans.
— Lawrence of Arabia – “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom”