Madaba, Jordan

Capital City

Madaba's Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics may draw tourists, but the city's population of 122,008 residents faces a persistent headache - bureaucratic obstacles. While 90 Arab Christian families resettled the ruins in 1880, today the city serves as the seat of Madaba Governorate, the 9th-largest in Jordan. With an average annual temperature of 16.4°C and 346mm of precipitation, the climate is moderate, but the paperwork to navigate is anything but. For the adventurous history buff willing to navigate the bureaucracy, Madaba offers a window into the region's past.