Zarqa Governorate hosts the largest military and air bases of the Jordanian armed forces.

The land of Zarqa Governorate has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, most prominent were the Ammonite kingdom and the Nabateans, who constructed the fort known as Qasr al Hallabat, which then was used as a fort by the Romans, and then as a desert palace by the Umayyads.

Later, Jordan's Arab Legion led by Glubb Pasha had its main bases in Zarqa.

the heavily populated western regions of the governorate constitute part of the Zarqa River basin.

Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, the largest in the country, is located in Azraq.