The town of Al Karak lies 129 kilometres south of Amman, or 88 kilometres south of Madaba, in west central Jordan.

Le Krak du Désert, a heavily fortified crusader citadel, was built on the site of the ancient fortress in 1132; it fell to the Muslims in 1188, the year after the crusaders' defeat at the Battle of Hattin (in Galilee), in which they lost control of Palestine to Saladin. The town's present name is first mentioned in Islamic chronicles of the 13^th century.

The town was an archiepiscopal see from the early Christian era until the Christians were massacred or expelled in 1910.

Al-Karak is now a market town for the sparsely settled surrounding countryside. The town also has the remains of several Byzantine churches. Pop. (1990 est.) 49,770.