Abha     Abqaiq     Al-Hasa     Al-Ola
Al-Baha     Al-Badayea     Ar'ar    Bisha
Buraidah    Dammam    Dhahran     Domat Al-Jandal

Abha, the home of the headquarters of the regional Governorate, is located in the Asir region in the south-west of the Kingdom.

Abha's position, some 7,200 feet (2,200 meters) above sea-level, gives it a relatively moderate climate. Temperatures remain within a narrower band than is the case in many other parts of the Kingdom. The Abha region also enjoys the highest level of rainfall of any part of Saudi Arabia.
The natural beauty of the region and its fertility have encouraged the Saudi Arabian Government to establish a number of national parks, enabling Saudi citizens to holiday in a location of outstanding scenery and natural interest to rival anywhere abroad.

Below you can see a selection of pictures from Abha.

[Top]

Abqaiq, which is located at the southern end of the Abqaiq oil field about 25 miles west of the Arabian Gulf, is an oil town, lying on the main road from Riyadh to Dhahran. The population is largely composed of those working for Saudi Aramco.

Following the discovery of the oil field in 1940, the population of Abqaiq grew rapidly. In 1995, the population was around 10,000.

[Top]

Al-Hasa lies in the south of the Kingdom's Eastern region and is bounded by the Al-Dahna and the Al-Daman deserts.

The Al-Hasa oasis is the largest oasis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the municipality of Al-Hasa constitutes the largest administrative area in the Kingdom.

In ancient times, Al-Hasa was at the center of the trade routes which traders followed between the east of the Arabian peninsula and India, Persia and the Far East.

Al-Hasa has a dry, tropical climate, with a five month summer and a relatively cold winter. It enjoys the benefit of copious reserves of underground water which has allowed the area to develop its agricultural potential. Nevertheless, Al-Hasa has to deal with tons of sand which the wind carries and deposits over the land. To counter this problem, the Kingdom has planted large barriers of trees to prevent the wind-borne sand from damaging inhabited and agricultural areas.

[Top]

Al-Ola lies at the end of the Wadi al-Qura, 240 miles (380 km) north of the Holy City of Madinah to which it is administratively affiliated.

Al-Ola is a small city with relatively few citizens but it is a location of special interest to archaeologists and historians because it contains many antiquities, some of which date back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and some to even earlier periods. The area contains much evidence of earlier civilizations, including Minean, Lihyanite and Dedanite inscriptions. At Al-Khuraybah, carved in to the mountain rocks, are tombs dating back to pre-Islamic civilizations.

The old name of Al-Ola was Dedan. Dedan was one of the largest and most important centers of ancient civilization, lying on the main incense and perfume trade route from India and the Yemen in the south to Egypt, Iraq and Syria in the north. Caravans from as far away as the south east of Africa and the south west of Asia made their way to and through Dedan. The town of  Dedan reached its highest point during the Nabataean period when it was elevated to the position of the Nabataeans' second capital.

It was in the early Islamic period that the name Al-Ola became more common.

The major antiquities of the area consist of tombs and ruins of old settlements, rock art and inscriptions:

• KHURAYBAT AL-OLA: This area is located about 4km north east of the present town of Al-Ola. Khuraybat Al-Ola is an important archaeological site which contains several tombs and inscriptions on the rock and tombs, dating back to Minean, Dedanite and Lihyanite periods. The site also contains the foundations of several temples and other ancient buildings.
• MAHALAB AL NAQA (SHE-CAMEL'S CISTERN): North west of Al-Khuraybah lies Mahalab Al Naqa, a cistern carved in a large rock. (There is a local legend that this cistern has some connection with the she-camel of the Prophet Saleh - peace be upon him.)
• INSCRIPTIONS OF JEBEL AL-AKMA: Jebel al-Akma is located about 2.5 km north west of Al-Khuraybah. This archaeological site contains a wide variety of rock inscriptions (Minean, Lihyanite, Dedanite and Thamudic) which reveal not only the names of individuals and tribes but also the religious, social and cultural character of the people who inscribed them.
• Al-Ola contains the Rock Mosque where the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, prayed when he passed through the town.

History records that one year, in the month of Jumadi Al Thani, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, took over the Wadi Al Qura. (Al-Ola lies at the end of the Wadi al-Qura.) It also records that the Prophet passed through Al-Ola on his way to Tabouk and made a mosque there for prayer.

[Top]

The Al-Baha region is located in the south-west of the Kingdom.

The region boasts fine scenery, including mountains, valleys and forests. Combined with its equable

[Top]

Al-Badayea which consists of six small towns in the center of Al-Qasim is the heart of the region's agricultural activity. The six towns are Al-Hajnawee, Al-Manzelah, Al-Obailh, Al-Shabeebiah, Al-Ulowat and Umtala'h. Al-Badayea benefits from a plentiful supply of ground water and fertile soil.

[Top]

The town of Ar'ar is the regional headquarters of the northern border region. It has a watering station and a power station. It engages in a wide range of agricultural activities including the production of dates, other fruit, and vegetables; and the managing of livestock (camels, goats and sheep). Ar'ar is the crossing point for many of the Iraqi pilgrims entering the Kingdom to perform Hajj.

The population was estimated to be 150,000 in 2003.

[Top]

Bisha, which lies to the east of Al-Baha and the main Asir mountain range, is a large, extended oasis town, enjoying plentiful water and good land for cultivation.

The Wadi Bisha Dam is the largest dam in the kingdom and the second largest concrete dam in the Middle East.

[Top]

Buraidah, the twin city of Unaizah, lies in the Qasim region in the heart of the Arabian peninsula. Buraidah lies equidistant from the Red Sea to the west and the Arabian Gulf to the east.

Buraidah, the regional capital of Qasim, is located on the edge of the Wadi Al-Rummah. The Wadi Al-Rummah is the longest wadi in the Kingdom, stretching some 370 miles (600 kms) from near Madinah to the Al-Thuwairat sands.

Buraidah has a typical desert climate, with hot summers, cold winters and low humidity.

As part of the Kingdom's agricultural development program, the region of Buraidah has made an outstanding contribution to the Kingdom's wheat production. It played a crucial role in enabling the Kingdom to become not only self-sufficient in wheat but a major exporter of the cereal.

[Top]

In the early 1980s Dammam, the capital of the Eastern Region, was a separate city but so close to Al Khobar and Dhahran that the traveler could pass from one to the other in a few minutes.

With the continuing expansion of all parts of the Kingdom, the three towns inevitably merged into one, creating a single municipality known as Dammam Area. Each of the three towns which compose the Dammam Area retain their own character and some local administrative functions but, in terms of its place in the Kingdom, the Dammam Area forms a single administrative entity.

Below you can see a selection of pictures from Dammam.

[Top]

Dhahran is located 6 miles (10 km) west of Khobar.

Dhahran, with Dammam and Al Khobar, forms the Dammam Area.

Dhahran was the site of the headquarters of what was Aramco (the Arabian American Oil Company). For obvious reasons, it is also the site of the King Fahd Petroleum and Minerals University.

Dhahran is served by one of the Kingdom's three international airports, a construction of outstanding architectural beauty which combines traditional Islamic design with the most modern building technology.

[Top]

Domat Al-Jandal, a town in the north of the Kingdom not far from Sakaka in the Jouf region, is the site of Qasr Marid, a ruined fortress which had its origins in Nabatean times, and the Mosque of Omar, founded in the 7th century, one of the oldest mosques in the Kingdom. The town is famous for the manufacture of swords, daggers and carpets.

[Top]