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Habalah
Hafr Al-Batn
Hail
Haql
Hofuf
Jiddah
Jizan
Jouf
Jubail and Yanbu
Khamis Mushait
Khobar
Makkah
Madinah
Habalah
Habalah, located about 40 miles from the center of Abha, is a now deserted village that seems to hang from a 1000 ft cliff face, above terraced fields and a wide valley. Hence its name - "the hanging village". When the village was inhabited, people and supplies were lowered to the village from above by means of ropes attached to iron posts. Habalah was the site of the first cable-car system in the Kingdom.
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Hafr Al-Batin
Hafr Al-Batn is a large city in the north east of the Kingdom, populated predominantly by traders and families of Bedouin origin. Many of the houses in the old town are built in the traditional way, out of mud. Hafr Al-Batin is a busy city, with many shops, craftsmen and merchants.
The population was estimated to be 190,000 in 2003.
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Hail
In the Shammar Mountains, west of the Hail valley, lies Hail. To the north is the northern border of the Kingdom. To the south is the Qasim region. East is the Riyadh region; to the west are the Tabouk and Madinah regions.
For centuries, Hail was seen as the "key to the desert" because it was the main transit point for pilgrims heading for the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah and for traders traveling north or south in the Arabian peninsula.
When, towards the end of the Abbasid Caliphate, the purity of the Arab language was threatened with dilution by foreign influences, the Muslim scholars of Hail took upon themselves responsibility for protecting and promulgating Arabic in its purest form. As a result the city became an important center of scholarship and learning.
Hail boasts a number of famous heroes and prominent poets - amongst them Zeid Al-Khair (or Al-Khail) Al-Tayee, Hayyan bin Olaiq, Ruwaished bin Kuthair, Qais bin Jerwah, Al-Trimmah bin Adie and Antarah bin Shaddad. The last of these wrote one of the most famous of all Arab poems, Mu'allaqat.
Below you can see a selection of pictures from Hail.
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Haql
Haql is a small town in the north west of the Kingdom, in Al Qurayyat region. In addition to agricultural activity (dates, other fruit, vegetables and livestock), there is a local carpentry industry.
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Hofuf
Hofuf, with an estimated population in 1993 of 226,000, is located in eastern Saudi Arabia. It lies in the large Al-Hasa oasis and on the route from Riyadh to Ad-Dammam. When the Ottoman Turks seized eastern Arabia, they chose Hofuf as their headquarters from 1871. Hofuf was taken from the Turks in 1913 by Abdul Aziz bin Saud (Ibn Saud). Abdul Aziz retained control of Hofuf thereafter, until it became part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
Hofuf is now an agricultural market centre. It is well-placed for the processing of agricultural produce (dates and rice); for textile industries; and for cement manufacture. It is also the site of royal horse-breeding stables.
King Faisal University, with its agricultural, veterinary, education, and management faculties, is located near Hofuf.
For its population, Hofuf provides a number of souqs (which are particularly noteworthy for gold and textiles) and a large network of stores. Half Moon Bay is close enough for visits to the beach.
Hofuf's local museum is housed in a government building near the Department of Education. Modern in design, the museum contains antiquities, folklore exhibit halls, and photographic records.
Hofuf is also the site of the early 19th-century domed mosque of Ibrahim Pasha.
To the west of Hofuf is one of the world's largest oil fields.
Dhahran, Al-Khobar and Dammam are one and a half hours away. Bahrain and Qatar are two hours away. Riyadh is two and a half hours by train or four hours by car.
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Jiddah
The Red Sea port of Jeddah, located mid-way along the Western coast of the Kingdom, is a bustling, thriving city and seaport. Its location on the ancient trade routes and its status as the seaport and airport for hajjis visiting the Holy City of Makkah have ensured that Jeddah is the most cosmopolitan of all Saudi Arabia's cities.
By the end of the 1970s (1391 AH), the population of Jeddah was estimated to be close to one million. By 1986 (1406/07 AH), the estimated population was 1.4 million. With an estimated growth rate in excess of 10%, the population by 1993 (1413/14AH) had passed the two million mark.
The extraordinary growth of Jeddah, demanded by the Kingdom's development programs, has been achieved in a remarkably short period. (The expansion of the sea port's capacity is a case study of what can be achieved if the will, the management and the resources are available.) At the same time, aesthetic considerations have not been ignored. Jeddah now boasts some of the most beautiful examples of modern architecture in the world. Tree-lined avenues and the generous distribution of bronze sculptures attest to the success of the city's beautification program.
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Jizan
Jizan, or more properly Jazan, was known in ancient times as Almikhlaf Alsulimani.
Jizan lies on the Red Sea, in the south-west of the Kingdom.
Jizan area consists of fertile plains, forests and mountains. The fertile plains, which extend behind the coastal swampland, have been created by the alluvial deposits brought down from the mountains by river and flood. The forest region (the Alhazoun district), which is also subject to flooding, consists of forest interspersed with some areas of rich pasture. The mountain region is part of the Alsarawat mountain range which constitutes the jagged backbone of the Arabian peninsula. The highest peak in Jizan is the Fifa Mountain which rises 11,000 feet.
Jizan is one of the Kingdom's richest agricultural regions, remarkable for both the quality and variety of its agricultural produce. It is notable for its production of coffee beans, grain crops (barley, millet and wheat) and fruit (apples, bananas, grapes, lemons, mangoes, oranges, papayas, plums and tamarinds).
The Jizan region runs along the Red Sea coast for almost 200 miles (300 km) and includes some 100 islands.
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Jouf
Jouf lies in the northern part of the Kingdom. It is bounded on the north by the Kingdom's northern boundary region; on the north-west by the Qerayyat region; on the west by the Tabouk region; on the south by the Hail region.
Jouf is of particular interest because of the role it has played in pre- and post-Islamic history. There is archeological evidence of the presence of the Assyrians and Nabataeans in Jouf. Following its conquest by Muslims in the third year of the Hijira, it became a staging post for Muslim armies, setting out to spread the message of Islam, while remaining an important cross-roads for traders and their caravans heading to or from Iraq and Syria into the Arabian peninsula.
Jouf is an excellent agricultural region where local farmers have responded to the Government's land distribution program. The cultivation of palms constitutes the main agricultural sector. In addition Jouf produces wheat and a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, including grapes, figs, olives, potatoes and tomatoes.
Below you can see a selection of pictures from Jouf.
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Jubail and Yanbu
Jubail and Yanbu constitute a unique experiment in development which has proved outstandingly successful. These are two cities which were conceived on the drawing board and were planned to provide a purpose-built and highly efficient environment for modern industrial production.
These industrial complexes, built at Jubail on the Arabian Gulf and Yanbu on the Red Sea by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, are the key to the Kingdom's national industrialization plans. These two industrial cities provide the basis for the Kingdom's program to develop hydrocarbon-based and energy intensive industries. The massive investment in these industrial cities has as its major objective a reduction in the Kingdom's dependence on oil revenues by gaining access to the world's petrochemical markets. This route to industrialization exploits the Kingdom's natural advantages, in terms of cheap energy and cheap raw materials for petrochemical manufacture.
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Khamis Mushait
The city of Khamis Mushait is located north east of Abha in the Asir region in the south west of the kingdom. It lies inland, in a mountainous area. Its position on the main caravan route from Yemen to the Hijaz ensured its importance as a center of trade from earliest times. The town takes its name from the Mushait clan which lives in this area. (Khamis means Thursday and refers to the day on which the weekly market is held.)
The location of Khamis Mushait close to the Yemeni border has, in recent years, given it a military significance, with the establishment of army and air-force bases. This military presence has expanded the population and increased prosperity.
The population was estimated to be 300,000 in 2003.
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Al Khobar
Al Khobar lies in the Dammam Area in the Eastern region of the Kingdom, close to Dammam and Dhahran.
The municipality of Al Khobar was founded in 1942, prompted by the discovery of oil and the ensuing development of commercial activity.
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Resources:
https://www.cia.gov
http://www.saudinf.com
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://i-cias.com
http://www.mofa.gov.sa
http://www.saudinf.com
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General Facts
