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Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
Found in: Geography of Saudi Arabia Provinces of Saudi Arabia
Eastern Province is the largest province of Saudi Arabia, located in the east of the country on the Persian Gulf coast, and has land borders with Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. It has an area of 710,000 km and a population of 3,360,157 (2004 census). Its capital is Dammam, and its governor is Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud.
Geography
Adjacent to Ad-Dammam is Al-Khobar, a commercial center and a vibrant seaport. The King Fahd Causeway, completed in the 1980s, links the Eastern Province to neighboring islands of Bahrain.
The southern part of the province, with more than half of the area, belongs to the largely uninhabited Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert.
History
The Eastern Province was conquered by the Saudis in 1914 from the Ottoman Empire. The inhabited areas had been known as Al-Ahsa under Ottoman rule, and the entire region was mostly known as Bahrain from pre-islamic times until 1521. Many Saudi history books/articles call the Eastern Province Hasa and Qatif ( ) because The most famous ancient cities in it are Qatif and Al-Hasa. Most other citiesnotably Dammam and Khobarwere built in the 20th century and did not exist before Saudi Arabia's oil production.
Economy
Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil producing company of Saudi Arabia, is based in Dhahran, which is located in the Eastern Province, and most decisions on oil policy and production that affect the global economy are made there. The kingdom's main oil and gas fields are mostly located in the Eastern Province, onshore and offshore. Notable among these are the Qatif oilfield and the largest crude increment in the world, the Qatif project. Petroleum from the fields is shipped to dozens of countries from the oil port of Ras Tanura and is also used as feedstock in numerous industrial plants in Jubail.
Saudi Arabia's second major product, dates, also forms a large part of Eastern Province's economy. Every year thousands of tonnes of dates are harvested from the date palms in the giant oases of Al-Ahsa and Qatif.
Administrative divisions
List of counties
Al-Ahsa ; in addition to the traditional oasis, the region also includes the giant Empty Quarter desert, making it the largest region in Saudi Arabia in terms of area.
Abqaiq (')
Jubail (')
Ras Tanura ( )
Qatif (')
Khobar ('); in addition to Khobar, the county also includes Dhahran and some distant beaches.
Dammam (')
Hafar Al-Batin ( )
Khafji (')
No'ayriyah (')
Qaryat Al-Olayah ( ')
Major cities
Dammam: Capital of Eastern Province, the third largest city of Saudi Arabia (after Riyadh and Jeddah), and the main seaport
Al-Ahsa : Largest oasis in the world
Khobar: Major center for commerce
Dhahran: Oil industry center, site of Saudi Aramco headquarters. Its home to a major base of Royal Saudi Air Force and the most prestigious Saudi university, KFUPM.
Qatif: Large oasis on the coast of the Persian Gulf, largest fishing center in the kingdom and the Persian gulf region, and major oilfield. Most, if not all, its residents are Shia Muslims.
Jubail: One of two major industrial cities in Saudi Arabia
Abqaiq: Home for major and largest oil and gas processing plants
Ras Tanura: Major petroleum refining center, home for the largest oil refinery in the world, and many offshore oil platforms. Also main oil exporting seaport
Udhayliyah: Major oil producing and processing plants
Shayba in the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter), close to the border with the United Arab Emirates
Khafji: Main industrial city, very close to the border with Kuwait. Occupied by the Iraqi forces during the Gulf War. Saudi Forces aided by United States Marines victoriously engaged in the Battle of Khafji during Operation Desert Storm to free it from Iraqis
Hafar Al-Batin: The largest city in the North-East of Saudi Arabia, it is 90 km near Kuwait and it has more than 35 villages. King Khalid Military City is 60 km South to it.
See also
Provinces of Saudi Arabia
Al-Hasa
Qatif
Hafar Al-Batin
Bahrain (historical region)
Saudi Aramco
Empty Quarter
King Khalid Military City
External links
Eastern Province Emirate official website
Central Department of Statistics and Informations
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia