Qatif

Al-Qatif القطيف
Country	Saudi Arabia
Province	Ash Sharqiyah
Population  (2004)
• City	98,920
• Metro	744,321
Time zone	+3 GMT

For other uses, see Katif.

Qatif or Al-Qatif (also spelled Qateef or Al-Qateef; Arabic: القطيف Al-Qaṭīf) is a historic, coastal oasis region located on the western shore of the Persian Gulf in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It extends from Ras Tanura and Jubail in the north to Dammam in the south, and from the Persian Gulf in the east to King Fahd International Airport in the west. This region includes the town of Qatif as well many smaller towns and villages.

History

The historic oasis area shows its first archeological evidence of settlement beginning about 3500 BC. It was known by other names, such as Al-Khatt (Arabic: الخَطّ), immortalized in the poetry of `Antara ibn Shaddad, Tarafa ibn Al-`Abd, Bashar ibn Burd (in his famous Ba'yya), and others. The word "Khatty" became the preferred "kenning" for "spear" in traditional poetic writing until the dawn of the modern era, supposedly because the region was famous for spear making, just as "muhannad" ("of India") was the preferred kenning for "sword". The older name also survives as the eponym of several well-known local families ("Al-Khatti", spelled variously in English).

Qatif functioned for centuries as the main town and port in this region of the Persian Gulf. In fact, it was called Cateus by the Greeks, and some early European maps even labeled the entire present-day Persian Gulf as the "Sea of El Catif". Qatif oasis and the nearby island of Tarout are some of the most interesting tourist and archeological sites in the Kingdom, which reflects the importance of the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula in the past.

Until 1521 and Ottoman rule, Qatif belonged to the historical region known as the Province of Bahrain, along with Al-Hasa and the present-day Bahrain islands.

In 899 the Qarmatians conquered the region with the oases of Qatif and Al-Hasa. They declared themselves independent and reigned from al-Mu'miniya near modern Hofuf until 1071. The Buyids of western Persia raided Qatif in 988. From 1071 until 1253 the Uyunids ruled the region first from the city of "al-Hasa" (predecessor to modern Hofuf) and later from Qatif. In 1253 the Usfurids rose from Al-Hasa and ruled during the struggle of Qays with the Hormuz for control of the coast. Probably at about this time Qatif becam the main port for the mainland surpassing 'Uqair in importance for the trade and thus became the capital of the Usfurids. Ibn Battuta, visited Qatif in 1331 and found it a large and prosperous city inhabited by Arab tribes whom he described as "extremist Shi`is" (rafidiyya Ghulat). Power shifted in 1440 to the Jabrids of the Al-Hasa oasis. In 1515 the Portuguese conquered Hormuz and sacked Qatif in 1520, killing the Jabrid ruler Muqrin ibn Zamil. The Portuguese invaded the island of Bahrain and stayed there for the next eighty years. The ruler of Basra extended his power to Qatif in 1524 but ultimately in 1549 the Ottomans took over the whole region, building forts at Qatif and 'Uqair, though they could not expel the Portuguese from the island of Bahrain. In 1680 the Al Humayd of the Banu Khalid took the by now weak garrison of the Ottomans in Hofuf. In a battle at Ghuraymil, south of Qatif, the Banu Khalid lost their rule to the new "First Saudi State" in 1790. In 1818 the Saudi State was destroyed in the Ottoman-Saudi War and the commander of the mostly Egyptian troops, Ibrahim Pasha, took control of Hofuf, only to evacuate it the next year and return to the west coast. The Humayd regained control until the Banu Khalid were finally defeated in 1830 by the "Second Saudi State" who now took control of the whole region. The Ottomans moved in again in 1871 not to be expelled until 1913 when Ibn Saud finally established the Saudi rule in the Eastern Province.

Qatif married

• Engagement: The choice of a wife by the husband's mother or one of his relatives and waiting a few days to respond to the approval of the wife's family and the approval of the marriage contract is then on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, and pay the dowry dowry dowry Regions does not exceed $ 40 and a few dates and then arrived Real to 2000 after the change of business and can not be here to see a young girl only pics of the night because the contract is not never goes contrary to the present time.

And submit to the wife's family after the approval of some of the widgets is incidental expenses by the husband's family to his wife and these expenses weigh heavily on the husband and his family where traditions that the girl's father does not spend something from his pocket and only rarely here differs from region to region in the province of Qatif, which offers such as clothing, sugar, tobacco, dates, almonds and coal, soft drinks, henna and some areas of fish and this is a declaration of community engagement and for the contract.

• husband: A willingness by men to prepare banquets unlike girls interested in beauty and her body more day before the wedding her husband shaved his hair and adjusted his beard at the barber then go to men to shower in one bathroom and the People's colleagues Pferkh Blevp palm to clean and shine and make the body after the groom wore a white robe and Gterth white and decorated besht parties and not without his rosary of praises God and of some areas, horse riding spouse or horses, then come to a place of assembly and their religious songs and reading the biography of the Prophet Muhammad and managed with flowers, incense, rose water, tea and coffee in some communities.
• wife: Bride then goes to a spa popular by a group of women and female relatives of the Genealogy and the shower and then held three nights a so-called Aljlwat and hires the girl Alkhaillp engaged in the development and henna painting of the girl with hands and feet decorated with henna and girl decorations and inscriptions that adorn the multiple hands and feet as well as pigmentation of the hands or relatives of the girl's legs and seek relatives-known poems, reading biography of Habib Mohammed and this is prevalent in society and the girl Kalzahrp shrinking because of the severity of the assault Ikabbalha a new stage in her life.
• Marriage at the present time: As a result of changes in life and the diversity of income sources and the evolution of life after relying on fishing, agriculture, pearling today rely on industry and business and government services and commerce has led to change the entire social life and high standard of living is also enlarging the society and the varied means of communication and opened up to people and societies have emerged and some means of Contact the changing and renewable from time to time and therefore changed the engagement ceremony, dowry, and marriage contract in the province of Qatif.

Climate

Qatif enjoys a continental climate with temperatures approaching 49 degrees Celsius (120.2 F) in the summer and an average humidity of 75%. In winter, temperatures range between 2 and 18 degrees Celsius (64F and 77F). During the months of May and June, warm seasonal winds called albwarh affect the region. The rest of the year, the moist southern winds, or alcos, bring humidity. There is little rainfall.

Demographics

The Qatif region is the largest center of Shia Islam in Saudi Arabia. Since 2003, the community is allowed to observe the Ashura ceremony and other Shia days of remembrance in open, lively manner.

As of 2004, the total population of Qatif was 874,573; ranking as one of the ten most populated counties in Saudi Arabia. Qatif has one of the lowest numbers of non-Saudi residents in the kingdom (only 59,808).

Districts

List of towns and villages forming Qatif county:

• Al-Qatif
• Tarout Island
• Umm-Sahik
• Saihat
• Safwa city
• Al-Awamiyah - [2]
• Al-Jish
• Al-Qudaih
• Al-Jaroudiya - Al-Jarodiah Site
• Umm Al-Hamam
• Al-Taubi
• Al-Khuwailidiya
• Hellat-Muhaish - alhella Site
• Enak
• Al-Awjam
• Al-Malahha

Economy

Traditionally reliant on agriculture, Qatif has become famous in the oil industry recently, mainly due to the giant Qatif project, which produces 800,000 barrels of oil each day, making Qatif possibly the most oil-producing city in the world. Other petroleum industries within the city include gas separator plants and pipeline facilities. Pipelines are distributed around Qatif area which had been an obstacle for urban expanding that resulted in removal of farms or reclamation of the gulf.

In addition to its involvement in the oil industry and commerce, the Qatif region has a thriving agricultural sector, producing a wide range of crops, including dates (especially the khlass, khunaizi, maji, hallao, and khsab al-asfour varieties), limes, bananas, grapes, pomegranates, figs, tomatoes, okra, radishes, and onions. Qatif is also the main supplier of fish to the kingdom as well as the largest fishing center in the Persian Gulf region.

Qatif is well-known for its traditional markets (suqs) such as the weekly Thursday Market "Suq Alkhamees" and "Suq Waqif".

The Qatif coastline is rich with shrimp and many varieties of fish, especially the safi (Siganus species), kan`ad (Scomberomorus commerson), hamoor (grouper), shi`ri, badeh, and mayd varieties. It has the largest fish market in the kingdom and the Persian Gulf region.

It has the largest fish market in the middle east, not only in the Persian Gulf region and western Asia.

Transport

Qatif enjoys excellent connections with other Saudi urban centres by highways mainly the Dhahran-Jubail Highway which runs across Qatif, and the other is Abu Hadriyah Highway which serves as a western border for Qatif and separates it from King Fahd International Airport; it is also close to the causeway that connects the kingdom with the nation of Bahrain. Air service is provided at the near by King Fahd International Airport.

See also

• Qatif girl rape case

External links

• Qatif on line
• Qatif Site 1
• Qatif Forum
• Geography of Qatif
• Qatif Oasis
• Google satellite view of Qatif
• Qatif travel guide at World66
• Qatif photos
• Pictures of Old Qatif