al-Jubail
Al-Jubail ( Arabic الجبيل, DMG al-Ǧubail ; also Al-Jubail or Al Jubayl ) is a city in eastern Saudi Arabia . It is located in the administrative unit "Eastern Province" (Arabic ash-Sharqiyya ) on the Persian Gulf, about 100 km north of Dammam . In the mid-1970s, a modern industrial city, the so-called Madinat al-Jubail as-Sinaʿiyya (Jubail Industrial City), arose north of the old town, a former fishing village. According to the 2004 census, al-Jubail has a population of 222,544. That is 58% more than at the time of the 1992 census (140,828 inhabitants). Due to the further expanding industry and the uninterrupted settlement activity, it can be extrapolated that the city had already reached over 300,000 inhabitants by 2008.
Origin of the city
Until 1975, pearl diving was mainly practiced on the site of today's al-Jubail . Today's city stretches from the south from the flat sandy coast to the zone of the salt marshes and rugged sand islands in the north. Similar to the city of Abu Dhabi , the area formed by the water offers ideal and diverse opportunities to model the shape of the coast through dredging, flushing and fortifications in an "interesting" and salable manner.
Because of its favorable location to the national oil production facilities, the government of Saudi Arabia at the time decided to establish al-Jubail as one of two main industrial cities in Saudi Arabia. The equivalent of Jubail is Yanbuʿ al-Bahr ("source by the sea") and is located on the Red Sea. These two very young cities still represent the government's vision for the future development of the country. The so-called “Royal Commission” was set up to plan and administer Jubail and Yanbu.
In 1986 a group of desert hikers found a ruined church, the so-called "Jubail Church". It was probably built as early as the 4th century AD.
Urban areas
Al-Jubail is divided into five areas :
- Industrial Zone, 8,000 hectares in what is now the center of the city
- There are 19 large industrial plants here, including some petrochemical plants and 136 additional plants. It will u. a. Steel, aluminum, plastics, precast concrete parts and fertilizers. All plants are monitored by the "Saudi Basic Industries Corporation" (SABIC) or one of its countless subsidiaries.
- Residential Area
- This zone consists of eight adjoining areas to the north, which are located on an island connected to the mainland. Around 40,000 people currently live here. The capacity of this region to be further developed is 375,000 inhabitants.
- Airport Area
- The airport, 24 kilometers to the west, with its 4,200 meter runway, has the ability and capacity to receive all common types of aircraft, both as a cargo and passenger airport. At the moment, however, it is of no international significance.
- Picnic zone
- The picnic zone is located northwest of the industrial zone. It is an invaluable recreational area for the locals. Among other things, it offers playgrounds for children and water sports. There are a lot of green spaces and palm trees in this region.
- al-Batwah Island
- There are more recreational areas here. Among other things, you will find parks, a zoo, fishing grounds and a marina.
Industry
The main projects controlled by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) are:
- 1. The Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed)
- 2. The Saudi Methanol Company (ar-Razi)
- 3. The Jubail Fertilizer Company (Samad / al-Bayroni)
- 4. The Jubail Petrochemicals Company (Kemya)
- 5. Saudi Petrochemicals Company (Sadaf)
- 6. The National Methanol Company (Ibn Sina)
- 7. The Arabian Petrochemicals Company (Petro-Kemya)
- 8. The Oriental Petrochemicals Company (Sharq)
- 9. The National Industrial Gas Company (gas)
- 10. The National Plastics Company (Ibn Hayyan)
- 11. The Saudi-European Petrochemicals Company (Ibn Zahr)
- 12. The Saudi Chemical Fertilizer Company (Ibn al-Bitar)
- 13. Saudi Arabia Fertilizer Company (SAFCO)
SABIC is investing approximately 33.5 billion Saudi rials in these projects. The Saudi Consolidated Electric Company (SCECO) supplies the city with 6,000 megawatts of electricity.
On July 25, 2011, the US chemical company Dow Chemical and the mineral oil company Saudi Aramco announced that they would found a joint company called Sadara Chemical Company . The company includes the construction of one of the largest petrochemical industrial complexes in the world in Al-Jubail. A total of 26 production plants for basic and plastic chemistry were built here with an investment volume of around 20 billion US dollars. The opening took place in November 2016.
Life in Al Jubail
- Education in Al Jubail
- The "Institute of the Royal Commission for Development of Human Research" trains students to meet the demands of local industrial facilities on skilled workers, scientists and engineers through education and research. The institute has 650 graduates annually. There are libraries, lecture halls and fully equipped laboratories here. There are also kindergartens, general schools and language schools where non-native speakers can learn Arabic.
- Healthcare in al-Jubail
- The Royal Commission has ensured that health care is up to date and fully comparable to European standards. At the moment it covers the entire needs of the population. The “Juwailan Hospital” is the main hospital in the city with 200 beds.
- King Fahd Industrial Port
- There is a complex with various ports to serve the many needs for import and export products. The largest port is the "King Fahd Industrial Port", which is located in the east in front of the Industrial Zone. It is accessible via a dam up to nine kilometers from the coast, has nine large anchorages, two huge storage fields and numerous service platforms. One berth is reserved for petrochemical products, one for loading and unloading iron ore. There is also the possibility of loading tankers over a length of four kilometers.
sons and daughters of the town
- Hussain al-Hizam (* 1998), pole vaulter
Coordinates: 27 ° 0 ' N , 49 ° 40' E