Ash-Sharqiyyah Province
| al-Sharqiyyah | |
|---|---|
  |
|
| Basic data | |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Capital | Damam |
| surface | 672,522 km² |
| Residents | 4,762,871 (2015) |
| density | 7.1 inhabitants per km² |
| ISO 3166-2 | SA-04 |
| politics | |
| governor | Saud ibn Nayif Al Saud |
Coordinates: 25 ° N , 50 ° E
The province of ash-Sharqiyya ( Arabic المنطقة الشرقية, DMG al-Minṭaqa aš-Šarqīya , German Eastern Province , also English Eastern Province ) is the largest province in Saudi Arabia in terms of area . It has an area of 672,522 km² and has a good 4.7 million inhabitants (as of 2015).
The administrative unit extends along the entire Saudi Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf . It has borders with the neighboring states of Iraq , Kuwait , Bahrain , Qatar , United Arab Emirates , Oman and Yemen . The capital is Dammam . Besides Riyadh and Jeddah, one of the three international Saudi airports is located here.
A few kilometers away from Dammam is al-Chubar , an economic center with a large seaport. This is where the so-called King Fahd Causeway begins , which connects the island state of Bahrain with the Saudi mainland. It was completed in the 1980s. Usually this bridge is overcrowded with travelers from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, who visit the more liberal Bahrain for the weekend to partake in a revealing nightlife.
The neighboring city of al-Chubar is Dhahran . The headquarters of Aramco , a Saudi-American joint venture for oil research and production, is located here. Most of Saudi Arabia's oil fields are also located here . This oil is shipped to many countries from the overseas port of Ra's Tanura in al-Jubail . It is also considered a raw material for many chemical plants in Al-Jubail.
The second major product of the kingdom - dates - also make up a large part of the ash-Sharqiyyah economy. Thousands of tons of dates are harvested in the oases of al-Hasa and al-Qatif every year .
The current ruler of the province is Saud ibn Nayif Al Saud . Ash-Sharqiyyah was conquered by the Saudis in 1914 . Until then it was part of the Ottoman Empire and known under the name al-Hasa .
A significant minority of the population is committed to the Shiite direction of Islam, as in neighboring Bahrain . Shiites live under poor conditions in Saudi Arabia, as Wahhabism is the state religion and does not recognize Shia . This is the main reason that the opposition to the Saudi royal family has a relatively large number of supporters in this province.
The Stone Age site of Dosariyah was discovered in 1968.
Major cities in al-Sharqiyyah
- Dammam : Capital of the Ash Sharqiyyah, fifth largest city in Saudi Arabia
- Hofuf : in the al-Hasa region , the largest oasis in Asia
- Abqaiq : Home to many oil and gas plants
- al-Chubar : main economic center of the al-Sharqiyyah
- Al-Jubail : one of two main industrial cities in Saudi Arabia (next to Yanbu al-bahr (source by the sea))
- al-Qatif : large oasis on the coast of the Persian Gulf, largest fishing center in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, almost all of the inhabitants are Shiites
- Chafdschi : industrial city on the border with Kuwait; captured by Iraqis during the Gulf War (see also: Battle of Chafdschi )
- Dhahran : Center of the Saudi oil industry, Aramco headquarters
- Ra's Tanura : largest oil refinery in the world, main oil export port in Saudi Arabia
- Udhailiya : near the border with the United Arab Emirates
