The Riyadh Province ( ar, منطقة الرياض '), also known as the Riyadh Region, is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, located in the geographic center of the country. It has an area of and with a 2017 population of 8,216,284, it is the second-largest region by both area and population, behind the Eastern Province and Mecca Region respectively. The capital governorate of the province is the

Riyadh Governorate Riyadh Governorate () is one of the 22 governorates (''muhafzah'') of Riyadh Province that contains the city of Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia alongside five other towns and neighborhoods.https://www.stats.gov.sa/sites/default/files/ar-riyadh_0.p ...

and it is named after the capital of the kingdom,

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...

, which is the most populous city in the region and the kingdom, with a little less than two-thirds of the population of the region residing within the city. The province was governed for nearly five decades by Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz from 1963 to 2011. Other populous cities in the region include Al Ghat,

Zulfi Az Zulfi (also Zulfi, Zulfy City or Al Zulfi or Az Zilfi) is a city in Riyadh Province in central Saudi Arabia, about 260 kilometres northwest of Riyadh. It is connected by Roads 418 and 535 which both link with the main Highway 65 (Saudi Arabia) ...

and Majma'ah. Approximately half of the region's area is desert, and it only borders other regions of the kingdom; it has no international borders. The region borders, clockwise from the north, the Eastern Province,

Najran Region Najran ( ar, نجران ') is a region of Saudi Arabia, located in the south of the country along the border with Yemen. It has an area of 149,511 km². Its capital is Najran. Najran is inhabited by the powerful Yam tribe, Mishaal bin Abd ...

'Asir Region The ʿAsir Region ( ar, عَسِيرٌ, ʿAsīr, lit=difficult) is a region of Saudi Arabia located in the southwest of the country that is named after the ʿAsīr tribe. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,211,875 (2017). It is ...

, Mecca Region, Medina Region and the

Al-Qassim Region The Qassim Province ( ar, منطقة القصيم ' , Najdi Arabic: ), also known as the Qassim Region, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. Located at the heart of the country near the geographic center of the Arabian Peninsula, it has ...

. It is one of the 7 regions of the kingdom that do not have a coastline.

Population

Population development since 1992:

Subdivisions

In addition to the Municipality of

, the region is divided into 19 governorates (''

muhafazat A ' ( ; ) is a first-level administrative division of many Arab countries, and a second-level administrative division in Saudi Arabia. The term is usually translated to "governorate", and occasionally to "province". It comes from the Arabic roo ...

'') and 1 sub-governorate ('' markaz''): *

Layla "Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded by Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Its contrasting movements were compos ...

'Afif Afif ( ar, عفيف ) is a city in central Saudi Arabia, in the Najd region. It is situated approximately halfway between Riyadh and Mecca. The modern town was established in the 1910s as a ''hijra'', or "settlement", for the nomadic tribes of t ...

al-Duwadmi Dawadmi or Ad Dawadimi ( ar, الدوادمي) is a town in Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia. Google Maps spells the name as Al Duwadimi. As of the 2004 census it had a population of 53,071 people. The town is mostly inhabited by the tribe of Banu 'U ...

al-Ghat Al-Ghat (Arabic: El-Gh'at الغاط') or Elghat "Alghat" is a small town in Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia. It is located by road northwest of Riyadh. As of the 2016 census it had a population of 16500 people. A joint Saudi-Belgian Mission (2 ...

al-Gway'iyyah al-Quwayʿiyah (also ''El Kuveyiye'', ar, القويعية) is a city in Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia.It is located in the west of Riyadh, 165 km away. It is considered as a major stopping point on Riyadh-Makkah Highway. AlQuway'iyah's pop ...

* al-Hareeg *

Al Kharj Kharj ( ar, الخرج) is a governorate in central Saudi Arabia. It is one of the important governorates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is located in the southeast of the capital Riyadh, within an area of 19,790 km2 ~ 4,890,215.5 acres, and ...

Al Majma'ah Al Majma'ah ( ar, المجمعة) is a city and a governorate in Ar Riyad Province, Saudi Arabia. It is located at around , and it is the capital of the Sudair region. The city has an area of 30,000 square kilometres. The population of the town is ...

Al-Muzahmiyyah Al-Muzahmiyya ar, المزاحمية) is one of the fastest-growing towns in Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia. It is located by road southwest of Riyadh, on the important Riyadh-Mecca Highway. As of the 2004 census it had a population of 24,224 pe ...

* al-Sulayyil *

Dhruma Dhurma or Darma ( ar, ضرما) is a small town located by road northwest of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is the center of the small Dhurma Governorate of Riyadh Province, and had a population of 10,267 people according to the 2004 census. It lie ...

Dir'iyyah Diriyah ( ar, الدِرْعِيّة), formerly romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya), is a town in Saudi Arabia located on the north-western outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Diriyah was the original home of the Saudi royal family, and served ...

* Hotat Bani Tamim * Huraymila * Rimah * Shagra * Thadig * Wadi ad-Dawasir * The sub-governorate (''markaz'') of

Marat Marat may refer to: People *Marat (given name) *Marat (surname) **Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793), French political theorist, physician and scientist Arts, entertainment, and media *''Marat/Sade'', a 1963 play by Peter Weiss * ''Marat/Sade'' (fil ...

, which is tied directly to the Municipality of

. * Yabrin * ''Zulfy City''

Modern history of Riyadh Province and Saudi Arabia

List of governors

References

External links

* * * * Central Department of Statistics and Information (CDSI), official Saudi census figures from 2004: ** ** {{Authority control * Provinces of Saudi Arabia