Al-Hofuf ( ', also spelled Hofuf or Hufuf, also known as "Al-Hasa", "Al-Ahsa" or "Al-Hassa") is the major urban city in the

Al-Ahsa Governorate Al-Ahsa (, locally pronounced ''Al-Ḥasāʾ'' ()) also known as Hajar () is the largest Governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, named after the Al-Ahsa Oasis. In Classical Arab ...

in the Eastern Province of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, with a population of 729,606 (as of 2022). It is known for being one of the largest date producing areas in the world, and for its old markets and palaces.

Overview

The city proper has a population of 150,000 and is part of a larger populated oasis area of towns and villages, with a total population of around 600,000. It is located inland from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, southwest of

Abqaiq Abqaiq () is a city in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, located in the desert 60 km southwest of the Dhahran-Dammam-Khobar metropolitan area, and north of the Rub' al Khali, Rub' al-Khali, the second lar ...

and the

Dhahran Dhahran (, ) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, it is a major administrative center for the History of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, Saudi ...

–

Dammam Dammam (Arabic: الدمام ad-Dammām) is a city and governorate, and the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 1,386,166 as of 2022, making it the country's fifth- ...

–

Al-Khobar Khobar () is a city and List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, situated on the coast of the Persian Gulf. With a population of 409,549 ...

metropolitan area on the road south to

Haradh Haradh () is a large town and industrial city in the Al-Ahsa Governorate, Ahsa Governorate in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, approximately southwest of Hofuf. Due to its location above the Ghawar Field, Ghawa ...

. It is the closest city to the famous

Ghawar Ghawar (Arabic: الغوار) is an oil field located in Al-Ahsa Governorate, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Measuring (some ), it is by far the largest conventional oil field in the world, and accounts for roughly a third of the cumulative ...

oil field, one of the world's largest conventional (land-based) fields. Legend places Hofuf as the burial place of Laila and Majnoon, the star-crossed pair of the most popular love story in the Arab and Muslim world. The

Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba, also known as Bilqis in Arabic and as Makeda in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This a ...

is also fabled to have visited this city from her kingdom in

South Arabia South Arabia (), or Greater Yemen, is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jazan, ...

. German explorer

Hermann Burchardt Hermann Burchardt (November 18, 1857 – December 19, 1909) was a German explorer and photographer of Jewish descent, who is renowned for his black and white pictorial essays of scenes in Arabia in the early 20th century. Life and career Burchard ...

photographed the city in 1904.

History

Hofuf was the headquarters of the Ottoman administration since 1871 when it was captured by the Ottoman Empire. It remained under Ottoman control until 1913, when it was captured by members of the

Wahhabi movement Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other p ...

, under

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

. In 1932, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded and Hofuf has been among the kingdom's cities since.

Economy

Historically, Hofuf made textiles out of

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

, silk, and cotton. The town was also renowned for its fruit of the date palm, the Arabs considering the ''khalasi'' variety of dates, locally grown in Hofuf, and also the ''fardh'' variety of

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, among the best.''Western Arabia and the Red Sea'', Naval Intelligence Division, London 2005, p. 488 As of 1920, the city was known for making coffee pots from silver and

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

Climate

Al Hofuf has a hot desert climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BWh'') with long, very hot summers and mild, short winters.

Education

The faculties of agriculture, veterinary medicine and animal resources for

King Faisal University King Faisal University (KFU) ( ') is a public university in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1975, it is named after King Faisal bin Abdulalziz, the ruler of Saudi Arabia from 1964 until 1975. KFU was initially established with four colleges: tw ...

are located in the city (the others being in

). The Hofuf campus also has facilities where Saudi women can study medicine, dentistry and home economics.

Transportation

Airport

The city is mainly served by

King Fahd International Airport King Fahd International Airport (; KFIA) , also known as Dammam International Airport or simply Dammam Airport or King Fahd Airport, is the international airport serving Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The airport is located 31 kilometres (19 miles) north ...

which is 160 km away in

. Hofuf is also home to a small airport of its own,

Al-Ahsa International Airport Al-Ahsa International Airport (, ) is a public airport in Al-Hofuf city, serving Al-Ahsa Governorate, Saudi Arabia. History In 1945, Al-Ahsa International Airport was originally built as an airstrip. In 1985, the airport was upgraded with a sho ...

, which mainly offers domestic flights and flights to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. During

Operation Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

and the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

in 1991, Al-Ahsa Airport also served as an air base for the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

Railway

The city has a railway station connecting the city with the capital Riyadh to the west and Dammam to the north. All railways in Saudi Arabia are operated by

Saudi Arabia Railways Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR; ), formerly the Saudi Railway Company, is the national railway company of Saudi Arabia. It is de facto a state-owned enterprise, as it is owned by the PIF. Saudi Railways Organization was a major railway operator i ...

Notable people

Samira Islam Samira Ibrahim Islam () is a Saudi Arabian pharmaceutical Scientist. She heads King Fahd Medical Research Center's Drug Monitoring Unit at King Abdulaziz University. She was instrumental in securing formal university education for women in Saudi A ...

pharmacologist Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...

and scholar

References

External links

Hofuf
on www.The-Saudi.net
Jabal Qarah
, Splendid Arabia: A travel site with photos and routes {{Authority control Populated places in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia Cities in Saudi Arabia