Al Lith () is a city in the region of the
Tihamah
Tihamah or Tihama ( ') is the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb.
Etymology
Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for 'sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in masculine form) was the ancient M ...
on the coast of the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
, southwest of the
Islamic holy city of
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
, and south of the ''
Miqat'' of
Yalamlam.
It is the fifth largest city in population in
Mecca Province
Mecca Province (, ), officially Makkah Province, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. It is the third-largest province by area at and the most populous with a population of 8,557,766 as of 2017, of which 4,041,189 were foreign nationals ...
, and it is one of the large sea ports of the Kingdom 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 ...
on the Red Sea. The population of Al Lith is over 20,800 people (2022 census).
Geography and climate
It is located south of the ''Miqat'' of Yalamlam,
to the southwest of Mecca, and south of Jeddah. Its northern villages are just away from Mecca. It extends to
Hejaz mountains, and the cities of Adham and
Taif
Taif (, ) is a city and governorate in Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat Mountains, the city has a population of 563,282 people in 2022, mak ...
to the east, and as far south as the city of
Al Qunfudhah. The international coastal road Jeddah - Jizan passes by it. Al Lith has a
hot desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
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'').
History
Al Lith got its name from the Valley of Leith, which is located at the east, near the village of Ghumayqah (). Al Lith today is a commercial port that receives pilgrims and goods from all corners of the world. In the past, it used to be a large commercial port that receives ships from
Jizan
Jizan () is a city and the capital of Jazan Province, which lies in the southwest corner of Saudi Arabia. Jizan is situated on the coast of the Red Sea and serves a large agricultural heartland that has a population of 173,919 as of 2022 and over ...
,
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
and the coast of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, and exporting those goods after that to Mecca and
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...
.
Infrastructure
The area of Al Lith boasts prominent
underwater diving
Underwater diving, as a human activity, is the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment. It is also often referred to as diving (disambiguation), diving, an ambiguous term with several possible meani ...
sites.
See also
*
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
**
Hejaz
Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
**
List of cities and towns in Saudi Arabia
The following is a list of cities and towns in Saudi Arabia.
List of Metro Cities
There are 5 large cities or metropolitan area, metro cities in Saudi Arabia with the population over a million or more.
Alphabetical list of cities and towns
...
References
External links
{{Authority control
1925 establishments in Saudi Arabia
Populated places established in 1925
Lith
Lith
Port cities in the Arabian Peninsula
Port cities and towns in Saudi Arabia
Port cities and towns of the Red Sea
Underwater diving sites in Saudi Arabia
Cities in Saudi Arabia