Jizan () is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and the capital of Jazan Province, which lies in the southwest corner 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 ...

. Jizan is situated 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 ...

and serves a large agricultural heartland that has a population of 173,919 as of 2022 and over 1.4 million, in the whole Jizan region. As the city is the capital of the region, it has a regional airport as well as the Jizan seaport. The area is noted for its high-quality production of fruits such as mangoes, figs, papayas, plums, and coffee. Jizan has one of the largest megaprojects market in the kingdom with significant infrastructure projects worth many billions of dollars.

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- l ...

is building a 400,000 bpd refinery with associated terminal facilities on the

near the city, scheduled for completion in late 2018.

Economy

In the early 20th century, Jizan was a major site for pearl fishing. When World War I began, trade declined, due to ships moving to Al Hudaydah. Today, ambitious projects in transport, renewable energy, tourism, and agricultural development are taking place in the Jizan region, particularly in Jazan Economic City, including a US$3 Billion aluminum smelter.

Jazan Refinery

Jazan Refinery is a megaproject under construction and owned by

. The Refinery will process heavy and medium crude oil to create

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, Butane, ''n''-butane and isobutane. It can also contain some ...

, sulfur, asphalt, benzene, and paraxylene. It is expected to produce 400,000 barrels per day.

Transport

Jazan Port and Jizan Regional Airport serve the city of Jizan.

Ethnography

The inhabitants of Jizan are

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

who mainly follow

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

with a small Zaydi minority.

Climate

Jizan has a hot desert climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''BWh'') with a rainfall below 200 mm per year and an average annual temperature above . The weather is very hot all year round and its average annual temperature is one of the hottest in the world, as daily lows average over and highs over even in the mildest month of the year, while unlike a lot of tropical cities the summer is even noticeably warmer. It is very humid but parched in some months, making the weather volatile. Sandstorms are quite common in areas further from the sea. The highest recorded temperature was on 15 September 2006, while the lowest was on 7 February 1993.

References

External links

Official site
{{coord, 16, 53, 21, N, 42, 33, 40, E, type:city, display=title Populated places in Jizan Province Port cities and towns in Saudi Arabia Populated coastal places in Saudi Arabia Provincial capitals of Saudi Arabia Port cities and towns of the Red Sea Cities in Saudi Arabia