The Medina Province () is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

in 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 ...

region along 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 ...

coast. It has an area of and a population of 2,389,452 (2022 Census) The provincial capital is

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

, the second-holiest

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 ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Other cities in the province include

Yanbu Yanbu (), also known as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Medina Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at ). The population is 31,800 (2025 census). Many residents are foreign expatriates wo ...

and

Badr Badr (Arabic: بدر) as a given name below is an Arabic masculine and feminine name given to the " full moon on its fourteenth night" or the ecclesiastical full moon. Badr may refer to: Places * Badr, Egypt, a city * Badr, Libya, a town in Libya ...

. The province also contains Mada'in Salih, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Population

Governorates

Transport

Air

Medina is served by the

Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport () or Medina Airport is a regional airport in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Opened in 1950, it handles domestic flights, while it has scheduled international services to regional destinations such as ...

located off Highway 340. It handles domestic flights, while it has scheduled international services to regional destinations in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. It is the fourth-busiest airport in Saudi Arabia, handling 8,144,790 passengers in 2018. The airport project was announced as the world's best by ''

Engineering News-Record The ''Engineering News-Record'' (widely known as ''ENR'') is an American weekly magazine that provides news, analysis, data and opinion for the construction industry worldwide. It is widely regarded as one of the construction industry's most au ...

''s 3rd Annual Global Best Projects Competition held on 10 September 2015. The airport also received the first

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

(LEED) Gold certificate in the

MENA The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...

region. The airport receives higher numbers of passengers during the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

Roads

In 2015, the MMDA announced Darb as-Sunnah (Sunnah Path) Project, which aims to develop and transform the Quba'a Road connecting the Quba'a Mosque to the al-Masjid an-Nabawi to an avenue, paving the whole road for pedestrians and providing service facilities to the visitors. The project also aims to revive the

Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

where Muhammed used to walk from his house (al-Masjid an-Nabawi) to Quba'a every Saturday afternoon. The city of Medina lies at the junction of two of the most important Saudi highways, Highway 60 and Highway 15. Highway 15 connects Medina to

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 ...

in the south and onward and

Tabuk Tabuk may refer to: *Tabuk, Kalinga, the capital city of Kalinga province of the Philippines *Tabuk Province, a province of Saudi Arabia **Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, capital city of the province ** Tabuk Regional Airport *Expedition of Tabuk, a military ...

and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

in the north. Highway 60 connects the city with

, a port city on the

in the west and Al Qassim in the east. The city is served by three

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

s: King Faisal Road, a 5 km ring road that surrounds

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi The Prophet's Mosque () is the second mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina, after the Quba Mosque, as well as the second largest mosque and holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, in the Saudi region of ...

and the downtown area, King Abdullah Road, a 27 km road that surrounds most of urban Medina and King Khalid Road is the biggest ring road that surrounds the whole city and some rural areas with 60 km of roads.

Bus and rapid transit

The bus transport system in Medina was established in 2012 by the MMDA and is operated by SAPTCO. The newly established bus system includes 10 lines connecting different regions of the city to

Masjid an-Nabawi The Prophet's Mosque () is the second mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina, after the Quba Mosque, as well as the second largest mosque and holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, in the Saudi region of t ...

and the downtown area, and serves around 20,000 passengers on a daily basis. In 2017, the MMDA launched the Madinah Sightseeing Bus service.

Open top bus An open top bus is a bus, usually but not exclusively a double-decker bus, which has been built or modified to operate without a roof. Early buses were constructed without roofs but in more recent times they have only been built for tourist and s ...

es take passengers on sightseeing trips throughout the day with two lines and 11 destinations, including Masjid an-Nabawi, Quba'a Mosque and

Masjid al-Qiblatayn The Masjid al-Qiblatayn (, , ), also spelt Masjid al-Qiblatain, is a Sunni Islam mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The mosque is believed by Muslims to be the place where the final Islamic prophet, Muhammad, received the command to change the ''Q ...

and offers audio tour guidance with eight different languages. By the end of 2019, the MMDA announced its plan to expand the bus network with 15

BRT BRT may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Bayrak Radio Television, a Turkish Cypriot broadcaster * Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (now ''VRT''), a Flemish broadcaster * Business Research and Training Center (BR&T), Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

lines. The project was set to be done in 2023. In 2015, the MMDA announced a three-line

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

project in extension to the public transportation master plan in Medina.

Rail

The historic Ottoman Hejaz railway was abandoned following World War One and the Medina railway station was converted into a museum by the Saudi government. The

Haramain High Speed Railway The Haramain High Speed Railway (, , abbreviated HHR), is a passenger railway serving the Mecca and Medina provinces in western Saudi Arabia. The main line directly connects the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina (collectively known as the ...

(HHR) came into operation in 2018, linking Medina and

, and passes through three stations:

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 ...

, King Abdul Aziz International Airport, and

King Abdullah Economic City King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC, ; ) is a planned city in Rabigh Governorate, Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia. It was announced as a megaproject in 2005 by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. It is located in close proximity to Thuwal, almost 100 k ...

. It runs along with a speed of 300 km/h, and has an annual capacity of 60 million passengers.

Governors

References

External links

Emirate of Al Madinah
Official website {{Authority control Provinces of Saudi Arabia