Al-Hofuf is the major urban center in the Al-Ahsa

Al-Hasa

Al-Ahsa is the largest governorate in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, named after Al-Ahsa oasis. The name Al-Ahsa is also given to the biggest city in the region, Hofuf. In classic Arabic, Ahsa means the sound of water underground. It has one of the largest oases in the world with Date Palms of...

 Oasis in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

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Overview

The city proper has a population of 1,200,000 (2009 census} and is part of a larger populated oasis area of towns and villages of around 600,000. It is located inland, southwest of Abqaiq

Abqaiq

Abqaiq, or in Arabic Bqaiq , is a Saudi Aramco camp in the interior of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, located in the desert 60 km southwest of the Dhahran-Dammam-Khobar metropolitan area. The camp was built in the 1940s by ARAMCO...

 and the Dhahran

Dhahran

Dhahran is a city located in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Large oil reserves were first identified in the Dhahran area in 1931, and in 1935 Standard Oil of California drilled the first commercially viable oil well...

-Dammam

Dammam

Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the most oil-rich region in the world. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province and several government departments are located in the city. Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern Province and third largest in Saudi...

-Al-Khobar metropolitan area on the road south to Haradh

Haradh

Haradh is a small village in Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. Haradh is famous for its oil-rich and gas-rich fields. Several oil plants and a gas plant are located in the Haradh area.- Oil :Haradh is located on top of the massive Ghawar Field...

. It is the closest city to the famous Ghawar oil field, one of the world's largest conventional (land-based) fields.

Hofuf is one of the major cultural centers in Saudi Arabia. A lot of well known families live there. The faculties of agriculture, veterinary medicine and animal resources for King Faisal University

King Faisal University

King Faisal University is a public university with the main campuse in the city of Hofuf in Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia founded in 1975. KFU was initially established with four colleges: two in Dammam and the other two in Al-Hasa.-History:...

 are located in the city (the others being in Dammam

Dammam

Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the most oil-rich region in the world. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province and several government departments are located in the city. Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern Province and third largest in Saudi...

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

Legend places this 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

Sheba

Sheba was a kingdom mentioned in the Jewish scriptures and the Qur'an...

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

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

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Ethnography

At the beginning of the 20th century, the population of Hofuf proper was estimated at 25,000, of whom 75% were said to be Sunnis, the rest being Shi'ites of the Twelver sect. The city remains mixed between Sunnis and Shi'ites today, and has historically been an important center for the Maliki

Maliki

The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...

 rite of Sunni Islam in the Arabian Peninsula

Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...

. The surrounding oasis villages are also an important center of Shi'ite Islam in the country.

Airport

Although the city has two airports, it is served by King Fahd International Airport

King Fahd International Airport

King Fahd International Airport is located 20 kilometers northwest of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It is the largest airport in the world in terms of land area . The airport's basic infrastructure was complete by the end of 1990, which allowed the Allied forces engaged in the first Gulf War in early...

 which is 130km away in Dammam

Dammam

Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the most oil-rich region in the world. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province and several government departments are located in the city. Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern Province and third largest in Saudi...

. Of the local airports, the old one is abandoned, and the new one, Al-Ahsa Domestic Airport

Al-Ahsa Domestic Airport

-Airlines and destinations:Hofuf Airport is used primarily by Saudi Aramco. It offers limited service to the general public, with only only two weekly flights to and from Jeddah offered by Saudi Arabian Airlines....

, is being used primarily by Saudi Aramco. It offers limited service to the general public, with only only two weekly flights to and from Jeddah

Jeddah

Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...

 offered by Saudi Arabian Airlines

Saudi Arabian Airlines

Saudi Arabian Airlines is the flag carrier airline of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. It operates domestic and international scheduled flights to over 90 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America...

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Railway

The town has a railway junction where the direct line from the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

to the capital splits from the indirect line.

External links

• Hofuf on www.The-Saudi.net
• Qarah Caves of Hufuf, Splendid Arabia: A travel site with photos and routes