| Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Country
in SW Asia occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula. Capital: Riyadh |
| see also: UAE,
Jordan,
Oman,
Iraq,
Egypt,
Syria,
Bahrain,
Kuwait,
Qatar,
Iran,
Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Algeria,
Islamic
countries,
mosques,
Middle
East |
| Jeddah, on the Red Sea shore,
is Saudi Arabia's second city and an important commercial centre. The oldest
archaeological remains date from 500 BC. In 647 AD, the caliph Uthman Ibn
Affan transformed into a port for the pilgrims going to Mecca for the hajj
what was then a mere fishing village. This function attracted to Jeddah
varied population. Later it became part of the Ayyubid Empire, the Mamluk
Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire. After 1916 it was part of an independent
Hejaz state. In 1925 the city was conquered by Ibn Saud. The oil wealth
brought an expansion to the city and its sea port. The area exports oil
and import everything else, even its workforce. The city experienced a
strong development during the last decades, in particular because of the
Saudi economic boom. It is today a cosmopolitan metropolis of more than
3,4 million inhabitants.
click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images
- photos of Saudi Arabia - imagenes de Arabia Saudi - image bank - stock
photography - Saudi-Arabien - Bilder - Foto's
|
