Ash Sharqiyah, Saudi Arabia
|
Eastern Province الشرقية |
|
|---|---|
| Region | |
| Ash Sharqīyah | |
 Map of Saudi Arabia with the Eastern Province highlighted. |
|
| Coordinates: 22°30′N 51°00′E / 22.5°N 51°ECoordinates: 22°30′N 51°00′E / 22.5°N 51°E | |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Capital | Dammam |
| Governorates | |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Prince Saud bin Nayef |
| • Deputy Governor | Prince Ahmed bin Fahad bin Salman |
| Area | |
| • Total | 672,522 km2 (259,662 sq mi) |
| • Land | 672,522 km2 (259,662 sq mi) |
| • Water | 0 km2 (0 sq mi) 0% |
| Area rank | 1st |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 4,105,780 |
| • Rank | 3rd |
| • Density | 6.1/km2 (16/sq mi) |
| Postal Code | 3XXXX |
| ISO 3166-2 | SA-04 |
| Area code(s) | 013 |
The Eastern Province (Arabic: الشرقية ash-Sharqiyyah) is the largest province of Saudi Arabia by area. The province's capital is the city of Dammam, which hosts the majority of the region's population and its seat of government. The Eastern Province is the third most populous province in Saudi Arabia, after Makkah and Riyadh. Dammam is the province's most populous city, and the sixth most populous city in the country. The current governor of the Eastern Province is Prince Saud Bin Naif.
The Eastern Province is home to most of Saudi Arabia's oil production. The region is also home of the City of Jubail, which hosts the Jubail Industrial City, a global hub for chemical industries. It is also a tourist area because of its location on the coast of the Persian Gulf, and proximity to the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf and the Riyadh Region.
The Eastern Province borders the Persian Gulf, which contains the province's only maritime boundary (which is with Iran, located within the Persian Gulf) and borders 5 countries on land. Apart from this water border, the majority of the countries that the Eastern Province borders are on land, and those are: Iraq (partially), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
The largely uninhabited Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert occupies more than half of the province.
The Saudis of Najd gained control of the area after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The inhabited areas had been known as "Al-Ahsa" (Arabic: الأحساء) under Ottoman rule, and the entire region of Eastern Arabia was mostly known as "Bahrân" (Arabic: ا لبحر ن) from pre-Islamic times until 1521.
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Wikipedia