Overview
Tabuk lies in the north-west, bordered by Jordan to the north, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea to the west, Al-Jawf and Hail to the east and Madinah to the south. It is the only region facing both the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba and covers about 136,000 km². [1]
Administration
The region has six governorates besides the city of Tabuk, the seat of the emirate, and 83 centres. The governorates are Al-Wajh, Duba, Tayma, Umluj, Haql and Al-Bad. [1]
Governorates and cities
Coast, islands and climate
Every governorate except Tayma and the city of Tabuk has a Red Sea coast, and the region has about a hundred coral, sandy and volcanic islands. The climate varies between coast and interior, and snow falls on Jabal Al-Lawz in winter. [1]
History
Related people
Major projects
Three of the Kingdom's giga-projects linked to Saudi Vision 2030 lie in the region: NEOM, AMAALA and the Red Sea project. Farming and fishing lead its traditional economy. [1]
Services
The region has the University of Tabuk, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk city and Al-Wajh airport. [1]
Related topics
- TopicNEOMNEOM is a major development project in the northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, established in 2019 with a master plan covering 26,500 square kilometres, and is one of the most prominent projects of the Public Investment Fund. The project includes major cities and destinations, among them THE LINE, Oxagon, Trojena and Sindalah, alongside NEOM Port and the green hydrogen project.
- HistoricThe Great Nafud DesertThe Great Nafud Desert is a vast sand sea in the north of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, covering about 65,000 km², or nearly 3.2% of the Kingdom's land area, with wide parts lying within the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Reserve. It contains a diversity of dune forms and notable landmarks such as Jabal Al-Ulaym and Nafud Al-Ashyakh.
- HistoricThe Red Sea ProjectThe Red Sea Project is a global tourism destination on the Red Sea coast in northwestern Saudi Arabia, developed by Red Sea Global within the Public Investment Fund's giga-projects. It spans more than 28,000 square kilometres, includes the world's fourth-largest flourishing coral reef, and aims to welcome one million visitors by 2030.
- HistoricKing Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Nature ReserveKing Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Nature Reserve is a royal nature reserve in the northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the largest reserve in the Middle East, with a total area of 130,700 square kilometres extending across four administrative regions. It contains broad biodiversity and rock art sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
- HistoricJabal Al-LawzJabal Al-Lawz is a mountain peak in north-western Saudi Arabia, located within the Madyan Mountains in the Tabuk region and rising 2,580 metres above sea level. It is known for the snow that settles on its summit in winter, and it contains rock carvings dating back more than ten thousand years.
- HistoricAmaalaAmaala is an ultra-luxury tourist destination on the north-western coast of Saudi Arabia in Tabuk Province, within the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Nature Reserve, launched by the Public Investment Fund in September 2018. It is built on a new concept of luxury tourism centred on recuperation, health and treatment, with world-class resorts and a first-phase investment of fifty-one billion and four million Saudi riyals.
- HistoricAl-DahhaAl-Dahha is a performing art and folk heritage particular to the northern regions of Saudi Arabia, performed collectively in one or two facing rows in which the poet Al-Badda' sings, and closed with the dance of Al-Hashi. Al-Dahha features prominently in national festivals, social occasions and weddings.
- EventHejaz RailwayThe Hejaz Railway is a railway line ordered to be built in March 1900, with work beginning in 1900, to link the Muslims of the northern Arabian Peninsula with the Holy Places; it runs from Damascus station to Madinah station. The first train reached Madinah on 22 Rajab 1326 AH, corresponding to 23 August 1908, and the line operated for about nine years. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today preserves its station, its museum and its antiquities in the Tabuk and Madinah regions.
- HistoricWadi DisahWadi Disah is a valley in the north-west of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve and the south-west of the Tabuk region, about 200 km south-west of the city of Tabuk. It holds freshwater springs, towering rock pillars and Nabataean tombs carved into the rock, and its farms produce mango and nabq; it lies within a development project announced by the Public Investment Fund.
- EventEgyptian Hajj RouteThe Egyptian Hajj Route is one of the seven most important pilgrimage and trade routes that linked the Islamic world to the Arabian Peninsula, and was taken by pilgrims from Egypt, the Maghreb, Al-Andalus and West Africa from the beginning of the Islamic era. It combines a coastal land path across Sinai with stations as far as Makkah and a sea route through the port of Aydhab.
- HistoricTrojenaTrojena is a global mountain tourism destination in NEOM, north-west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced on 30 Rajab 1443 AH, corresponding to 3 March 2022. It contains some of the highest mountain peaks in the Kingdom, rising to about 2,600 metres above sea level, and won the right to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games as the first city in western Asia.
- RegionTabuk CityTabuk City is a Saudi city whose presence dates back to more than 500 years before the Common Era. Al-Tawbah Mosque formed the nucleus from which it grew, with its neighbourhoods and markets, and it was there that the Battle of Tabuk, the last of the Prophet's battles, took place in Rajab 9 AH.
- HistoricHijaz MountainsThe Hijaz Mountains are a mountain range in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that embraces a number of peaks and natural landmarks, and its range takes in Jabal an-Nur in Makkah. They are cut through by volcanic lava fields and granite peaks, and among their most prominent landmarks are Jabal Shada in the Al-Bahah region, Jabal al-Lawz in the Tabuk region and Jabal Fifa in the Jazan region.
- HistoricGhada TreeThe Ghada tree is a desert plant and one of the most famous plants of the deserts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; it reaches a height of 4 metres and its roots extend for tens of metres until they reach water. It spreads from the Rub' al Khali desert in the south to the northern edge of the An-Nafud desert, it stabilises sand dunes, and Al-Ghada Park in Unaizah Governorate holds the largest botanical garden in the world of Ghada trees.