Al-Batʼha (), also simply romanized as Batha, is a colloquial umbrella term used for the agglomeration of certain parts of neighborhoods in downtown

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, that are primarily situated along the al-Batʼha Street on the either edge of the now-dried up stream of Wadi al-Batʼha, located between al-Murabba and the Qasr al-Hukm District. It is one of the oldest commercial districts in

and the financial nerve center of the city's downtown area, covering east of al-Futah and al-Dirah whereas west of al-Amal, Margab and Thulaim. It emerged in the 1940s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when a number of Kuwaiti merchants and traders chose to set up an auction market just outside the northeastern fringes of the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

. Besides being a open-air marketplace that hosts a number of large and medium-scale trading centers, the surrounding locality has been the heart of the city's Bangladeshi community since the oil boom of the 1970s, alongside Indians,

Pakistanis Pakistanis ( ur, , translit=Pākistānī Qaum, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. According to the 2017 Pakistani national census, the population of Pakistan stood at over 213 million people, making it the w ...

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and

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, who altogether contribute in almost 70% of the economic activity in the area. Traditional Kuwaiti goods accounted for majority of Batha's imports during the early days of its emergence , however, products from various countries like the

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Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

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and

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soon began increasing the diversity of Batha's trading centers. Public transport services were introduced In the area in the 1960s. 1977, the

Riyadh Municipality Riyadh Municipality (RM) (), officially the Riyadh Region Municipality or the Municipality of Riyadh, is a Municipality, municipal body which has jurisdiction upon overall city services and the upkeep of facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the ...

created the al-Batha Sub-Municipality, one of the 16 sub-municipalities of

, that also includes two of five neighborhoods that constitute the Batha area, namely ad-Dirah and Margab.

Gallery

File:Al_Batha_Riyadh,_1983.jpg, Al Batha Street, 1983

References

{{Reflist Riyadh