Al-Hofuf ( ar, ٱلْهُفُوف ', also spelled Hofuf or Hufuf, also known as "Al-Hasa", "Al-Ahsa" or "Al-Hassa") is the major urban city in the
Al-Ahsa Oasis
''Al-Aḥsāʾ'' ( ar, الْأَحْسَاء, ''al-ʾAhsā''), also known as al-Ḥasāʾ () or Hajar (), is a traditional oasis historical region in eastern Saudi Arabia whose name is used by the Al-Ahsa Governorate, which makes up much of th ...
in the
Eastern Province of
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 ...
, with a population of 858,395 (as of 2021). It is also known for being one of the largest
date
Date or dates may refer to:
*Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner
** Group dating
*Play date, a ...
producers in the world, and for its old souks and palaces.
Overview
The city proper has a population of 150,000 and is part of a larger populated oasis area of towns and villages of around 600,000. It is located inland, southwest of
Abqaiq and the
Dhahran
Dhahran ( ar, الظهران, ''Al-Dhahran'') is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby citi ...
–
Dammam–
Al-Khobar metropolitan area on the road south to
Haradh
Haradh () is a large town and industrial city in the Ahsa Governorate in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, approximately southwest of Hofuf. Due to its location above the Ghawar oil field, several oil and gas wells, along with oil refineri ...
. It is the closest city to the famous
Ghawar
Ghawar (Arabic: الغوار) is an oil field located in Al-Ahsa Governorate, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Measuring (some ), it is by far the largest conventional oil field in the world, and accounts for roughly a third of the cumulative ...
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 (KFU) ( ar, جامعة الملك فيصل ') is a public university with the main campus in the city of Hofuf in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia founded in 1975. KFU was initially established with four colleges: two in Dammam and t ...
are located in the city (the others being in
Dammam). The Hofuf campus also has facilities where Saudi women can study medicine, dentistry and home economics.
Legend places Hofuf 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
The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...
is also fabled to have visited this city from her
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
in
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. German explorer,
Hermann Burchardt
Hermann Burchardt (November 18, 1857 – December 19, 1909) was a German explorer and photographer of Jewish descent, who is renowned for his black and white pictorial essays of scenes in Arabia in the early 20th century.
Life
Burchardt, born in ...
, photographed the city in 1904.
Economy
Historically, Hofuf made textiles out of
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
, silk, and cotton. The town was also renowned for its fruit of the date palm, the Arabs considering the ''khalasi'' variety of dates, locally grown in Hofuf, and also the ''fardh'' variety of
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
, among the best.
[''Western Arabia and the Red Sea'', Naval Intelligence Division, London 2005, p. 488 ] As of 1920, the city was known for making
coffee pots from silver and
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
.
Climate
Al Hofuf has a hot desert climate (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''BWh'') with long, very hot summers and mild, short winters.
Culture
The
International Random Film Festival
The International Random Film Festival is the first film festival in the world which celebrates randomness in cinema. Out of the submission 25 films are selected to compete each year. The festival is organized annually in a randomly selected loca ...
was going to be hosted in Hofuf in January 2015, but it was replaced by
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
in May 2017.
Transportation
Airport
The city is served by
King Fahd International Airport which is 160 km away in
Dammam, despite the fact that the city has two airports of its own.
The local airport,
Al-Ahsa International Airport
Al-Ahsa International Airport ( ar, مطار الأحساء الدولي, ) is an airport serving Hofuf (also known as Al-Ahsa or Al-Hasa), a city in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.
History
During Operation Desert Shield and the Gulf War in 1991 ...
, is being used for domestic and limited international flights to
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
. While the other is an old airstrip which is now abandoned.
Railway
The city has a railway station connecting the city with the capital Riyadh to the west and Dammam to the north. All railways in Saudi Arabia are organized by the
Saudi Railways Organization
The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) ( ar, المؤسسة العامة للخطوط الحديدية) is one of two state-owned companies that operates Saudi Arabia's rail network along with Saudi Railway Company. The SRO operates a network of ...
.
Notable people
*
Samira Islam,
pharmacologist
Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemic ...
and scholar
References
External links
Hofufon www.The-Saudi.net
Jabal Qarah Splendid Arabia: A travel site with photos and routes
{{Authority control
Populated places in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia