Arar ( ar, عرعر ' ) is the capital of

Northern Borders Province The Northern Borders Region ( ' is the least populated region of Saudi Arabia. It is located in the north of the country, bordering Iraq and Jordan. It has an area of 111,797 km2 and a population of 320,524 at the 2010 census. The region is s ...

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 Ara ...

. It has a population of 145,237 (2004 census). Arar is located in northern Saudi Arabia near the Iraqi

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

. It is known for its fertile

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

lands which lends itself well to its principal occupation of sheep and camel herding. The population of the entire Northern Borders Province, including the cities of

Rafha Rafha ( ar, رفحاء) is a town in the north of Saudi Arabia, close to the border with Iraq. It is located at around . Rafha had a population of 80,544 at the 2010 Census. After Arar, it is the second largest city in the Northern Borders Regio ...

, Turayf and Alaoiqilah and suburban villages and their inhabitants, was 320,524 at the 2010 census. Arar serves as a significant supply stop for travelers on the Saudi Arabian highway 85.

History

The city of Arar was founded in 1951, after the construction of the

Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...

oil pipeline (

Tapline The Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline), was an oil pipeline from Qaisumah in Saudi Arabia to Sidon in Lebanon, active between 1950–1976. In its heyday, it was an important factor in the global trade of petroleum, as well as in American–Middle ...

) was completed. It was initially an oil pumping station with a health center and worker housing. Workers at Arar were primarily from the regions of Al-Ahsa, Ha'il,

Yanbu Yanbu ( ar, ينبع, lit=Spring, translit=Yanbu'), also known simply as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Al Madinah Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at ). The population is 222,360 (2 ...

and

Al Wajh Al Wajh ( ar, الوجه), also written Al Wejh, is a coastal city in north-western Saudi Arabia, situated on the coast of the Red Sea. The city is located in the Tabuk Province. It is one of the largest cities in Tabuk region, with a population o ...

. Arar got its name from the original oil field that existed before the town, "Field RR", one of many in the country, where it was known by the locals as "R.R." which later became ʿArʿar. The name Arar means

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arc ...

in Arabic. In 1968, the remains of an ancient city were unearthed 30 km from the city of Arar. The site yielded numerous sculptures of fish, turtles and other aquatic animals. A summit meeting between

King Saud Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Suʿūd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 15 January 1902 – 23 February 1969) was King of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 ...

and

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family o ...

of Jordan took place in Arar during the reigns of the two monarchs.

Iraqi Airways Flight 163 Iraqi Airways Flight 163 was a Boeing 737, Boeing 737-270C, registered YI-AGJ, that was Aircraft hijacking, hijacked in 1986. On 25 December 1986, en route from Baghdad's Saddam International Airport to Amman, Jordan, Flight 163 was hijacked by ...

, crashed near the 'Ar'ar airport on 25 December 1986. The plane was flying from Baghdad, Iraq to Amman, Jordan. The

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...

had planned to attack the city as part of their 2014 insurgency. On 5 January 2015 two Saudi border guards were killed in a suicide attack by the Islamic State at the

Ar Ar Border Crossing Arar ( ar, عرعر ' ) is a border crossing between Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The nearest town in Saudi Arabia is Arar (ʿArʿar) and the nearest in Iraq is An Nukhayb. The crossing has barracks for Iraqi border guards, a mosque, and office ...

. However, thereafter ISIS was diminished militarily by other events elsewhere and could not pursue further attacks in the city.

Geography

Arar is located in the north of Saudi Arabia, in the heart of a vast rocky limestone plain. It lies about 1100 km northwest of

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 ...

, and about 60 km from the

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i border.

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies the climate of Arar as

hot desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one ...

(BWh). Winds generally blow from the east or west, rarely from the south. The rainfall in the region has declined gradually over recent years. Snow is not uncommon, falling on average every two to three years.

Notable people from Arar

Amjed Bedewi Amjed Bedewi (born 1954 in Arar, Saudi Arabia) is a Saudi diplomat and incumbent Saudi Arabia Ambassador to Guinea, Sierra Leone. He was nominated by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. He was sworn in on July 18, 2009. Biography Amjed Bedewi gr ...

, diplomat. *

Bander Faleh Bander Faleh ( ar, بندر فالح; born 25 January 1994) is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer who plays as an attacking-midfielder for Al-Jabalain. Career Bander Faleh began his career at the youth team of Arar He arrived for the fir ...

, football player. * Ibn al-Khattab, mujahid warlord.

References

1951 establishments in Saudi Arabia Populated places established in 1951 Populated places in Northern Borders Province Provincial capitals of Saudi Arabia {{SaudiArabia-geo-stub