Afif ( ar, عفيف ) is a city in central

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 ...

, in the Najd region. It is situated approximately halfway between

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 th ...

and

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

. The modern town was established in the 1910s as a ''hijra'', or "settlement", for the nomadic tribes of the area, particularly the tribe of

'Utaybah The Otaibah (, also spelled Otaiba, Utaybah) is one of the biggest Arab tribes originating in the Arabian Peninsula. Their distribution spans throughout Saudi Arabia, especially in Najd. and the Middle East. The Otaibah are descended from the Bed ...

(see

Ikhwan The Ikhwan ( ar, الإخوان, al-ʾIkhwān, The Brethren), commonly known as Ikhwan min ta'a Allah ( ar, إخوان من أطاع الله), was a traditionalist religious militia made up of traditionally nomadic tribesmen which formed a signif ...

). It has since grown into a small city of 39,581 as of the 2004 census, not counting the surrounding towns and villages, which together with 'Afif form the 'Afif Governorate. The city once served as a gateway between the central and western regions of Saudi Arabia. The city is also known to be the first landing site of the first airplane owned by

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...

the first king of

. The town was named after an old well in the area called Afif "بئر عفيف - البير العود". People used to pass by this well in their way to Mekkah while performing the Hajj or Omrah, in order to get water for the rest of the way. Eventually, during the month of Hajj, merchants began to congregate around this well to sell their goods to the pilgrims, which led to the first settlements being established. Thereafter, the people from small villages nearby the well started to recognise how profitable it was to live nearby this well, and houses started to be built there, which caused the city to develop over time.

Landmarks

LORAN-C transmitter Afif LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range u ...

References

Populated places in Riyadh Province Populated places established in the 1910s {{SaudiArabia-geo-stub

Landmarks

See also

References