Sakākā, often spelled Sakakah () is a city in northwestern

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

which is the capital of

Al-Jawf Province Al-Jawf Province, also known as Al-Jawf Region also spelled Al-Jouf ( Minṭaqat al-Jawf, ), is a Provinces of Saudi Arabia, province in Saudi Arabia, located in the north of the country, partially bordered by Jordan to the west. It is one of the ...

. located just to the north of the

An Nafud The Nafud desert or simply The Nafud () is a desert in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula is , occupying a great oval depression. It is long and wide, with an area of . The Nafud is an erg, a desert region located in north-central Saudi ...

desert. Sakakah had a population of 204,174 at the 2022 census.

History

Sakakah is an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Al Jouf University Jouf University is located in Al-Jawf, Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 2005 by royal decree. It is currently the only university serving the Al-Jouf Region. Colleges and Faculties Al-Jouf University contains ten colleges on its main campus in S ...

(Jami'at Al-Jawf), founded in 2005. Sakaka is a small but expanding city with much construction in progress. It has three major hospitals: King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital, Prince Mutaib Hospital and child and maternity care hospital. There is a newly established Oncology Center and a Cardiac Center. A big ongoing project is the 1,000-bed Prince Muhammed Bin Abdulaziz Medical City which is under construction.

Education

The King hopes that Al Jouf University will become a pillar of social, cultural, and intellectual advancement in Saudi Arabia. There are several government-run schools and some private schools. The city has three English schools, Sakaka International School, which is an international, mostly Egyptian School and has an American curriculum, the other Al-Jouf International school with British curriculum and the third one is Al Motaqadimah International School with American curriculum.

Transportation

The city is served by Al-Jawf Airport which has domestic flights and International flights to some of the major cities in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia Railways Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR; ), formerly the Saudi Railway Company, is the national railway company of Saudi Arabia. It is de facto a state-owned enterprise, as it is owned by the PIF. Saudi Railways Organization was a major railway operator i ...

also has a station in Sakakah on its

Riyadh–Qurayyat line The Riyadh–Qurayyat line is a railway line in Saudi Arabia that connects the cities of Riyadh and Qurayyat. The 1,242 km line begins at Qurrayat and passes through Al-Jouf, Hail and Al-Qassim regions before terminating in Riyadh. The line ...

Agriculture

Al-Jawf is notable for its abundant agricultural water, making possible the cultivation of dates (200,000 palms) and olives (12,000,000 trees), as well as other agricultural products. Farms number around 16,000, and agricultural projects around 1,500. It is the home to

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

farms such as Watania Farms, the largest organic farm in the kingdom. The fertile agricultural land of Al-Jawf is due largely to underground water, which drew delegates of King Abdul Aziz. They were sent to the town of Sakaka and

Dumat Al-Jandal Dumat al-Jandal (, ), also known as Al-Jawf or Al-Jouf (), which refers to Wadi Sirhan, is an ancient city of ruins and the historical capital of the Al Jawf Province, today in northwestern Saudi Arabia. It is located 37 km from Sakakah. ...

and Qurayat, requesting resident tribes there to join the nascent kingdom. Sakaka is home to many Saudi families that can proudly trace their lineage to a few large, old tribes that have dominated the area since time immemorial.

Historical places

File:Rajajil.jpg, Rajajil standing stones sign Board File:Omar Mosque.jpg, Omar Mosque in Dumat Al-Jandal File:Jouf castle.jpg, Mard Castle The history of Al-Jawf dates back more than four thousand years. It is the home of many historic & prehistoric archaeological sites such Za'bal Castle & Well, the Omar ibn Al-Khattab Mosque, located in Dowmat Al-Jandal and Mard Castle (just south of Sakaka). There are also the ancient Rajajil standing stones in Sakaka, dating back nearly 6,000 years.

Climate

The Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as

hot desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

(BWh).

References

External links

A travel through the province of Al Jouf
Splendid Arabia: A travel site with photos and routes
Rajajeel – Saudi Arabia's Stonehenge
nearby {{Authority control Populated places in Al-Jawf Province Provincial capitals of Saudi Arabia Cities in Saudi Arabia