Duba () is a city in the

Tabuk Province Tabuk Province, also known as Tabuk Region ( '), is a province in Saudi Arabia, located along the northwestern coast of the country, facing Egypt across the Red Sea. It also borders Jordan to the north. History The history of Tabuk province ...

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 ...

. The city is located on the northern

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

coast. Local citizens describe it as ''The Pearl of the Red Sea''. As of 2022, it had a population of 39,543.

History

The first reference to Duba, under this name, is from 1203. The

Valley of Salma A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or s ...

and Valley of Kafafah were already known many centuries before. The

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

scholar

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

mentioned a trade route leading from Kafafah to

Lihyan Lihyan (, ''Liḥyān''; Greek: Lechienoi), also called Dadān or Dedan, was an ancient Arab kingdom that played a vital cultural and economic role in the north-western region of the Arabian Peninsula and used Dadanitic language. The kingdom fl ...

(today's Al-`Ula). The

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

scholar and poet, Sheikh Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, wrote about Duba in 1790, in his account of traveling to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

for the Hajj. Historically part of Madian; the city is mentioned in Muslim scriptures. According to the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, Prophet Moussa settled in Madian (the region starts from Jordan river and extends to the city of Duba). The settlement of Prophet Shuaib as it is called is said to be located near Maqna where an ancient well can still be seen. The well is said to be the one where Moussa fed the flock. The

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

fortified the city, protecting the route from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. The

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...

had taken control of Duba from the Ottomans by mid-1917. After the Saudi conquest of the city in 1933,

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

built his castle there in the same year.

Geography

Duba is located in the northwest of Saudi Arabia on the coast of the

on the Egyptian road of the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

, about 300 km from the intersection of

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. Duba includes 3 valleys, Dahkan to the north, and Salma and Kafafah on the south. It is about 800 km from Jeddah and Mecca via the coastal highway that passes through the major port and industrial city of

Yanbu Yanbu (), also known as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Medina Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at ). The population is 31,800 (2025 census). Many residents are foreign expatriates wo ...

. Duba is a port city and ferries and ships operate from here for Egypt and Jordan. The

Hurghada Hurghada (; ', ) is a coastal city that serves as the largest city and capital of the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. Hurghada has grown from a small fishing village to one of the largest resort destinations along the Red Sea coast, stretching c ...

and Safaga ports of Egypt can be reached within about 3 hours (minimum) by ferry. It is strategically located at the starting point of

Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba () or Gulf of Eilat () is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian Peninsula. Its coastline is divided among four countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. ...

that ends at Umm al Rashrash, Palestine and Aqaba, Jordan. It is an important economic epicenter in the country, with many merchants passing Duba each year. Duba is also serving as hub for

Neom Neom (styled NEOM; , ) is an arcology and planned city being built by Saudi Arabia in Tabuk Province. Launched in 2017 by crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, the site is at the northern tip of the Red Sea, due east of Egypt across the Gulf of A ...

. It is located about south of the planned site on the Neom Industrial City.

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh).

Transportation

There is no local public transport within the city. Most of the city is within walking range. Rental car facilities are present for day trips (or even more for nearby attractions). Some individuals do operate their cars as private taxis but they are difficult to trace. The neighboring cities Tabuk (180 km) and Al Wajh (about 160 km) have airport facilities that connect the region with major national and international airports of Saudi Arabia. Saptco Saudi Road Transport offers bus services from

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

and

to Tabuk via Duba. It takes about 12 hours to reach Duba from Jeddah.

In Art and literature

Duba is the subject of a painting by Samuel Austin, an engraving of which was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833 as along with a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...

that recalls the story of the Fairy Pari-Banou and Prince Ahmed.

External links

Official siteCity of Duba
on YouTube

References

{{coord, 27, 20, 57.3, N, 35, 41, 46.2, E, display=title Populated places in Tabuk Province Cities in Saudi Arabia