Ash Sharqiyah Province
From Freepedia
Ash Sharqiyah, known as Eastern Province is the largest province of Saudi Arabia, located in the east of the country on the coasts of the Persian Gulf, and has borders with Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. It has an area of 710,000 km² and a population of 2,886,700 (1999). Its capital is Dammam. A few kilometres from Dammam is the second city, Al-Khobar, which is more modern and more westernised than Dammam. The King Fahd Causeway, completed in the 1980s, links the Eastern Province to Bahrain. Typically, the causeway is crowded with expatriates and Saudis on a Thursday afternoon as they all head for the clubs and nightlife in Saudi Arabia's more tolerant neighbour. The governor of the province is Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud.
The Eastern Province was conquered by the Saudis in 1914 on the Ottoman Empire. It had been known as Al Hasa under Ottoman rule.
The Eastern Province is largely Shi'ite, which makes it a very dangerous place for the ruling Sunni family to visit. Some villages are virtually no-go areas for the security forces. The reason for this is that Shi'ites in the country often live in bad conditions because Wahhabism is the State religion, and shi'ites classification as kuffar has led to the denial of certain rights for them.
Saudi Aramco, the oil producing company of the Kingdom, is based in Dhahran, which is located in the Eastern Province, and most decisions on oil policy and production are made there. Saudi Arabia's main oil and gas fields are all located in the Eastern Province, whether onshore or offshore. Petroleum from the fields is shipped to dozens of countries from the oil port of Ras Tanura and is also used as feedstock in numerous industrial plants in Jubail.
The Kingdom's second major product, dates, is also a large part of the Eastern Province's economy. Every year thousands of tonnes of dates are harvested from the date palms in the giant oases of Al Hasa and Al-Qatif.
Major cities
- Dammam: Capital of the Eastern Province, main seaport
- Khobar: Major center for commerce
- Dhahran: Center of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, home for Saudi Aramco headquarters, and includes a major base of RSAF
- Al Hasa: Largest oasis in the world
- Qatif: Large oasis on the coast of the Arabian Gulf. Most, if not all, its residents are Shiite Muslims
- Jubail: One of two major industrial cities in Saudi Arabia
- Abqaiq: Home for major and largest oil and gas processing plants
- Ras Tanura: Major petroleum refining center, home for the largest oil refinery in the world, and many offshore oil platforms. Also main oil exporting seaport
- Udhayliyah: Major oil producing and processing plants, near Shaiba in the Empty Quarter, close to the borders of the United Arab Emirates
- Khafji: Main industrial city, very close to the borders of Kuwait. Occupied by the Iraqi forces during the Gulf War. The Marines victoriously engaged in the Battle of Khafji during Operation Desert Storm to free it from Iraqis
