Jeddah

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This article is about the Saudi Arabian city. For the Australian movie, see Jedda.

Image:Jeddahcityaerial.jpg Jeddah (also Jedda, Jiddah, or Juddah; جدّة Ǧiddah) is a city in western Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea (21.50° N 39.1667° E). Founded as a fishing village over 2,500 years ago, it first achieved prominence in 647 A.D., when the Muslim caliph Uthman ibn Affan turned it into a port for pilgrims making the haj to Mecca. The population of the city currently stands at over 2.3 million.

Two accounts explaining the etymology of the name of the city exist. According to the less common account, the name means "seashore", since Jeddah is located along the coast and is Saudi Arabia's most important port. The more common account has it that name is derived from jaddah, the Arabic word for "grandmother", because in the Arabic tradition, the tomb of Eve, grandmother of all humanity, is located in Jeddah. The supposed tomb was concreted-over by the religious authorities in 1975, as some Muslim pilgrims were praying to Eve there, which is strictly against Islam. The British Foreign Office still insists on using the older spelling of Jedda, contrary to all other English-speaking usage - including other branches of the British government.

The city has several popular beaches, including Durat Alarous, Alremal, Shums, Bait Albahar and Alnakil.

Jeddah is renowned for its shopping malls, such as Jeddah mall, Tahlya mall, Lou mall, and Heraa mall.

Jeddah is served by King Abdulaziz International Airport.

Culturally, Jeddah is far more liberal/tolerant of non-Saudis than Riyadh, due to the history of the Hejaz region.

City of Art

Since the late 1960ies there has been a focused effort on bringing modern art and sculpture to Jeddah. The aim has been, not on putting art in indoor museums, but instead on bringing art into public places. The result is that few cities in the world today contain as many modern open air sculptures and works of art as Jeddah. The sculptures include works by totally unknown artists as well as by international stars like Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Joan Miro and Victor Vasarely.