Riyadh, which lies in the Central Region, is the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and now rivals any modern city in the world in the splendor of its architecture. Broad highways sweep through the city, passing over or under each other in an impressive and still growing road network. Trees now bedeck the broad streets and avenues, giving pleasure to passers-by and shade to those who linger beneath them. Today the city extends for some 600 square miles (1600 square kilometers) and has a population of more than 3 million.
The Red Sea port of Jeddah, located mid-way along the Western coast of the Kingdom, is a bustling, thriving city and seaport. Its location on the ancient trade routes and its status as the seaport and airport for hajjis visiting the Holy City of Makkah have ensured that Jeddah is the most cosmopolitan of all Saudi Arabia's cities.
By the end of the 1970s (1391 AH), the population of Jeddah was estimated to be close to one million. By 1986 (1406/07 AH), the estimated population was 1.4 million. With an estimated growth rate in excess of 10%, the population by 1993 (1413/14AH) had passed the two million mark.
In the early 1980s Dammam, the capital of the Eastern Region, was a separate city but so close to Al Khobar and Dhahran that the traveler could pass from one to the other in a few minutes.
With the continuing expansion of all parts of the Kingdom, the three towns inevitably merged into one, creating a single municipality known as Dammam Area. Each of the three towns which compose the Dammam Area retain their own character and some local administrative functions but, in terms of its place in the Kingdom, the Dammam Area forms a single administrative entity.
