Dhahran (Arabic : الظهران, romanized: Ad͟h D͟hahrān) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, [1] it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cities of Dammam and Khobar, Dhahran forms part of the Dammam Metropolitan Area, which is commonly known as greater Dammam and has an estimated population of 2.2 million as of 2022.
A Concession Agreement to search for oil was signed in Jeddah on May 29, 1933, between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Standard Oil of California. However, it was not until five years later, in 1938, that the first oil in commercial quantities was produced. Standard Oil later established a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia called the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO), now owned by the Saudi government and known as Saudi Aramco. Dhahran has been the home of Saudi Aramco's headquarters for 90 years and is its first and largest gated compound. Employees and dependents of Aramco, known as Aramcons, have a tendency to use Dhahran to solely refer to the Aramco Camp while using Khobar and/or Dammam to refer to the area outside the camp.
Dhahran is unusual in that a large portion of it is made up of gated areas including Saudi Aramco's headquarters and residential camp, the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (built by Aramco) and the King Abdulaziz Air Base. Dhahran is also home to the Mall of Dhahran, one of the biggest shopping complexes in the Eastern Province.
Dhahran is a short distance west of downtown Khobar. It is about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Dammam. Both are older Saudi port cities on the coast of the Persian Gulf. Looking farther afield, Dhahran is northeast of Abqaiq, and southeast of Qatif and, further north, Ras Tanura, a major oil port. The Kingdom of Bahrain is also within easy driving distance to the east (about 32 km [20 mi]), across the King Fahd Causeway, from Khobar.
There are several notable landmarks in Dhahran City including KFUPM clock tower as well as Saudi Aramco's Al-Midra Tower and King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture. However, the tallest building in Dhahran is Al-AbdelKareem Tower, where the neighboring Al-Othman twin towers come as second tallest, all located at Al-Qashlah district in the north east of the city facing Al-Khobar.
The patch of desert on which the city is built is hilly and rocky, and most of the earliest productive oil wells in Saudi Arabia were drilled in the area, such as Dammam Well No. 7: "Prosperity Well", the first commercially viable oil well in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s. This well was still in production 70 years later. This later led to the selection of two barren nearby hills as the place for Aramco to construct its headquarters.
The Dhahran-Dammam area is one of two regions, the other being Jeddah, that were selected as potential sites to build the first Saudi nuclear reactor.
Dhahran has a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh), featuring summers among the hottest and most humid in the world, and virtually frost-free winters. Temperatures can rise to more than 40 °C (104 °F) in the summer, coupled with high humidity, [ citation needed ] given the city's proximity to the Persian Gulf. The highest recorded temperature in Dhahran is 51.1 °C (124.0 °F). [2] In winter, the temperature rarely falls below −2 °C (28 °F), with the lowest ever recorded being −5 °C (23 °F) in January 1964. [3] Rain falls almost exclusively between the months of November and May. The Shamal winds usually blow across the city in the early months of the summer, bringing dust storms that can reduce visibility to a few metres. These winds can last for up to six months.
It was reported that on July 8, 2003, the dew point was 35 °C (95 °F) while the temperature was 42 °C (108 °F), which would indicate a heat index of 79 °C (174 °F), one of the highest heat indexes ever reported. [4]
Climate data for Dhahran (1991-2020) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 30.8 (87.4) | 36.2 (97.2) | 41.0 (105.8) | 45.0 (113.0) | 51.0 (123.8) | 50.0 (122.0) | 51.5 (124.7) | 51.0 (123.8) | 49.0 (120.2) | 45.0 (113.0) | 40.0 (104.0) | 31.5 (88.7) | 51.5 (124.7) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 21.5 (70.7) | 23.6 (74.5) | 27.7 (81.9) | 33.5 (92.3) | 39.7 (103.5) | 43.0 (109.4) | 44.1 (111.4) | 43.5 (110.3) | 40.9 (105.6) | 36.6 (97.9) | 29.5 (85.1) | 23.8 (74.8) | 34.0 (93.1) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 15.7 (60.3) | 17.4 (63.3) | 21.0 (69.8) | 26.4 (79.5) | 32.1 (89.8) | 35.3 (95.5) | 36.3 (97.3) | 35.8 (96.4) | 32.9 (91.2) | 28.9 (84.0) | 22.8 (73.0) | 17.7 (63.9) | 26.9 (80.3) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 10.5 (50.9) | 12.1 (53.8) | 15.2 (59.4) | 20.0 (68.0) | 25.2 (77.4) | 27.9 (82.2) | 29.3 (84.7) | 29.1 (84.4) | 25.9 (78.6) | 22.2 (72.0) | 17.1 (62.8) | 12.4 (54.3) | 20.6 (69.0) |
Record low °C (°F) | −1.0 (30.2) | 3.0 (37.4) | 5.0 (41.0) | 10.0 (50.0) | 14.0 (57.2) | 19.4 (66.9) | 21.0 (69.8) | 19.5 (67.1) | 18.5 (65.3) | 13.4 (56.1) | 7.0 (44.6) | 3.0 (37.4) | −1.0 (30.2) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 19.9 (0.78) | 10.9 (0.43) | 16.7 (0.66) | 5.5 (0.22) | 0.9 (0.04) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.00) | 24.1 (0.95) | 16.7 (0.66) | 94.8 (3.74) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 14.2 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 73 | 68 | 60 | 55 | 43 | 34 | 36 | 44 | 53 | 60 | 64 | 66 | 55 |
Average dew point °C (°F) | 9 (48) | 10 (50) | 10 (50) | 12 (54) | 13 (55) | 13 (55) | 16 (61) | 20 (68) | 19 (66) | 19 (66) | 15 (59) | 11 (52) | 14 (57) |
Source 1: World Meteorological Organization [5] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: NOAA (extremes and humidity, 1961-1990), [3] Time and Date (dewpoints, 1985-2015) [6] |
Dhahran was settled after 1938, the year oil was discovered in the vicinity. [7] ARAMCO (then the Arabian American Oil Company, today's Saudi Aramco) built various residential areas, known as camps, to house the company's oil workers (and in some cases their families) in what was then a remote part of the desert. [8]
During World War II on 19 October 1940 Dhahran was struck by Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) as a part of Bombing of Bahrain, causing minimal damage.
In 1944, the United States was authorized to build an air base in Dhahran (officially referred to as Dhahran Airfield). Construction began in 1945 and was completed in 1946. The base was turned over to the Saudis when its lease expired in the early 1960s. [9] Dhahran is historically significant in the development of US-Saudi relations, starting with the discovery of oil that led to the creation of ARAMCO (the Arabian American Oil Company, today's Saudi Aramco), which in turn led to the US building the Dhahran Airfield (built adjacent to Aramco's residential camp) and the construction of the former US consulate (also adjacent to the Aramco camp).
In 1950 Dhahran had a population of about 7,000 people. [10]
During the Gulf War, the city was the scene of the largest loss of life among coalition forces. On February 25, 1991, an Iraqi Al-Hussein missile hit a U.S. Army barracks in the city, killing 28 American reservists from Pennsylvania. [11] [12]
Dhahran has the headquarters of Saudi Aramco. [13] The company is the largest oil company in the world with the largest oil reserves in the world, [14] and it produces about 10 million barrels of oil per day. Most of the oil is exported, since local Saudi needs require about 12% of the total production. (See: Saudi Aramco)[ citation needed ]
Nearly a century after its foundation in 1933, Dhahran is still Saudi Aramco's worldwide headquarters and the center of the company's finance, exploration, engineering, drilling services, medical services, materials supply and other company organisations. [15]
The population of Dhahran is mainly Saudi, but also includes many expatriates from Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines, as well as countries such as the United States, Canada, European countries, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. There are also many non-Saudi Arab nationals living in Dhahran, such as Yemenis, Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese, Palestinians, Sudanese, and Syrians. The 1993 population of the city was 73,691. [15] According to a 2004 census the total population of the Dhahran municipality is 97,446.
Many companies that employ relatively large numbers of expatriates have built fenced-in compounds where only expatriates live; however, the largest compound, the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran provides accommodation to many different nationalities. Although built originally to house only expatriate oil company employees (mainly Americans) to provide a degree of Western comfort and separation from the restrictions of Saudi and Islamic laws, the community today has shifted somewhat in line with the reduction of western residents into a multi-ethnic mosaic of Saudis, other Arab nationalities (e.g., Egyptian and Jordanian), Asians, Europeans, South Americans, Africans and Australians. While only employees of Saudi Aramco live on the camp, their nationalities reflect those of the company as a whole. There are also several neighborhoods, or suburbs just outside the main Saudi Aramco Camp, such as Doha District (حي الدوحه) Dana District (حي الدانة) and Aljamiah District (حي الجامعة), where Saudi Aramco gives home loans to Saudi employees to build their own homes.
Dhahran is unique in a way that majority of the population live inside gated communities, whether built by Saudi Aramco, KFUPM or military.
Dhahran is part of the Eastern Province, the largest province in Saudi Arabia. The province is governed by Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Just like the rest of the country, the law of Shari’a, or Islamic law is adhered to. Following the Saudi Arabian municipal elections in 2005, members of the municipal councils were elected.
Dhahran is guarded as it is a high visibility city. The Saudi Special Emergency Forces' Eastern Province headquarters are located in Dhahran near the Saudi Aramco residential camp. There are many security checkpoints throughout the city that have been almost permanently in place since the Riyadh Compound Bombings.
The first American consulate was opened in Dhahran in 1944. [16]
As the centre of the nation's oil industry, Dhahran enjoys good transport resources both nationally and internationally, especially after the extensive modernisation of the nations highway infrastructure in the 1970s and 1980s.
The extensive highway network in the Dhahran, Khobar, Dammam area serves the strategically important national oil industry, led by Saudi Aramco, as well as the local population. However, car ownership in the Kingdom has soared which often leaves non-highway roads congested at peak times.
Formerly one of Saudi Arabia's three major international airports, Dhahran Airport (DHA), which opened in 1946 as Dhahran Airfield, is now a Royal Saudi Air Force airbase. Today, King Fahd International Airport (DMM), which replaced Dhahran International for commercial, private and cargo, serves the entire Metropolitan Area of Dhahran, Dammam, and Khobar, the distance to the airport terminal is about 40 km (25 mi) from Dhahran. Saudi Aramco Aviation operates the general aviation terminal at King Fahd International Airport exclusively as its own terminal, where all Saudi Aramco flights originate.
Although rail service in Saudi Arabia plays a much more minor role today than 50 years ago, an industrial railroad with a station adjacent to Dhahran still exists, linking it to the capital Riyadh.
Public transport buses are only available in a very limited manner, with taxi services, at reasonable prices and widely available, proving more popular. Large companies such as Saudi Aramco run their own bus transport operations, connecting residential and industrial camps of the company with Dhahran, Dammam, and Khobar. Many smaller residential compounds also operate their own bus services which are typically used for transport to places of work or shopping trips by residents.
Mobile telephone communications are provided mainly by STC, Mobily and Zain, which have launched 3G, 4G and 5G services to their customers.
STC also provides landlines through its Al-Hatif services, as well as providing internet services through Saudi Data.
There are several internet service providers such as Al-Alamiah, ArabNet, Nesma and others. Both DSL and FTTH services are available.
There are several popular radio stations, such as Radio Sawa, Studio One 91.4 FM, broadcast from Aramco, and Bahrain Radio 96.5 FM.
Satellite television is predominant in the market, with Orbit Showtime being the most popular, as well as the widespread variety of satellite channel operators including Eutelsat, AsiaSat, Palapa, Arabsat and Nilesat.
Schools in Dhahran come under two sections: public (government-run) and private. Public schools (K-12), open to almost everyone, strictly adhere to teaching the curriculum exactly as provided by the Ministry of Education. Public schools also come under two sections: Saudi Aramco-built and government-built. The Saudi Aramco built schools are usually better in design and last longer due to their being built to higher standards; however, they are not operated by the company.[ citation needed ] Private schools also teach the ministry's curriculum, but they have more flexibility often enhancing certain aspects, such as exceeding the ministry's curriculum when teaching the English language and computer applications. University Schools, located within King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, and Dhahran Ahliyyah Schools are examples of top private schools across Saudi Arabia are based in Dhahran.
There are several schools that teach the curriculum of their native countries, such as the Multinational School Dhahran (MNS Dhahran Multinational School Dhahran (MNS Dhahran), Dhahran British Grammar School, Dhahran Elementary Middle School, and Dhahran High School.
Dhahran High School (formerly Dhahran Academy High School) is a part of International Schools Group and is primarily composed of expatriates including American, British, Lebanese, Filipino, and Indian students. There have been Saudi students as well, though this is relatively rare. Advanced Placement courses have been available since Dhahran High School's first graduating class in 2001.
The Dhahran School and the Dhahran Hills School are Saudi Aramco-run American curriculum schools within the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp. These schools are strictly only for the children of expatriate Saudi Aramco employees but are provided completely free of charge to them. They are fully accredited and are part of the larger Saudi Aramco Schools district, encompassing all Saudi Aramco-operated schools within Aramco residential compounds.
Dhahran is also home to the world-renowned King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), [15] and the Aramco Training Center (ATC), where many new employees of Saudi Aramco learn useful skills, such as English, business mathematics, physics, and computer skills. Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University and Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University are also located near and within the city respectively.
The Eastern Province, also known as the Eastern Region, is the easternmost of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. It is the nation's largest province by area and the third most populous after the Riyadh and Mecca provinces. In 2017, the population was 4,900,325. Of these, 3,140,362 were Saudi citizens and 1,759,963 were foreign nationals The province accounts for 15.05% of the entire population of Saudi Arabia and is named for its geographical location relative to the rest of the kingdom.
Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. With a population of 1,532,300 as of 2022, Dammam is the kingdom's fourth-most populous city after Riyadh, Jeddah, and Mecca. Dammam constitutes the core of the Dammam metropolitan area, also known as the Greater Dammam area, which comprises the 'Triplet Cities' of Dammam, Dhahran, and Khobar. The region is closely linked to the city through social, economic, and cultural ties. As of 2022, the Dammam metropolitan area's population was 2,743,318.
Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran is a residential community built by Saudi Aramco for its employees to live in. It is located within the city of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. There are three areas recognized by the inhabitants in the Dhahran camp. The first built is known as the Main Camp. It is the oldest part and the busiest as it contains the commissary, various shops and parks, and infrastructure. The second area, known as the Hills, is the quietest since it is mostly residential and more family-friendly. In 2017, a new residential area was opened and is known as Jebel Heights, an extension of the camp on the western edge of the facility. The area of Jebel Heights contains modern villas that vary from three-bedroom houses to five-bedroom houses as well as apartment blocks.
Jubail is a city in the Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, with a total population of 474,679 as of 2022. It is home to one of the largest industrial cities in the world. It is also home to the Middle East's largest and world's fourth largest petrochemical company SABIC. It has the world's largest IWPP producing 2743.6 MW of electricity and 800,000 m3 of water daily.
Khobar is a city and governorate in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, situated on the coast of the Persian Gulf. With a population of 409,549 as of 2022 in the city core and 658,550 in the governorate, Khobar is part of the 'Triplet Cities' area, or Dammam metropolitan area along with Dammam and Dhahran, forming the residential core of the region.
On 29 May 2004, a Saturday, four men armed with guns and bombs attacked two oil industry installations and a residential compound, in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia—the hub of the Saudi oil industry. Over approximately 25 hours, the gunmen, describing themselves as members of "The Jerusalem Squadron" or "Jerusalem Brigade", killed 22 and injured 25, mainly third country national personnel working in Khobar.
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) is a nonprofit research university in Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1963 by King Saud bin Abdulalziz as the College of Petroleum and Minerals, it is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in Saudi Arabia.
King Abdulaziz Air Base, also known as Dhahran Air Base and formerly Dhahran International Airport, Dhahran Airport and Dhahran Airfield, is a Royal Saudi Air Force base located in Dhahran in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Located west of Thuqbah and 7 km (4 mi) southeast of the Saudi Aramco Dhahran Camp, the airbase was the first Saudi Arabian airport to be constructed, in 1961, and is under the command of Air vice-marshal Prince Turki bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Qatif or Al-Qatif is a governorate and urban area located in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. It extends from Ras Tanura and Jubail in the north to Dammam in the south, and from the Persian Gulf in the east to King Fahd International Airport in the west. This region has its own municipality and includes the Qatif downtown, Safwa, Saihat, Tarout Island, and many other smaller cities and towns.
Ras Tanura is a city in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia located on a peninsula extending into the Persian Gulf. The name Ras Tanura applies both to a gated Saudi Aramco employee compound and to an industrial area further out on the peninsula that serves as a major oil port and oil operations center for Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world. Today, the compound has about 3,200 residents, with a few Americans and British expats.
King Fahd International Airport, also known as Dammam International Airport or simply Dammam Airport or King Fahd Airport, is the international airport serving Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The airport is located 31 kilometres northwest of downtown Dammam and is named after the former King of Saudi Arabia, Fahd ibn Abdulaziz (1921–2005). The airport serves the entire Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and is one of the four primary international airports in the kingdom.
Abqaiq is a Saudi Aramco gated community and oil-processing facility located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, located in the desert 60 km southwest of the Dhahran-Dammam-Khobar metropolitan area, and north of the Rub' al-Khali, the second largest sand desert in the world also known as the "Empty Quarter". The community was built in the 1940s by Aramco. The Abqaiq community had a population of approximately 1,500 in 2012, though the inclusion of the population outside the Saudi Aramco community brings this number closer to 45,000.
Ras al-Khafji or Khafji (الخفجي) is a town on the border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It lies in what was before 1970 the Saudi Arabian–Kuwaiti neutral zone.
International Schools Group (ISG), formerly Saudi Arabian International Schools (SAIS), operates five individual schools in the Saudi Arabia: American School Dhahran (ASD), British School Dhahran (BSD), ISG Dammam, ISG Jubail and Sara Village School (SVS). Two schools offer the National Curriculum for England, while the others offer an American curriculum.
Highway 613, popularly known as the Dhahran–Jubail Expressway and the Khobar–Dammam–Dhahran Expressway, is a major north-south controlled-access secondary highway in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, spanning 196 kilometers. It connects the Dammam metropolitan area to the industrial area of Ra's al-Khair, running in the north-south direction for its entire length from Khobar in the south to the Ra's al-Khair north of Jubail, while providing access to Saihat, Qatif and Jubail along its length.
Ras Tanura Airport is a small airport in the western side of Ras Tanura city in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The airport occupies an area of 1.9 km2, surrounded by residential areas and oil pipelines. It is located about 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Dammam, but is also close to other cities in the Province like Jubail, Khobar and Al-Thuqbah.
The Dhahran School is an international school owned and operated by the Saudi Aramco Schools district. It is part of the Saudi Aramco Expatriate Schools District. Dhahran School is exclusively used by children of Saudi Aramco employees and serves children from kindergarten through grade nine. Dhahran School is free of charge for all children of Saudi Aramco employees. The Dhahran School is located inside the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran, operated by Saudi Aramco, within the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The school is divided into the Dhahran Hills School and the Dhahran Middle School, where the Dhahran Hills School serves children from kindergarten through grade four and the Dhahran Middle School teaches students between the grades five and nine. The mascot of the Dhahran Hills School is the Arabian horse, while the mascot of the Dhahran Middle School is the wildcat. There is also a Dhahran High School that is in Saudi Arabia, but it is not in the school district.
The Dammam metropolitan area, or Greater Dammam, is the largest metropolitan area in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It consists of "The Triplet Cities" of Dammam, Khobar, Dhahran, Qatif and their vicinities. It had a population of 2,742,800 as of the 2022 census. It is known for the arts, pearl culturing, entertainment and popular music and sports legacies. The area includes a variety of natural landscapes, parks, and beaches with a recreational coastline to the Persian Gulf. The Greater Dammam area is also known for being one of the cornerstones of the oil industry with the world's largest oil company and most valuable company, Saudi Aramco, being based in Dhahran, as a result of the first oil well being dug in the area.
Udhailiyah is a small oil company compound in the interior of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia in the desert southwest of the Dhahran-Dammam-Khobar metropolitan area. Built by the national oil company Saudi Aramco, Udhailiyah has a population of approximately 1,350 residents. The English spellings Udeliya, Udayliyah, and other variations are also used, with the same pronunciation.
American School Dhahran (ASD) (formerly called Dhahran Academy) is a coeducational day K-12 school located in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia as part of the International Schools Group. Founded in 1962 as Dhahran Academy, the non-profit school primarily served children of the staff of the US Consulate in Dhahran. Dhahran Academy was renamed to be Dhahran High School in 1999 after the school moved to provide a full K-12 American curriculum. In 2021, ISG's Dhahran Elementary Middle School and Dhahran High School merged to become the American School Dhahran.