Al Dammam
Dammam is the sixth-most populous city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina and Khamis Mushait. It is the capital of the Eastern Province. With a total population of 1,252,523 as of 2020. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province, in addition to the administrative offices of other minor governmental departments functioning within the province, are located in the city. The word itself is generally used to refer to the city, but may also refer to its eponymous governorate. Dammam is known for being a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. 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 area has an estimated population of 4,140,000 as of 2012 and is closely linked to the city through social, economic, and cultural ties. The city is growing at an exceptionally fast rate of 12% a year – the fastest in Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and the Arab world. As of 2016, Greater Dammam is the fourth largest metropolitan area by both area and population in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Al-Ahsa
Al Ahsa is the largest governorate in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, named after the Al-Ahsa Oasis. The name Al-Ahsa is also given to the biggest city in the governorate, Hofuf. In Classical Arabic, ‘Ahsa’ means the sound of water underground. It has one of the largest oases in the world with world-renowned date palms and, according to one author, the oases of Al-Hasa and Al Ain (in the UAE, on the border with Oman) are the most important in the Arabian Peninsula. The oasis is located about 60 mi (97 km) inland from the Persian Gulf. All urban areas are located in the traditional oasis of Al-Hasa. In addition to the oasis, the county also includes the giant Empty Quarter desert, making it the largest governorate in Saudi Arabia in terms of area. The Empty Quarter has the world’s largest oil fields, and connects Saudi Arabia to Qatar, the UAE, and Oman. The Governorate’s population is over 1,100,000 (2010 estimate). In the past, Al-Ahsa belonged to the historical region known as Bahrain, along with Qatif and the present-day Bahrain islands.