Dammam, Al Khobar and Dhahran form a geographically and economically integrated region within the Eastern Province in the north-east of the province covering part of the coastal areas of the Persian/Arabian Gulf. The coastline of the Eastern Province has larger areas of coral reefs and mangroves that provide shelter and food for a variety of marine life.
The largely uninhabited Rub’ al Khali (‘Empty Quarter’) desert occupies more than half of the province. In addition, the province is characterised by its magnificent sandy coasts with beautiful public parks and green spaces along the coast, which is about 700 km long.
Al Ahsa is a traditional oasis region in the south of the Eastern Province, about 70 km inland from the Gulf coast. Al Ahsa encompasses large parts of the desert of the ‘Empty Quarter’ and is thus, in terms of area, the largest governorate not only of the Eastern Province but of all of Saudi Arabia.The Al Ahsa governorate, in fact, extends over the endless land mass from the Arabian Gulf of Qatar to the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman, thus over a length of about 2,500 km in the southern region of the eastern region. In the west, the Ad Dahna desert is the boundary of the governorate. The Ad Dahna desert itself is situated to the east of the Najd plateau. The ‘Empty Quarter’ comprises immense oil fields and Al Ahsa is the closest city to the famous Ghawar oil field, one of the largest conventional (land-based) oil fields in the world.
For detailed information, I would like to refer to my ebook ‘SAUDI ARABIA EASTERN PROVINCE DAMMAM AL KHOBAR DHAHRAN AL AHSA’ available on Apple Books and Amazon Kindle.
