Jeddah
Jeddah is the principal gateway to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, 65 km to the east, while Medina, the second-holiest city, is 360 km to the north. Economically, Jeddah is focusing on further developing capital investment in scientific and engineering leadership within Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East. Jeddah was ranked fourth in the Africa, Middle East, and 'stan countries region in the Innovation Cities Index in 2009.
Jeddah is one of the Saudi Arabia's primary resort cities and was named a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC). Given the city's close proximity to the Red Sea, fishing and seafood dominate the food culture unlike other parts of the country. In Arabic, the city's motto is "Jeddah Ghair", which translates to "Jeddah is different". The motto has been widely used among both locals as well as foreign visitors. The city is widely perceived as the most liberal city in Saudi Arabia and is a popular tourist destination in the region.
There are at least two etymologies of Jeddah, according to Jeddah Ibn Al-Qudaa'iy, the chief of the Quda'a clan. The more common account has it that the name is derived from جدة Jaddah, the Arabic word for "grandmother". According to eastern folk belief, the Tomb of Eve, considered the grandmother of humanity, is located in Jeddah.
The Maghrebi traveler Ibn Battuta visited Jeddah during his world trip in around 1330. He wrote the name of the city into his diary as "Jiddah".
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other branches of the British government formerly used the older spelling of "Jedda", contrary to other English-speaking usages, but in 2007, it changed to the spelling "Jeddah".
T. E. Lawrence felt that any transcription of Arabic names into English was arbitrary. In his book, Revolt in the Desert, Jeddah is spelled in three different ways on the first page alone.
On official Saudi maps and documents, the city name is transcribed "Jeddah", which is now the prevailing usage.
Map - Jeddah
Map
Country - Saudi_Arabia
Flag of Saudi Arabia |
Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern-day Saudi Arabia, was the site of several ancient cultures and civilizations; the prehistory of Saudi Arabia shows some of the earliest traces of human activity in the world. The world's second-largest religion, Islam, emerged in what is now Saudi Arabia. In the early 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad united the population of Arabian Peninsula and created a single Islamic religious polity. Following his death in 632, his followers rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering huge and unprecedented swathes of territory (from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to parts of Central and South Asia in the east) in a matter of decades. Arab dynasties originating from modern-day Saudi Arabia founded the Rashidun (632–661), Umayyad (661–750), Abbasid (750–1517), and Fatimid (909–1171) caliphates, as well as numerous other dynasties in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
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SAR | Saudi riyal | رس | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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AR | Arabic language |