Cities of the Arabian Peninsula

Abha (أبها)

Abha (أبها) is the administrative capital of Aseer Province in southwest Saudi Arabia, a mountain city at about 2,270 m elevation with Saudi Arabia's highest rainfall, 422,243 residents (2022 census), and Al-Soudah, the Kingdom's highest peak, nearby.

Abu Dhabi (أبو ظبي)

Abu Dhabi (أبو ظبي), capital of the UAE and its largest emirate (67,340 km², 87% of the country), population 4.14 million in 2024; oil found 1958, UAE founded 1971, over 62% of national GDP.

Aden (عدن)

Aden (عدن) is a port city in southern Yemen, largest city of the south and seat of Yemen's internationally recognized government. Captured by Britain in 1839, a free port from 1853 and Crown Colony from 1937, it thrived on bunkering trade after the 1869 Suez Canal opening.

Ajman (عجمان)

Ajman (عجمان) is the smallest UAE emirate by area, about 260 sq km on the Arabian Gulf between Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain, ruled by the Al Nuaimi family since the 18th century, with 504,846 people (2017) and GDP above AED 36 billion (2023).

Al Ahmadi (district)

Al Aḩmadī (الأحمدي), Kuwait's second-largest city and capital of Al Ahmadi Governorate, is a planned oil company town founded in 1946-1947 by the Kuwait Oil Company, named for Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, built on Garden Suburb principles, and now on Kuwait's UNESCO Tentative List.

Al Ain (العين)

Al Ain (العين) is an oasis city in Abu Dhabi, bordered by Oman and known as "The Spring." The city is the location of UNESCO Cultural Sites and has ancient Bronze Age ruins.

Al Mubarraz

Al Mubarraz (المبرز) is a Saudi city in the Al-Ahsa Oasis, Eastern Province, first recorded in 1573 and capital of the Bani Khaled state in the 18th century.

Al Muharraq

Al Muharraq (المحرق), Bahrain's capital 1810–1923 on Muharraq Island, is a pearling-era heritage city with the UNESCO Pearling Path, Bahrain International Airport, and an ongoing government redevelopment project across six historic neighbourhoods.

Al Mukalla

Al Mukalla (المكلا) is a port city on Yemen's Arabian Sea coast and capital of Hadhramaut Governorate. Former Qu'aiti capital (1915), Yemen's third largest cargo port, opened 1985, fishing economy, UNESCO tentative historic city.

Al Rayyan

Al Rayyan is a municipality of Qatar and, within it, a major city that forms the western part of metropolitan Doha; its 826,786 residents make it Qatar's second most populous municipality.

Al-Buraimi (البريمي)

Al-Buraimi (البريمي) is an Omani oasis town and governorate capital on the UAE border, twin of Al Ain; historically the Buraimi Oasis of nine villages contested by Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat in the 1950s.

Buraydah

Buraydah (بريدة), also Buraidah, is the capital of Al-Qassim Region in central Saudi Arabia; 677,647 residents (2022 census), seat of the regional Emirate, and host of the world's largest annual dates carnival with SAR 3.2 billion in sales.

Dammam (الدمام)

Dammam (الدمام), administrative capital of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province on the Arabian Gulf; with Alkhobar and Dhahran it forms the DMA, the kingdom's third largest urban center, transformed by the 1938 Dammam No. 7 oil strike.

Dhahran (الظهران)

Dhahran (الظهران) is a city in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, part of the Dammam metro area, home to Aramco headquarters and KFUPM, site of the 1938 Dammam Well No. 7 oil discovery, population 143,936 (2022).

Diriyah

Diriyah (الدرعية) is a historic town northwest of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, first capital of the Saudi dynasty and seat of the First Saudi State from 1727 to 1818.

Doha (الدوحة)

Doha (الدوحة) is the capital city of Qatar, on a calm bay halfway along the east coast of the Qatar peninsula and home to about half of Qatar's population.

Dubai

Dubai (دبي), second-largest emirate of the UAE on the Arabian Gulf; 4,114 km², 4.58 million people in 2025. Oil exports began 1969; economy now over 95% non-oil, centered on trade, tourism, aviation, and finance.

Fujairah (الفجيرة)

Fujairah (الفجيرة) is the only UAE emirate entirely on the eastern Gulf of Oman coast: 1,580 sq km, 70 km shoreline, population 314,829 (mid-2024), home to the Port of Fujairah oil hub and the ADCOP Hormuz-bypass pipeline.

Ha'il

Ha'il (حائل) is a city in northwestern Saudi Arabia, capital of Ha'il Region, between the Aja and Salma mountains. Former Rashidi capital, agricultural hub supplying about 30% of Saudi wheat, near UNESCO-listed Jubbah rock art.

Hafar Al-Batin

Hafar Al-Batin (حفر الباطن), also Hafr al-Batin, is a city and category A governorate in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province near the Kuwait and Iraq borders; 467,007 governorate residents (2022 census), hot desert climate, historic Hajj and caravan route.

Hawalli

Hawalli (حولي) is a city and governorate seat in eastern-central Kuwait, once farmland, now a dense expatriate-majority commercial district; third commercial center after Kuwait City and Salmiya, population 164,212.

History of Dubai

History of Dubai: emirate on the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Maktoum family since 1833; pearling port under British protection, oil found at Fateh field 1966, UAE founding member 1971, diversified to under 1% oil GDP.

Hodeidah (الحديدة)

Hodeidah (Al Hudaydah, الحديدة) is Yemen's fourth largest city and chief Red Sea port, administrative center of Al Hudaydah Governorate, handling about 70% of Yemen's food, fuel, and medicine imports and heavily damaged in the war since 2015.

Hofuf

Hofuf (الهفوف) is a city in the Al-Ahsa Oasis in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, home to Qasr Ibrahim and Suq Al-Qaysariyah and part of the 2018 UNESCO World Heritage oasis.

Jeddah (جدة)

Jeddah (جدة), Saudi Arabia's second city on the Red Sea in Makkah Province, has been Makkah's seaport since 646 CE; its Historic District is a UNESCO site of Roshan tower houses, and the city holds 3.8 million people.

Jubail (الجبيل)

Jubail (الجبيل) is an Eastern Province Saudi governorate on the Arabian Gulf, home to Jubail Industrial City, the world's largest single industrial development project, founded by 1975 royal decree, producing 7% of global petrochemicals.

Khamis Mushait

Khamis Mushait (خميس مشيط), also Khamis Mushayt, a highland city east of Abha in Asir, southwest Saudi Arabia; regional trading center, governorate population 601,305 (2022), elevation 2,056 m, semi-arid climate.

Khobar (الخبر)

Khobar (الخبر) is a coastal city and category A governorate in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, part of the Dammam Metropolitan Area. First planned city in Saudi Arabia (1947); gateway to Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway; WHO Healthy City since 2024.

King Abdullah Economic City (مدينة الملك عبد الله الاقتصادية)

King Abdullah Economic City (مدينة الملك عبد الله الاقتصادية), or KAEC, is a planned economic city on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, launched by King Abdullah in 2005.