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Jeddah (also spelled Jedda, Jiddah, Jidda, or Juddah; جدّة Ǧiddah) ,a Saudi Arabian city located on the coast of the Red Sea (coor ), is the major urban center in western Saudi Arabia, the largest in the Western Province, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city Riyadh. The population of the city currently stands at over 3.4 million. It is considered as the commercial capital of Saudi Arabia and the wealthiest city in Middle East and western Asia.

Jeddah is the principal gateway to Mecca, the holiest city of Islam, which able-bodied Muslims are required to visit at least once in a lifetime.

Etymology and spelling

There are two explanations for the etymology of the name 'Jeddah'. One is that name means "seashore," since Jeddah is located along the Red Sea coast and is Saudi Arabia's most important commercial port. The more common account has it that the name is derived from jaddah, the Arabic word for "grandmother". According to eastern folk belief, the tomb of Eve (coor ), considered the grandmother of humanity, is located in Jeddah. The supposed tomb of Eve was sealed with concrete by the religious authorities in 1975 as a result of some Muslim pilgrims breaking Islamic tradition by praying at Eve's tomb.

On official Saudi maps and documents, the city name is transcribed "Jeddah". The British Foreign Office, however, still insists on using the older spelling of Jedda, contrary to all other English-speaking usage -- including other branches of the British government.

Locations

thumb|250px|[Jeddah Seaport]
The Old City with its traditional multistory buildings and merchant houses have lost ground to more modern development. However, the city's recent generations have come to appreciate its traditions more, and have persevered in having many of the older buildings carefully preserved.

The city has several popular private beaches, including Durrat Al-Arus, Al Remal, Shums, Bait Albahar, Salhia, Family Cabins, Al Nakheel Village and many other splendid resorts. Many are renowned for their preserved Red Sea marine life and offshore coral reefs.

Jeddah is served by King Abdulaziz International Airport, a special outdoor "tent" terminal, which was constructed to handle the more than 2 million pilgrims who pass through the airport during the Hajj season. Moreover, the Jeddah Seaport which is the 30th largest seaport in the world (2004) handles the majority of Saudi Arabia's commercial movement.

thumb|250px| Jeddah Airport]
thumb|250px|Satellite image
Also, one of three consulates of the United States of America in Saudi Arabia is located in Jeddah , along with consulates for 67 other countries such as United Kingdom , France , Germany , Italy, Russia and China as well as countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and Arab League.

History

The city was founded as a fishing village over 2,500 years ago, but first achieved prominence in 647 A.D., when the Muslim caliph Othman ibn Affan turned it into a port for Muslim pilgrims making the required hajj to Mecca.

Jeddah was for centuries the main city of the historic Hejaz province and historic port for pilgrims arriving by sea on their pilgrimage or hajj to Mecca.

In the end of the 17th century Ottoman Turks have conquered Hejaz included holy city of Mecca and Jeddah city , Ottomas rebuilt the city walls after the victory against the Lopo Soares de Albergaria's Armada in the Red Sea .

in the world war 1 , Sharifs of Hejaz whom were the Ottoman commanders of the area had revolted againt turkish empire seeking independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.

Not so far ,in 1924, King Ibn Sa'ud, whose clan originated in the central Najd province, conquered Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah, and deposed the Sharif of Hejaz, Hussein Bin 'Ali Al Hashem, who fled to Cyprus, settling eventually in Amman, Jordan, where his descendants became the Hashemite royal family.

In this way, as part of Hejaz, Jeddah came under the sway of the Sa'ud dynasty. In 1926, Ibn Sa'ud added the title King of Hijaz to his position of Sultan of Najd. Today, Jeddah has lost its historical role in peninsular politics, historic Hejaz province along the west coast having been subdivided into smaller provinces, with Jeddah falling within the new province of Makkah with its provincial capital Mecca .

Image:Eve-grave-jeddah.jpg|
Image:Hist-jeddah1.jpg|
Image:Hist-jeddah4.jpg|
Image:800px-Portuguese in Jeddah-1-.jpg|

Diversity

Popular Saudi opinion regards Jeddah as the most liberal and cosmopolitan of Saudi cities in spite of its historic role as port and gateway to the holy city of Mecca. For over one thousand years, Jeddah has received millions of pilgrims of different ethnicities and backgrounds, from Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia , Europe and Middle east , many of whom remained and became citizens of the city. As a result, Jeddah is much more ethnically diverse than most Saudi cities and its culture more eclectic in nature (in contrast with the more geographically isolated and homogeneous -- and religiously strict capital Riyadh). Different nationalities of Muslims often prescribe to different sects of Islam, and the presence of these sects in Hejazi culture has helped make the city relatively more tolerant traditionally. Added to the traditional diversity, the oil-boom of the past 50 years has brought hundreds of thousands of working immigrants and foreign workers from non-Muslim countries the majority originating from continents such as North America (Unites States of America), Europe (Western Europe), and Asia (South and South-East Asia).

Open-air art

During the oil boom in the late 1970s and '80s, there was a focused civic effort at bringing art to Jeddah's public areas. As a result, Jeddah contains an unusually large number of modern open air sculptures and works of art, typically situated in traffic round-abouts which makes it to this day the largest open-air art gallery in the world. Sculptures include works by a variety of artists, ranging from the obscure to international stars such as Jean Arp, Cesar, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Joan Miró and Victor Vasarely and often depict elements of traditional Saudi culture -- coffee pots, incense burners, palm trees, etc. The fact that Islamic tradition prohibits the depiction of living creatures, notably the human form, has made for some very creative modern art, ranging from the tasteful to the bizarre and down-right hideous. These include a mounted defunct propeller plane, a giant geometry set, a giant bicycle, and a huge block of marble with several cars protruding out of it at odd angles.

Major organizations headquartered in Jeddah

*Saudi Geological Survey.
*Saudi Arabian Airlines.
*Organization of the Islamic Conference.
*Islamic Development Bank.
*Jeddah Economic Forum.
*Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Organization.
*Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
*Jeddah Marketing board.

==King Fahd's Fountain==
*main|King Fahd's
200px|thumb|right|World highest [Fountain]
Jeddah's Fountain is a very huge landmark built in the 1980s and listed in Guinness World Records as the highest in the world which can reach 312 meters (1,023.62 feet), and can be seen from very far distances. The fountain was donated to the City of Jeddah by King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz which is where the name is derived.

Education

List of Educational centers in Jeddah:

*King Abdul Aziz University.
*Dar Al-Hekma College.
*Arab Open University.
*Effat College.
*CBA College.
*Teacher's College.
*Prince Sultan Aviation Academy.
*Jeddah College of Technology.
*Jeddah Private College
*College of Health care.
*College of Telecom & Electronics
*College of Community
*Private College of Business
*Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing
*Saudi German Institute for Nursing.
*New Horizons Institute.
*Wall Street Institute.
*The British International School of Jeddah "Continental School"
*Saudi Arabian Airlines International School (SAIS - American School)
*Jeddah Literature Club
*Islamic Fiqh Academy

Hotels

thumb|250px|right| Sheraton Hotel
thumb|250px|right| Jeddah Hilton
List of most famous Hotels in Jeddah:

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Hotel Name !! Rank !! !! Hotel Name !! Rank
|-
| The Westin Jeddah|| 5 Stars || || Hilton Hotel Jeddah || 5 Stars
|-
| Crowne Plaza Hotel|| 5 Stars || || Durrah Beach || 5 Stars
|-
| Sheraton Tower and Villas || 5 Stars || || Le Méridien Jeddah || 5 Stars
|-
| Sands Hotel || 5 Stars || || Mövenpick Hotel || 5 Stars
|-
| Marriott Hotel || 5 Stars || || Radisson SAS Royal Suites || 5 Stars
|-
| Radisson SAS Hotel || 5 Stars || || InterContinental Hotel || 5 Stars
|-
| La Fontaine Resorts || 5 Stars || || Sheraton Beach || 5 Stars
|-
| Jeddah Orchid Hotel || 5 Stars || || Al Attas Hotel || 5 Stars
|-
| Al Bilad Hotel || 5 Stars || || Chorniche Rosewood (under construction)|| 5 Stars
|-
| Al Sofaraa Suites || 4 Stars || || Rotana Royal Suites|| 4 Stars
|-
| Al Sultan Palace || 4 Stars || || Holiday Inn Jeddah || 4 Stars
|-
| al Hamra Sofitel Hôtel || 4 Stars || || Red Sea Palace Hotel || 4 Stars
|-
| Al Harithy Hotel || 4 Stars || || Al Bustan Mercure Hotel || 4 Stars
|-
| Holiday Inn Resorts || 4 Stars || || Al-Banawi Resorts || 4 Stars
|-
| Jeddah Trident Hotel || 4 Stars || || Casablanca Hotel || 4 Stars
|-
| Kaki Hotel || 4 Stars || || Ramada Royal Villas || 4 Stars
|-
| Habitat Hotel || 4 Stars || || Khaldiyah Palace || 3 Stars
|-
| Al Azhar Hotel || 3 Stars || || Rihana Plaza Hotel || 3 Stars
|-
| Mövenpick Resort || 3 Stars || || Sunset Hotel || 3 Stars
|-
| Madina Palace || 3 Stars || || F.K.S Suites || 3 Stars
|-
| Al Baia Hotel || 3 Stars || || Al Burj Hotel || 3 Stars
|-
| Kandara Palace || 3 Stars || || Al Riyadh Hotel || 2 Stars
|-
| Safari Hotel || 2 Stars || || ||
|}

See also:
*Durrat Al-Arus

Shopping

thumb|250px| [Oasis Mall]
thumb|250px|Tahlia Street

While Jeddah is one of the largest commercial areas in middle east it has also a large number of shopping malls.

Well-known shopping centers:

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Mall Name !! !! Mall Name
|-
| Sawari Landmark Mall || || Sultan Mall
|-
| Iceland Ceneter || || Heraa Plaza
|-
| Serafi Mega Mall || || Roshan Mall
|-
| Roshanah Mall || || University Plaza
|-
| City Plaza || || Mahmoud Saieed Center
|-
| Oasis Mall || || Nojood Center
|-
| Badr Center || || Roba'eyat Center
|-
| Bin Homraan Tower || || La Promenade 1
|-
| La Promenade 2 || || Al Badreya Towers
|-
| Le Mall || || Al Tahlia Shopping Center
|-
| Jeddah Mall || || Al Haddab Tahlia Center
|-
| Heraa Avenue || || University Mall
|-
| Queen Tower || || Jamjoom Mall
|-
| Sawari Mall || || Al Musadeyya Center
|-
| Al Mahmal Mall || || Jeddah Int'l Mall
|-
| Al Hamraa Mall || || Al Basateen Center
|-
| Heraa Mall || || Suliemaniya Mall
|-
| Dania Center || || Al Baroom Tower
|-
| Al Hefnee Mall || || Al Khayyat Center
|-
| Al Madinah Center || || Cornish Center
|-
| South Mall || || Al Kaiyal Center
|-
| Najjar Mall || || Hejaz Mall
|-
| Al Suhaili Plaza || || Aiya Mall
|-
| Salama Mall || || Shati Market
|}

Weather

200px|thumb|right|thermometer in public street shows temp as +42c
200px|thumb|right|Desert storms are very common in middle eastern cities
Unlike other Saudi Arabian cities, Jeddah retains its warm temperature in winter, which gets around +15c (59F) at midnight to +25c (77F) in the afternoon. Summer temperatures are considered very hot, break the +40c (104F) mark in the afternoon and +30c (86F) in the evening.
Rain in Jeddah's area is rare , which usually falls in December.

Sister cities

Jeddah has 23 sister cities (aka "twin towns"):

{|
| valign="top" |
*20px Almaty, Kazakhstan
*20px Amman, Jordan
*20px Baku, Azerbaijan
*20px Alexandria, Egypt
*20px Cairo, Egypt
*20px Stuttgart, Germany
*20px Dubai, United Arab Emirates
*20px Jakarta, Indonesia
*20px Istanbul, Turkey
*20px Adana, Turkey
*20px Johor Bahru, Malaysia
*20px 20px Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia
*20px Karachi, Pakistan
*20px Mari, Turkmenistan
*20px Odessa, Ukraine
*20px Osh, Kyrgyzstan
*20px Plovdiv, Bulgaria
*20px Casablanca, Morocco
| valign="top" |
*20px Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*20px Shimonoseki, Japan
*20px St. Petersburg, Russia
*20px Strasbourg, France
*20px Xi'an, People's Republic of China
|}

Gallery

References

*Farsi, Hani M.S. (Mohamed Said): Jeddah: city of art: the sculptures and monuments. London: Stacey International, 1991. ISBN 0-905743-66-0