Dhahran

Riyadh is the largest city of Saudi Arabia, as a glance into Riyadh overview will confirm. A tour to this vibrant city in the arid regions of the famous Arabian deserts is a colorful experience. History of Riyadh tells that the name of the city has been derived from the plural of the Arabic word rawdha meaning a place of gardens and trees. There are numerous Riyadh tourist attractions which will captivate you, including the Masmak castle, King Fahd Cultural Center, and King Abdul Aziz Historical Center. Riyadh tourism is an excellent option to spend a vacation. Once there you can also venture out to popular destinations near Riyadh including Abha, Dhahran, Mecca, Dhammam, Hofuf, and many others.

Dhahran near Riyadh is a major administrative center for Saudi oil industry, located in the Eastern Province. Large oil reserves here were identified in the early 1930s and commercial oil wells developed. The climate here is characterized by hot, humid summers and cool winters. With summer temperatures rising to more than 50°C, you are advised to steer clear of the place during this season. Winter temperatures rarely plunge below 2°C to 3°C. An interesting characteristic feature of Dhahran is the early summer Shamal Winds, which can cause dust storms reducing visibility to a few meters.

Population of Dhahran is a mixture of many Asian countrymen including Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indonesians and Philippines, as well as many from the European nations. Most people come here to work for the oil companies. The patch of desert on which this city was built is rocky and hilly. Most of the earliest productive oil wells in Saudi Arabia were drilled in this area. This later led to the selection of 2 nearby barren hills as the place for Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company).

A tour to Dhahran takes you to one of the centers of oil industries in the world. If you are a geology or oil expert, you tour will prove educational, offering you details of the oil industries from the past few decades. For others it is a pleasant, though adventurous vacation to one of the desert lands of the Middle East.