City Detail

Jeddah (English: JED-ə), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( JID-ə; Arabic: جِدَّة‎, romanized: Jidda, Hejazi pronunciation: [ˈdʒɪd.da]), is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah’s prominence grew in 647 when the Caliph Osman made it a major port for Indian Ocean trade routes, channelling goods to Mecca, and to serve Muslim travelers for Islamic pilgrimage. Since those times, Jeddah has served as the gateway for millions of pilgrims who have arrived in Saudi Arabia, traditionally by sea and recently by air. With a population of about 4,697,000 people as of 2021, Jeddah is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest city in Hejaz, the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia (after the capital Riyadh), and the tenth-largest in the Middle East.