Al Bahah - Geography and Location

Geography and Location

Al Baha City (BC) lies in the south-west of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia between the holy Makkah and Aseer. It is the smallest of the kingdom's provinces (11,000 square km). It is surrounded by a number of cities, including Taif on the north, Beesha on the east, Abha on the south and the Red Sea coast city of Al Qunfuda on the west. This tourist city is situated in an area characterized by natural tree cover and agricultural plateaus. It consists of six towns, the most important of which are Beljarshy, Almandaq, and Almekhwah, in addition to the Baha city in the center of the province. The province comprises 31 administrative centers and has a population of 533,001.

The province is known for its beauty and has forests, wildlife areas, valleys and mountains that attract visitors from all parts of the kingdom and the Persian Gulf area. Some of these areas are the forests of Raghdan, Ghomsan, Fayk, and Aljabal, and many other historical and archeological sites. It contains more than 53 forests.

Al Baha is the homeland of the Ghamid and Zahran tribes and is divided geographically into three distinct parts: Sarah, which contains the high mountains characterized by temperate weather and rich plant cover due to relatively high annual rainfall, Tehama which is the lowland coastal area to the west of the Sarah characterized by very hot and humid weather and very little rainfall average, and the eastern hills characterized by an altitude of 1550 to 1900 meters above sea level with cool winters, hot summers and sparse plant cover. The largest city in the province, both in population and area, is Baljurashi (it was the first capital for the province), the second one is Almandaq. In Tehama, there are two major cities: Qilwah and Al-Mikhwah. The number of tribes are 18, branching from the main ones, Ghamid and Zahran. The province has 13 settled tribes (working in trades and agriculture) and 5 nomadic tribes.