Sakakah
| Sakakah سكاكا | |
|---|---|
  Sakakah Location in Saudi Arabia | |
| Coordinates: SA 29°58′11″N 040°12′00″E / 29.96972°N 40.20000°ECoordinates: SA 29°58′11″N 040°12′00″E / 29.96972°N 40.20000°E | |
| Country |
 Saudi Arabia |
| Province | Al Jawf |
| Area | |
| • Total | 100 km2 (40 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 566 m (1,857 ft) |
| Population (2010)[1] | |
| • Total | 242,813 |
| • Density | 2,400/km2 (6,300/sq mi) |
Sakakah (Arabic: سكاكا) is a city in northwestern Saudi Arabia and is the capital of Al Jawf Province. It is located just to the north of the An Nafud desert. Sakakah had a population of 242,813 at the 2010 Census.[1][2]
Agriculture
Al-Jawf is notable for its abundant agricultural water, making possible the cultivation of dates (200,000 Palms) and olives (12,000,000 trees), as well as other agricultural products. Farms number around 16,000, and agricultural projects around 1,500. It is the home of some agribusiness farms such as Watania Farms,[3] the largest organic farm in the kingdom. The fertile agricultural land of Al-Jawf is due largely to underground water, which drew delegates of King Abdul Aziz. They were sent to the town of Sakaka and Dumat Al-Jandal and Qurayat, requesting resident tribes there to join the nascent kingdom. Sakaka is home to many Saudi families that can proudly trace their lineage to a few large, old tribes that have dominated the area since time immemorial.
Historical Places
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Rajajil standing stones sign Board
-
Omar Mosque in Dumat Al-Jandal
-
Mard Castle
The history of Al-Jawf dates back more than four thousand years. It is the home of many historic & prehistoric archaeological sites such Za'bal Castle & Well, the Omar ibn Al-Khattab Mosque, located in Dowmat Al-Jandal and Mard Castle (just south of Sakaka). There are also the ancient Rajajil standing stones in Sakaka, dating back nearly 6,000 years.
Modernization
Many areas of Saudi Arabia are struggling to develop and modernize in a short span of time. In recent years, the Saudi government has been pouring money in the region of Al-Jawf, especially in Sakaka, to help develop this economically starved region of the kingdom. For this reason, the city is full of brand new government buildings, schools & hospitals that are very new, built adjacent to crumbling ruins of older buildings that are decades old and in dire need of repair. One major feature of the city is the rapidly expanding Al Jouf University (Jami'at Al-Jawf), founded in 2005.[4] The King hopes the university to become a pillar of social, cultural, and intellectual advancement for Saudi Arabia. There are several government-run schools and some private schools. The city has Three English schools,Sakaka International School, which is an Indian School and has CBSE curriculum, the other Al-Jouf International school with British curriculum and the third one is Alqimam international school with American curriculum.Sakaka is a small but expanding city with lots of construction in progress.another big on going project is 1,000-bed Prince Muhammed Bin Abdulaziz Medical City which is under construction
Climate
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh).[5]
| Climate data for Sakaka (1985–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 30.3 (86.5) |
32.6 (90.7) |
36.3 (97.3) |
40.4 (104.7) |
42.6 (108.7) |
45.0 (113) |
47.0 (116.6) |
46.7 (116.1) |
45.2 (113.4) |
40.2 (104.4) |
40.4 (104.7) |
30.0 (86) |
47.0 (116.6) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 15.7 (60.3) |
18.4 (65.1) |
23.0 (73.4) |
29.1 (84.4) |
34.2 (93.6) |
38.3 (100.9) |
39.9 (103.8) |
40.7 (105.3) |
37.7 (99.9) |
31.8 (89.2) |
23.7 (74.7) |
17.6 (63.7) |
29.2 (84.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 9.7 (49.5) |
12.1 (53.8) |
16.4 (61.5) |
22.3 (72.1) |
27.4 (81.3) |
31.2 (88.2) |
32.8 (91) |
33.4 (92.1) |
30.3 (86.5) |
24.7 (76.5) |
17.2 (63) |
11.4 (52.5) |
22.4 (72.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3.9 (39) |
5.7 (42.3) |
9.3 (48.7) |
14.6 (58.3) |
19.6 (67.3) |
22.7 (72.9) |
24.4 (75.9) |
24.9 (76.8) |
21.9 (71.4) |
17.4 (63.3) |
10.9 (51.6) |
5.6 (42.1) |
15.1 (59.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −6.0 (21.2) |
−7.0 (19.4) |
0.0 (32) |
1.0 (33.8) |
11.0 (51.8) |
15.0 (59) |
17.0 (62.6) |
18.8 (65.8) |
2.0 (35.6) |
9.0 (48.2) |
−1.4 (29.5) |
−4.4 (24.1) |
−7.0 (19.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 13.2 (0.52) |
6.4 (0.252) |
5.9 (0.232) |
5.0 (0.197) |
1.8 (0.071) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.1 (0.004) |
0.6 (0.024) |
6.5 (0.256) |
7.2 (0.283) |
9.6 (0.378) |
56.3 (2.217) |
| Average precipitation days | 6.5 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 33.6 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 57 | 45 | 35 | 27 | 19 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 28 | 41 | 53 | 31 |
| Source: Jeddah Regional Climate Center[6] | |||||||||||||
See also
References
- 1 2 "Saudi Arabia: Sakaka". Geohive.
- ↑ Taher, Mohamed (1998). Encyclopaedic Survey of Islamic Culture. Anmol Publications. ISBN 81-261-0403-1.
- ↑ Watania Farms website
- ↑ University of Al-Jouf website
- ↑ "Climate: Sakaka - Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
- ↑ "Climate Data for Saudi Arabia". Jeddah Regional Climate Center. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
External links
- A travel through the province of Al Jouf, Splendid Arabia: A travel site with photos and routes
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