Hafar Al-Batin

Hafar Al Batin

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Coat of arms
Nickname(s): The Capital of the Spring
Hafar Al Batin
Coordinates: 28°26′3″N 45°57′49″E / 28.43417°N 45.96361°ECoordinates: 28°26′3″N 45°57′49″E / 28.43417°N 45.96361°E
Country  Saudi Arabia
Province Eastern Province
Established 17 AH - 638 CE
Joint Saudi Arabia 1925
Government
 • Manager of Municipality Muhammad Hmoud AlShaie’a
 • City Governor Abdulmuhsen Al-Otaishan
 • Deputy Governor Musliet Abdulaziz AlZugaibi
 • Provincial Governor Muhammad bin Fahd
Population (2010)
 • City 271,642
 • Urban 600,000
 • Metro 49,457
  Hafar Al-Batin Municipality estimate
Time zone AST (UTC+3)
 • Summer (DST) AST (UTC+3)
Postal Code 31991
Area code(s) +966-3-7

Hafar Al-Batin (Arabic: حفر الباطن‎ Ḥafar al-Bāṭin) is a Saudi Arabian city in the Eastern Province and located in the Northeastern region. It is located 430 km the north of Riyadh, 94.2 km from Kuwait border and about 74.3 from the Iraq border. The city lies in the dry valley of the Wadi al-Batin, part of the larger valley of the long, now-dry river Wadi Al-Rummah, which leads inland toward Medina and formerly emptied into the Persian Gulf.

History

In the 1st century after hijrah in 638 CE, Hafar Al-Batin was just a route in the desert that pilgrims passed through from Mecca for Hajj. At that time, there was no water available in this land, the pilgrims travelled from Iraq to Mecca on a long route without water. During Uthman ibn Affan's reign (644 CE - 656 CE), complaints of pilgrims reached Abu-Musa al-Asha'ari, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who answered by digging for new wells along this route in the Al-Batin valley. The name of Hafar Al-Batin (Arabic: حفر الباطن‎) is derived from this which means "the hole of Al-Batin Valley".

Population

In 2010, Hafar Al-Batin, had more than 35 villages in its suburban area and the population reached 389,993 to 600,000

Communications

All the downtown and roads of Hafar Al-Batin are paved. It is connected with an international network of roads, connecting Saudi Arabia with Kuwait in the East and connecting the North with the Eastern Province. Hafar Al-Batin has two airports, Qaisumah (IATA: AQI, ICAO: OEPA) airport about 10 km in the east, and King Khalid Military City Airport (IATA: HBT, ICAO: OEKK) about 60 km in the south.

Districts

Climate

The weather in Hafar Al-Batin ranges from 4–8 °C (39–46 °F) in winter nights to 40–45 °C (104–113 °F) during summer days. The climate in general is hot and dry, and rains only during winter months.

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh).[1]

Climate data for Hafar Al-Batin
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 18.4
(65.1)		 20.9
(69.6)		 25.6
(78.1)		 32.1
(89.8)		 38.7
(101.7)		 42.5
(108.5)		 43.9
(111)		 43.4
(110.1)		 41.9
(107.4)		 35.1
(95.2)		 25.4
(77.7)		 19.9
(67.8)		 32.32
(90.17)
Daily mean °C (°F) 12.4
(54.3)		 14.5
(58.1)		 18.9
(66)		 24.8
(76.6)		 30.9
(87.6)		 34
(93)		 35.6
(96.1)		 34.6
(94.3)		 33.1
(91.6)		 27.2
(81)		 18.5
(65.3)		 13.6
(56.5)		 24.84
(76.7)
Average low °C (°F) 6.5
(43.7)		 8.1
(46.6)		 12.2
(54)		 17.6
(63.7)		 23.1
(73.6)		 25.5
(77.9)		 27.4
(81.3)		 25.9
(78.6)		 24.3
(75.7)		 19.4
(66.9)		 11.6
(52.9)		 7.3
(45.1)		 17.41
(63.33)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 32
(1.26)		 37
(1.46)		 42
(1.65)		 29
(1.14)		 22
(0.87)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 4
(0.16)		 0
(0)		 9
(0.35)		 37
(1.46)		 29
(1.14)		 241
(9.49)
Source: Climate-Data.org (altitude: 310m)[1]

Galleries

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Climate: Hafar Al-Batin - Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 2014-02-23.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hafar Al-Batin.