Qassim Province

Qassim Province is one of the thirteen administrative provinces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, located in the central north of the Kingdom. It is equidistant from both the eastern and western coasts of the Kingdom, approximately 777 km from each. It shares borders with five other administrative provinces: Hail Province to the north, al-Madinah al-Munawwarah Province to the west, Riyadh Province to the south, the Eastern Province to the east, and it meets the Northern Borders Province in its northwestern part.

The establishment of the Emirate of the Qassim Province dates back to the founding of the Kingdom. It conducts its affairs from its headquarters in Buraydah City on King Khalid Road and adopts the visual identity of the Ministry of Interior as its logo.

Each emirate is governed by a governor appointed by a royal order with the rank of minister. In 2015, a Royal Order appointed Prince Dr. Faisal Bin Mishaal Bin Saud Bin Abdulaziz as the governor of Qassim Province. In 2017, another Royal Order appointed Prince Fahd Bin Turki Bin Faisal Bin Turki Bin Abdulaziz as the deputy governor of Qassim Province with the excellent rank.

Qassim Province was administratively formed in 1992 and it encompasses twelve governorates within its geographical and administrative scope. The province includes Category (A) governorates: Unayzah, ar-Rass, al-Midhnab, al-Bukayriyyah, and al-Bad'ayea. It consists of seven Category (B) governorates: al-Asyah, an-Nabhaniyyah, ash-Shimasiyyah, Uyun al-Jiwa, Riyadh al-Khabra, Dariyah, and Uqlat as-Suqur, collectively comprising about 154 centers.

Qassim is one of five administrative provinces in the Kingdom whose administrative capital does not bear its name.

The area of the Province is about 73,000 km², which represents 3.65 percent of the total area of the Kingdom, making it one of the three smallest provinces in the Kingdom: al-Bahah, Najran, and then Qassim Province.

Overall, the climate in Qassim Province is hot, with temperatures soaring seven months of the year, peaking in August and September. In the winter, temperatures gradually decrease to five degrees Celsius in some governorates during January and February. The province sees scant rainfall, limited mostly to spring and winter.

Aerial image of a date palm farm in Qassim. (SPA)

Rainfall is rare in Qassim Province, yet it is classified as an agricultural area at the regional level in the Kingdom, being one of the areas most abundant in vegetation cover and diversity. It houses one of the largest date palm farms in the world, covering an area of fifty-six km², and one of the largest date markets in the world. Crossing the province from west to east is Wadi Rumah; the longest seasonal watercourse in the Kingdom, stretching 510 km in length.

Qassim Province ranks seventh in population among the provinces of the Kingdom, with a population of approximately 1,336,179 according to the 2022 Saudi Census, which is equivalent to 4.15 percent of the Saudi population. The population density in the province is about eighteen people per km2 of its land.

Aerial image of Qassim University. (SPA)

In Qassim Province, there is a public university, Qassim University, with its main campus located in the administrative capital, Buraydah, and its branches spread across the governorates of the province. It contains the Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz International Airport west of Buraydah Governorate, and except for Dariyah and Uqlat as-Suqur governorates, the airport is no farther than one hundred km from all the province’s governorates; a maximum drive of up to an hour and as short as nineteen minutes is the road from al-Bukayriyah Governorate to the airport.

Qassim Province leads the thirteen provinces of the Kingdom in construction and infrastructure works, with about half of the workforce in the province employed in the construction and building sector, accounting for 44 percent of the total employed population in the province.

Healthcare services are available in nineteen public hospitals, spread across the various governorates and centers, totaling 2,804 beds, ninety-three community clinics, and 169 primary care centers.

Qassim is historically known as a station for six of the historical pilgrimage and trade routes. The name of Qassim Province has been recorded in much Arab poetry. The pre-Islamic poet Antarah Ibn Shaddad mentioned locations in Qassim, including ' Uyun al-Jiwa', in his verse that translates:

Long did I pause there with my camel, complaining to the silent slopes of Jutham.

O home of Abla within al-Jiwa, speak... and with the dawn, greet Abla’s home, bid it peace.

Qassim housed the private residence of the founder, King Abdulaziz, which is King Abdulaziz Palace in Qibah; one of the largest historical palaces in the province.