Khobar Governorate

Khobar is one of the twelve governorates of the Eastern Province after the establishment of al-Bayda Governorate. It is classified as category (A,) and is located in the east of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the coast of the Arabian Gulf. It is bordered to the north and northwest by the city of Dammam, the administrative capital of the province.

About 658.6 thousand people live in Khobar Governorate, which is equivalent to 12.8 percent of the Eastern Province's population. It is ranked third after Dammam and al-Ahsa in terms of population, according to the 2022 Saudi census.

King Fahd International Airport in Dammam is located 54 km away from the center of Khobar Governorate, which is equivalent to a half-an-hour car drive. It is the closest airport to Khobar and the largest one worldwide.

The governorate is located in the middle between the city of Dammam, the seat of the emirate, and the city of Dhahran, the headquarters of Saudi Aramco. This allows residents to move between the two governorates within twenty minutes.

Khobar is currently classified as a vibrant and diverse society. It is the only Saudi governorate in which the resident population has doubled together with the Saudi population, according to the 2022 census.

Khobar Governorate is one of the leading tourist destinations in the Kingdom, with a 30-km long waterfront. It is a commercial and tourist transit station, as King Fahd Causeway, the only port leading to Bahrain, stretches from its coast. This causeway is one of the longest bridges worldwide, with a length of 25 km.

The three public universities located in the Eastern Province are close to Khobar Governorate, as residents are 5 km away from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM,) which is the nearest university located outside the governorate, as well as 17 km away from Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Dammam, and 173 km from King Faisal University in al-Ahsa Governorate.

Health services are available in Khobar. In includes eight public and private hospitals, with a capacity of 2,809 beds, ten primary care centers, and fifty-eight dispensaries located within the governorate.

The climate of Khobar Governorate is affected by its proximity to the Arabian Gulf coast in general. Temperatures rise during the summer, and tend to be moderate during the rest of the year, with a rise in humidity levels. The lowest temperatures recorded in summer range between twenty-nine to thirty degrees, and seven to nineteen degrees during winter.

The discovery of oil in the Kingdom in the 1930s, and the construction of King Fahd Causeway in 1986, linking Khobar to Bahrain, led to vast migration to the Eastern Province, resulting in social changes and high growth rates. Subsequently, the population of Khobar doubled in 2017, compared to 2003.