Jeddah in the context of "700s (decade)"

Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the center of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2,150,000 km (830,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the largest in the Middle East, and the twelfth-largest in the world. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. The capital and largest city is Riyadh; other major cities include Jeddah and the two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina. With a population of almost 32.2 million, Saudi Arabia is the fourth most populous country in the Arab world.

Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern-day Saudi Arabia, was the site of several ancient cultures and civilizations; the prehistory of Saudi Arabia shows some of the earliest traces of human activity outside Africa. Islam emerged in what is now Saudi Arabia in the early seventh century. Islamic prophet Muhammad united the population of the Arabian Peninsula and created a single Islamic religious polity. Following his death in 632, his followers expanded Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering territories in North Africa, Central, South Asia and Iberia within decades. Arab dynasties originating from modern-day Saudi Arabia founded the Rashidun (632–661), Umayyad (661–750), Abbasid (750–1517), and Fatimid (909–1171) caliphates, as well as numerous other Muslim states in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Hejaz is a historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al-Bahah. It is thus known as the "Western Province", and it is bordered in the west by the Red Sea, in the north by Jordan and the Gulf of Suez, in the east by the Najd, and in the south by Yemen. Its largest city is Jeddah, which is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia, with Mecca and Medina, respectively, being the third- and fourth-largest cities in the country.

As the location of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, respectively the first and second holiest sites in Islam, the Hejaz is significant in the Arabo-Islamic historical and political landscape. This region is the most populated in Saudi Arabia, and Arabic is the predominant language, as in the rest of Saudi Arabia, with Hejazi Arabic being the most widely spoken dialect here. Some Hejazis are of ethnically diverse origins, although the vast majority are of Arab origin.

Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the holiest city in Islam. It is located in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia and is the capital of Mecca Province. Mecca is considered the birthplace of Islam and the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

It is 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its metropolitan population in 2022 was 2.4 million, making it the third–most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. The Cave of Hira atop the Jabal al-Nour, just outside the city, is where Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad. Visiting Mecca for the Ḥajj is an obligation upon all able Muslims. The Great Mosque of Mecca, known as the Masjid al-Haram, is home to the Kaaba, believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael. It is Islam's holiest site and the direction of prayer (qibla) for all Muslims worldwide. Around 44.5% of the population are Saudi citizens and around 55.5% are Muslim foreigners from other countries. Pilgrims more than triple the population number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah. With over 10.8 million international visitors in 2023, Mecca was one of the ten most visited cities in the world.

Yanbu (Arabic: ينبع, romanized: Yanbu', lit. 'Spring'), also known as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Medina Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at 24°05′N 38°00′E / 24.083°N 38.000°E / 24.083; 38.000).

Yanbu has three primary sections; Yanbu Al-Bahr, Yanbu Al-Nakhl and Yanbu Al-Sina'iya as well as a major Red Sea port.

Hejazi Arabic or Hijazi Arabic (HA) (Arabic: اللهجة الحجازية, romanized: al-lahja al-ḥijāziyya, Hejazi Arabic: حجازي, Hejazi Arabic pronunciation: [ħɪˈ(d)ʒaːzi]), also known as West Arabian Arabic, is a variety of Arabic spoken in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. Strictly speaking, there are two main groups of dialects spoken in the Hejaz region, one by the urban population, originally spoken mainly in the cities of Jeddah, Mecca, Medina and partially in Ta'if and another dialect by the urbanized rural and bedouin populations. However, the term most often applies to the urban variety which is discussed in this article.

In antiquity, the Hejaz was home to the Old Hejazi dialect of Arabic recorded in the consonantal text of the Qur'an. Old Hejazi is distinct from modern Hejazi Arabic, and represents an older linguistic layer wiped out by centuries of migration, but which happens to share the imperative prefix vowel /a-/ with the modern dialect.

Mecca Province (Arabic: مِنْطَقَة مَكَّة, romanized: Minṭaqat Makka, Arabic pronunciation: [ˈmin.tˤa.qat ˈmak.ka]), officially Makkah Province, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. It is the third-largest province by area at 153,128 km (59,123 sq mi) and the second most populous with 7,769,994 inhabitants as of 2022. It is located in the historic Hejaz region, and has an extended coastline on the Red Sea. Its capital is Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, and its largest city is Jeddah, which is Saudi Arabia's main port city. The province accounts for 26.29% of the population of Saudi Arabia and is named after the Islamic holy city of Mecca.

Historically, the area was inhabited by the Quraysh, the Banu Kinanah and the Thaqif, among other tribes. Part of the Hejaz region, the province has seen several exchanges of power between many Islamic realms within a short period of time. The province gains its significance as it contains the city of Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad, and several other historic Islamic sites, such as the village of Hudaybiyyah, where the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah is said to have been agreed upon. More recently, the province was modernized under the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after the oil boom.Most of the population is concentrated in three cities: Jeddah, Mecca and Taif. Jeddah is the largest city in the province and the second-largest in Saudi Arabia with an estimated population of 2,867,446 as of 2020. Mecca is the second-largest city in the province and third-largest in the kingdom at 1,323,624. After the city of Ta'if at third place, Rabigh, Shafa, Turbah and Jumum are other populous cities and towns in the region. The region receives Muslim pilgrims of the Umrah and the Hajj around the year and its population increases by up to 2 million during the Hajj. It has approximately 700 kilometres (430 mi) of coastline on the Red Sea and hosts oil refineries in Rabigh, port and oil export facilities in Jeddah, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the King Abdullah Economic City. The province also hosts part of the Haramain High Speed Railway line, which is Saudi Arabia's first and only high-speed railway line.

The Arab Revolt started by Sherif Hussein ibn Ali had a series of campaigns, starting from Mecca in June 1916. Here is a list of these campaigns:

• The Battle of Makkah started on the morning of June 10, 1916, and was the beginning of the Arab Revolt. It ended with the capture of the city by the forces of Sherif Hussein ibn Ali.
• Jeddah was attacked on June 9 by 4000 Sharifian forces.
• Siege of Medina was started in the middle of 1916 and continued till January 9, 1919. Fakhri Pasha's heroic and stubborn resistance was cause of this long siege.
• Taif was surrendered to Hashemite forces on September 23, 1916.
• Al Lith was occupied by Sharifian forces on June 23.
• Yanbu was captured on July 27. Ummlajj was captured after Yanbu.
• Qunfudah was captured on October 10.
• Wejh, the port city was captured in the mid of January 1917 with little difficulty. Only 200 Ottoman soldiers were there.
• Aqaba fell to Sharifian forces on July 6, 1917.
• The Battle of Wadi Musa was fought on October 23, 1917, when Ottoman army was sent to deal with Sharifian army camped at Wadi Musa. Before the Ottoman unit reached Wadi Musa, they were intercepted by 700 Arab troops under the command of Maulood Mukhlis. Four hundred Ottomans were killed and 300 were captured.
• The Battle of Al-Samna was a defeat to Sharifian army. Al-Samna is situated near Ma'an. The battle took place on April 25–26, 1918.
• Damascus was captured by British and Sharifian forces on October 1, 1918.