Mecca

For other uses, see Mecca (disambiguation).

Mecca
مكة‎
  • The Holy Capital (العاصمة المقدسة)
  • Mother of all Settlements (أم القرى)
City
Makkah al-Mukarramah (مكة المكرمة)
Masjid al-Haram (Great Mosque of Mecca) and Kaaba
Mina tent
Mecca governorate (green) within Mecca province
Mecca governorate (green) within
Mecca province
Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia
Mecca
Mecca
Coordinates: 21°25′21″N 39°49′24″E / 21.42250°N 39.82333°E / 21.42250; 39.82333
Country Saudi Arabia
ProvinceMecca Province
GovernorateHoly Capital Governorate
Establishedc. 18th century BCE (per Islamic tradition)
Founded byIbrāhīm and Ismāʿīl (traditionally claimed to have built The Kaaba)[1]
Government
 • MayorSaleh Al-Turki
 • Provincial GovernorKhalid bin Faisal Al Saud
Area
 • City
1,200 km2 (500 sq mi)
 • Land760 km2 (290 sq mi)
Elevation
277 m (909 ft)
Population
 (2022 census)[2]
 • City
2,385,509
 • Rank3rd in Saudi Arabia
 • Density2,000/km2 (5,100/sq mi)
 • Metro
2,427,924 (Mecca Governorate)
DemonymMakki (مكي‎)
Time zoneUTC+3 (AST)
Area code+966-12
Websitehmm.gov.sa
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Mecca (/ˈmɛkə/; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah,[a] commonly shortened to Makkah[b]) is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia and the holiest city according to Islam.[4] 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. Around 44.5% of the population are Saudi citizens and around 55.5% are Muslim foreigners from other countries.[5] Pilgrims more than triple the population number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah.[6] With over 10.8 million international visitors in 2023, Mecca was one of the ten most visited cities in the world.[7]

Mecca is generally considered "the fountainhead and cradle of Islam".[8][9] Mecca is revered in Islam as the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Hira cave atop the Jabal al-Nur ("Mountain of Light"), just outside the city, is where Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad.[10] 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 Ka'bah, 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.[11]

Muslim rulers from in and around the region long tried to take the city and keep it in their control, and thus, much like most of the Hejaz region, the city has seen several regime changes. The city was most recently conquered in the Saudi conquest of Hejaz by Ibn Saud and his allies in 1925. Since then, Mecca has seen a tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure, with newer, modern buildings such as the Abraj Al Bait, the world's fourth-tallest building and third-largest by floor area,[12] towering over the Great Mosque. The Saudi government has also carried out the destruction of several historical structures and archaeological sites,[13] such as the Ajyad Fortress.[14][15][16] However, many of the demolitions have officially been part of the continued expansion of the Masjid al-Haram at Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina and their auxiliary service facilities in order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of Muslims performing the pilgrimage (hajj).[17] Non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city.[18][19]

Under the Saudi government, Mecca is governed by the Mecca Regional Municipality, a municipal council of 14 locally elected members headed by the mayor (called Amin in Arabic) appointed by the Saudi government. In 2015, the mayor of the city was Osama bin Fadhel Al-Barr;[20][21] as of January 2022, the mayor is Saleh Al-Turki.[22] The City of Mecca amanah, which constitutes Mecca and the surrounding region, is the capital of the Mecca Province, which includes the neighbouring cities of Jeddah and Ta'if, even though Jeddah is considerably larger in population than Mecca. Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud has been the provincial governor of the province since 16 May 2007.[23]

  1. ^ "The History of Kaaba Construction and Its Renovation Over Time". Dompet Dhuafa. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Mecca Governorate". City Population. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  3. ^ Quran 48:22
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. 2001. p. 724. ISBN 978-0-87779-546-9.
  5. ^ "Makkah (Makkah al-Mukarramah, Mecca Region, Saudi Arabia) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". City Population. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Hajj The Holy Pilgrimage". Salamislam. 3 January 2021. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Euromonitor International's report reveals world's Top 100…". Euromonitor. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  8. ^ Ogle, Vanessa (2015). The Global Transformation of Time: 1870–1950. Harvard University Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-674-28614-6. Mecca, "the fountainhead and cradle of Islam," would be the center of Islamic timekeeping.
  9. ^ Nicholson, Reynold A. (2013). Literary History Of The Arabs. Routledge. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-136-17016-4. Mecca was the cradle of Islam, and Islam, according to Muhammad, is the religion of Abraham.
  10. ^ Khan, A M (2003). Historical Value Of The Qur An And The Hadith. Global Vision Publishing Ho. pp. 26–. ISBN 978-81-87746-47-8.; Al-Laithy, Ahmed (2005). What Everyone Should Know About the Qur'an. Garant. pp. 61–. ISBN 978-90-441-1774-5.
  11. ^ Nasr, Seyyed (2005). Mecca, The Blessed, Medina, The Radiant: The Holiest Cities of Islam. Aperture. ISBN 0-89381-752-X.
  12. ^ Bayat, Ehsan (28 January 2021). "Dr. Ehsan Bayat - 6 Facts You Need to Know about the Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower". Dr. Ehsan Bayat. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Wahhābī (Islamic movement)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Edinburgh: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 9 June 2020. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020. Because Wahhābism prohibits the veneration of shrines, tombs, and sacred objects, many sites associated with the early history of Islam, such as the homes and graves of companions of Muhammad, were demolished under Saudi rule. Preservationists have estimated that as many as 95 percent of the historic sites around Mecca and Medina have been razed.
  14. ^ Taylor, Jerome (24 September 2011). "Mecca for the rich: Islam's holiest site 'turning into Vegas'". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017.
  15. ^ A Saudi tower: Mecca versus Las Vegas: Taller, holier and even more popular than (almost) anywhere else, The Economist (24 June 2010), Cairo.
  16. ^ Fattah, Hassan M.Islamic Pilgrims Bring Cosmopolitan Air to Unlikely City Archived 24 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times (20 January 2005).
  17. ^ "'Cultural genocide of Islamic heritage' in Saudi Arabia riles Sunni Sufis". The Times of India. 11 April 2013. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013.
  18. ^ Peters, Francis E. (1994). The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places. Princeton University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-691-02619-0.
  19. ^ Esposito, John L. (2011). What everyone needs to know about Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-19-979413-3. Mecca, like Medina, is closed to non-Muslims
  20. ^ "Mayor of Makkah Receives Malaysian Consul General". Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia. 28 May 2015. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  21. ^ Stone, Dan (3 October 2014). "The Growing Pains of the Ancient Hajj". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  22. ^ "Who's Who: Saleh Al-Turki, the new mayor of Makkah". 29 January 2022.
  23. ^ "Prince Khalid Al Faisal appointed as governor of Makkah region". Saudi Press Agency. 16 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2008.


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