Medina founded
900 BCE.
Shown on the map at 24.470°, 39.610°.
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, also known as al-Madinah an-Nabawiyyah and Taybah, is the capital and administrative centre of Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia. It is the second holiest city in Islam after Mecca, and one of the oldest and most important places in Islamic history. The population as of 2022 is 1,477,023, making it the fourth-most populous city in the country. Around 58.5% of the population are Saudi citizens and 41.5% are foreigners. The city joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2024. Located at the core of the Medina Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over 589 km2 (227 sq mi), of which 293 km2 (113 sq mi) constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by the Hejaz Mountains, empty valleys, agricultural spaces, and older dormant volcanoes. Medina is generally considered to be the "cradle of Islamic culture and civilization". The city is considered to be the second-holiest of three key cities in Islamic tradition, with Mecca and Jerusalem serving as the holiest and third-holiest cities respectively.
Text from the Wikipedia article Medina, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.