Oasis country
Khaybar Governorate lies north of Madinah on the highway to Tabuk and the Northern Borders, with Madinah to the south, Taima and Tabuk to the north, Hail Region to the east and AlUla to the west. It covers 20,021 km², 13.4% of the region, and counted 45,532 residents in the 2022 census.
It is one of the great oases of date-palm cultivation, and dates were its chief product before Islam; wheat, barley, corn, vegetables and fruit are grown as well. Perennial springs such as al-Lajijah, al-Barakah and Ali water the palm groves, and traces of ancient dams survive in several valleys.
Fortresses and history
The name itself is tied to its forts: khaybar means fortresses. The Babylonian king Nabonidus once ruled the area together with Taima and Dedan, and it lay on the ancient caravan route between Marib and Petra.
In the seventh year of the Hijrah the Prophet marched on Khaybar, and the battlefield and the graves of its martyrs remain among its landmarks. Its forts include the Castle of al-Saab bin Muadh and the fortresses of al-Bazah, Wateeh, Sallam and Qalat; the governorate was established in 1923, the first in the north to join Saudi rule.