Location, area and population
Hail lies in the centre of the Kingdom's northern half, between latitudes 25° and 29°N and longitudes 38° and 42°E, and borders five regions: al-Jouf, the Northern Borders, Tabuk, al-Madinah and al-Qassim. It covers 120,000 km², 6.1% of the Kingdom, more than al-Jouf, al-Baha and Jazan combined.
The 2022 Saudi census counted 746,406 residents, 2.3% of the national population, making Hail the ninth most populous region. At about six people per km² it is the third least densely populated, and 74.14% of its people live in its two main urban centres, Hail city and Baq'aa Governorate.
Emirate and governorates
Hail city is the administrative capital and seat of the Emirate. Prince Abdulaziz bin Saad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been governor since 22 April 2017 (25 Rajab 1438 AH), and Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Muqrin was appointed deputy governor, with the excellent rank, by Royal Order in 2018 (1439 AH). The region has eight governorates, Baq'aa, al-Ghazalah, ash-Shinan, as-Sulaimi, al-Hait, Sumayra', ash-Shamli and Mawqaq, and 109 administrative centres.
The Emirate works alongside the Hail Region Development Authority, given fourteen tasks by a Council of Ministers decision in 2018 (1439 AH), among them setting general development policy and preparing the region's strategic plans and their implementation programmes.
Between Aja, Salma and the Nafud
The north of the region is part of the Nafud desert, and its centre is taken up by the Shammar mountains, which branch into the Aja and Salma ranges. The Aja range runs about 100 km to the northeast and peaks at 1,350 m; Hail city sits on its eastern slopes at about 1,000 m. On Mount Aja stand the ruins of the palace of Hatem al-Ta'i, one of the region's main attractions.
The climate is continental. Summer days reach 30 to 40°C, with mild evenings; winters are cold, from 5 to 15°C and sometimes below zero. Rain falls in winter and spring, winds blow from various directions at an average of no more than 10 km/h, and spring is the best season to visit.
Deep history and pilgrim roads
Hail's human story runs from the Lower, Middle and Neolithic Stone Ages into the Islamic era; it was a trading centre before the first millennium BCE and a station on ancient pilgrimage and trade routes. The region is tied to Hatem al-Ta'i, a byword for generosity, and has produced many poets and men of letters. The French traveller Charles Huber published 36 of its inscriptions in the journal of the Société de Géographie in Paris in 1884 (1301 AH).
Darb Zubaydah, the pilgrim road from Kufa to Makkah, runs about 500 km through the region, which holds some 22 main and secondary stations of the old routes, among them Wasit, Fayd, al-Muta'ashsha, al-Mu'aydhirat, Khadra and al-Bid'. Among the largest are Sumayra', about 160 km south of Hail; al-Bid', with 120 architectural units spread over more than 6 km; and Qasr Khurash at Fayd.
Umayyad and Abbasid inscriptions are widespread. Al-Hait Governorate and al-Huwayt centre alone have yielded about 190, the oldest dated to 132 AH (750 CE), among them a poem dated 309 AH (921 CE) in the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir. A hoard found at Shubriyat al-Safra held about 414 silver dirhams, some minted at Wasit between 125 and 130 AH.
Rock art of world heritage
In 2015 (1436 AH) UNESCO's World Heritage Committee inscribed the Rock Art in the Hail Region on the World Heritage List, the fourth Saudi site after Hegra, at-Turaif in Diriyah and Historic Jeddah. Covering 2,043.8 hectares, it has two components: Jabal Umm Sinman at Jubbah, northwest of Hail, and Jabal al-Manjor and Jabal Raat at Shuwaymis, about 250 km south of Hail.
A freshwater lake, now vanished, once lay at the foot of Jabal Umm Sinman, watering people and animals at the southern edge of the Great Nafud, and the Shuwaymis valley once carried flowing water before desertification changed settlement patterns. At Jubbah the rock records human figures and long- and short-horned cattle, then camels, horses, ibex, palms and Thamudic inscriptions, and later riders and goods caravans. At Shuwaymis are hunters with bows, arrows and dogs, life-size animals, and a frieze about 12 m long. The region holds thousands of ancient Arabian inscriptions in Thamudic, Nabataean and Palmyrene scripts.
Castles and palaces
A'arif Fort crowns a hill of moderate height in central Hail. Building began in the twelfth century AH, with additions over time; its mud walls rise on stone foundations, with loopholes and machicolations for defence, a main watchtower, a prayer space, two rooms and two open courtyards. In Hail's old Barzan market, two round towers are all that remains of Barzan Palace, built between the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries AH.
In the city centre stands al-Qishlah Palace, built under King Abdulaziz in 1941 (1360 AH) to house the Saudi army of the day: a rectangular two-storey building of more than 19,000 m², with eight square towers 12 m high at its corners and midpoints, arcades roofed with palm fronds and tamarisk trunks, 83 rooms on the ground floor and a mosque at its centre. In Jubbah, al-Nayef Palace, built of mud by Prince Atiq bin Muslim bin Farhan in 1758 (1171 AH), now displays antiquities and local crafts.
Museums and seasons
The Hail Regional Museum opened in 2004 (1425 AH) on 11,000 m². Its galleries cover the region's natural history and geology, the pre-Islamic ages, Hail in Islamic history, its heritage, the Saudi state in the region and the beginnings of formal education. Other museums include al-Thuwainy, al-Dwaili, al-Nayef and Dehima.
The Hail International Rally has been held every year since 2006 (1427 AH) as "The Great Nafud Challenge" and is a round of the world rally calendar. The region's seasons also include the Hail Winter Festival, the Dates and Family Festival, the International Desert Festival and the Hail Summer Festival; in 2019 thirteen events over 54 days drew 97,051 visitors. Public parks include Prince Saud bin Abdulmohsen Park, al-Maghwa Park and al-Samra Park.
Economy and services
Hail draws industrial, tourism and agricultural investment with its large tracts of developable land. Its industrial city, run by MODON, the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones, covers 3.88 million m² and has about 115 factories at 70% occupancy, 15 km from the airport and 7 km from the city centre.
Hail International Airport, in the capital, is a Class IV international airport handling fewer than two million passengers a year, and ranked first with 100% compliance in the General Authority of Civil Aviation's report for June and July 2023. The University of Hail, the region's one public university, was founded in 2005 (1426 AH) and has 14 colleges; in 2022 it was ranked among the world's top 351 universities by Times Higher Education and fifth among Saudi universities, and it holds full institutional accreditation from 1 September 2021 to 30 November 2027.