The edge of the Empty Quarter
'Uruq Bani Ma'arid lies on the western edge of Ar-Rub' al-Khali, the largest continuous sand sea on Earth, at the southern end of the Tuwayq escarpment. It is the Kingdom's first natural World Heritage site, inscribed in 2023.
It covers about 1.27 million hectares and matches the 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid Protected Area, designated by Royal Decree in 1996.
Dunes and wildlife
The landscape joins long sand dunes, a cut limestone plateau and green wadis. Its 35 longitudinal dunes, the 'uruq, run for up to 200 km and rise up to 170 m.
The Arabian oryx was reintroduced here after decades of extinction in the wild. The site now holds 19% of the world's Arabian oryx and 25% of the Arabian sand gazelles, along with Arabian mountain gazelles and five reptile species found only in Arabia.