The old port
Yanbu Governorate lies on the Red Sea coast about 200 km west of Madinah, and with 359,631 residents in the 2022 census it is the region's second most populous governorate. Its historic core, Yanbu al-Bahr, looks over the sea and has a history of about 2,500 years; its port was a station on the old trade and pilgrimage routes, receiving caravans and pilgrim ships from Egypt, the Levant and North Africa.
In the al-Swar historic district, the houses of Yanbu's old merchants were built of sea stone, palm trunks and fronds, with mashrabiyas and carved wooden doors. Al-Shuna Tower, raised in 1519 as the port grew, stored grain arriving by sea and later, in 1920, weapons; its domed walls of mangabi stone, clay and plaster are a metre thick, and it has since been restored.
Yanbu Industrial City
South of Yanbu al-Bahr, the industrial city run by the Royal Commission hosts oil refineries, 58 major industrial complexes and 148 light and supporting industries. Yanbu Industrial Port, the largest crude oil export port on the Red Sea, ships about three million barrels a day.
Inland, Yanbu al-Nakhl is a small village known for its palm farms and natural springs. Prince Abdulmohsin bin Abdulaziz Airport lies about 30 km from the city centre.