Tabuk also spelled Tabouk, is the capital city of the Tabuk province in north western Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

. It has a population of 441,351 (2004 census).

History

Around Tabuk, the Battle of Tabouk

Battle of Tabouk

The Battle of Tabouk was a military expedition, which, according to Muslim biographies, was initiated by the Prophet Muhammad in October, AD 630. Muhammad led a force of as many as 30,000 north to Tabouk in present-day northwestern Saudi Arabia, with the intention of engaging the Byzantine army...

 took place in the time of Islamic prophet Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

.
Around 500 BC, Tabuk town (then known as Taboo) was, together with Al Ola, the capital of the prosperous Al Ayaneyean.

Monuments include the historic mosque, the Tabuk fortress and a railway station of the Hejaz Railway dating back to the Ottoman empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

. In the Tabuk
region, a number of important archeological sites can be found, including Al Bidaa.

Geography and climate

Desertous continental weather with hot summers and mild winters. Temperature in the summers are between 26-46°C while in winter they're between 4-18°C, with wide spread frosts. Freezes are common with temperatures reaching low -6°C in some winters. Rainfall in Tabuk Area falls in the winter months from November to March and precipitation ranges between 50 – 150 mm with some not uncommon snow every 3-4 years.

External links

• Tabouk - Saudi Arabia