The eastern province of Saudi Arabia is mainly known for a large number of oil fields present in the region and its the fifth-most populous city in Saudi Arabia after Jeddah, Riyadh, Makkah, and Al-Madinah. One such major city in the province is Ad-Dammam. The city holds the rank of being the sixth populous in the nation and is mainly renowned being a commercial hub full of oil and natural gas reserves.

It was the year 1938 when the major reserves of oil and natural gas were first discovered. The discovery of this liquid gold channelized major industrial growth in the city that resulted in the development of commercial and administrative centres in the city. Apart from having major hubs of oil and natural gas, Ad-Dammam is also a major seaport for trade business in the country.

The city has been fully developed since the 1940s and has a modern layout with brimming suburbs. Even though oil and natural gas are the main industry in Ad-Dammam, the city also has various agriculture and dairy farms.

The cities of Dammam, Al Khobar, and Dhahran collectively form the Dammam metropolitan area. The whole area was once a fishing village before the discovery of the oil wells and natural gas reserves that sparked the start of industrialization.

With the industrial growth and discovery of oil wells, the city has become a world-leader in the oil industry and occupies the fourth rank in gas reserves.

The capital of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, Ad-Dammam acts as a major link to the other states in the Gulf like Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Oman, and Bahrain.
 

• The city of Ad-Dammam is situated towards the east of the capital Riyadh and has geographical positioning as 26° 26? 0? north and 50° 7? 0? east.
• The capital city of Riyadh is 400 km away from Ad-Dammam.
• The total area covered by the city of Ad-Dammam is 800 sq.km or 310 sq.miles.
• The total population of the city as taken in 2015 is 1.75 million.
• The first major airport in the city was opened way back in 1999.
• Dammam is also served by one of the major seaports in the Persian Gulf which is known as King Abdul Aziz Seaport. The seaport handles all the import and export and is the second-largest in the country, the first one being Jeddah Islamic Port on the Red Sea.
   

The city of Ad-Dammam is not governed by any governorate while being independently known by the name City of Dammam.

The current Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia is King Salman Al Saud, and the crown prince of the region is Mohammad Bin Salman.

The governor of the Eastern province or city of Dammam, however, is Prince Saud bin Nayef and the deputy governor is Prince Ahmed Bin Fahd.
 

Ad-Dammam is the capital of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia and is also known as the epicentre for oil production and natural gas reserves. The main industry is the Saudi Aramco which looks after the production of oil and natural gas sector in the whole area.

The main economy of the city is dependent on the petroleum industry. A large group of people from the total population work for Saudi Aramco, thus generating major per capita income from the petroleum industry itself.

Business Environment
In the early 1940s before the discovery of oil and natural gas reserves in the area, Ad-Dammam was a small coastal town with fishing as its main activity. After large fields of petroleum and natural gas were discovered in the area, it leads to rapid urbanization fostering growth.

Ad-Dammam was a separate city in very close proximity to Al-Khobar and Dhahran. As a result of industrial development and fast growth, all three cities merged into one and are today collectively known as the Dammam Metropolitan Area.
 

Dammam is connected to major cities of the world through the King Fahd International Airport. The airport is the largest in terms of the total land area and started operating from the year 1999. Apart from this, there are other airports which include Ahsa International Airport and Qaisumah-Hafr Al Batin Airport.

The city is not only connected through airways but also has a major port that is operating since the 1940s. The King Abdulaziz Seaport on the Persian Gulf is the second largest in the country after the Jeddah Islamic Port. A large variety of import and export work is carried out through these ports.

The Saudi Arabian Public Transport Company (SAPTCO) also several intercity buses operating in the area. There is also planning to construct Dammam metro the status of which is still unknown.