TheMedina Province (Arabic:مِنْطَقَة ٱلْمَدِيْنَة ٱلْمُنَوَّرَة,romanized: Minṭaqat Al-Madīnah Al-Munawarah) is aprovince ofSaudi Arabia in theHejaz region along theRed Sea coast. It has an area of 151,990 km (94,440 mi) and a population of 2,389,452 (2022 Census)[1]
Medina is served by thePrince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport located off Highway 340. It handles domestic flights, while it has scheduled international services to regional destinations in theMiddle East. It is the fourth-busiest airport in Saudi Arabia, handling 8,144,790 passengers in 2018.[5] The airport project was announced as the world's best byEngineering News-Record's 3rd Annual Global Best Projects Competition held on 10 September 2015.[6][7] The airport also received the firstLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certificate in theMENA region.[8] The airport receives higher numbers of passengers during theHajj.
A government-run bus in Medina at Salam Rd. Station
In 2015, theMMDA announced Darb as-Sunnah (Sunnah Path) Project, which aims to develop and transform the 3 km (1.9 mi) Quba'a Road connecting the Quba'a Mosque to the al-Masjid an-Nabawi to an avenue, paving the whole road for pedestrians and providing service facilities to the visitors. The project also aims to revive theSunnah where Muhammed used to walk from his house (al-Masjid an-Nabawi) to Quba'a every Saturday afternoon.[9]
The city of Medina lies at the junction of two of the most important Saudi highways, Highway 60 and Highway 15. Highway 15 connects Medina toMecca in the south and onward andTabuk andJordan in the north. Highway 60 connects the city withYanbu, a port city on theRed Sea in the west andAl Qassim in the east. The city is served by threering roads: King Faisal Road, a 5 km ring road that surroundsAl-Masjid an-Nabawi and the downtown area, King Abdullah Road, a 27 km road that surrounds most of urban Medina and King Khalid Road is the biggest ring road that surrounds the whole city and some rural areas with 60 km of roads.
The bus transport system in Medina was established in 2012 by theMMDA and is operated by SAPTCO. The newly established bus system includes 10 lines connecting different regions of the city toMasjid an-Nabawi and the downtown area, and serves around 20,000 passengers on a daily basis.[10][11] In 2017, theMMDA launched the Madinah Sightseeing Bus service.Open top buses take passengers on sightseeing trips throughout the day with two lines and 11 destinations, including Masjid an-Nabawi,Quba'a Mosque andMasjid al-Qiblatayn and offers audio tour guidance with eight different languages.[12] By the end of 2019, theMMDA announced its plan to expand the bus network with 15BRT lines. The project was set to be done in 2023.[13] In 2015, theMMDA announced a three-linemetro project in extension to the public transportation master plan in Medina.[14]
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