Coordinates | 46°07′58″N64°46′17″N |
---|---|
Name | Unaizah |
Native name | محافظة عنيزة |
Pushpin map | Saudi Arabia |
Coordinates region | SA |
Subdivision type | Country |
Subdivision name | |
Subdivision type1 | Emirate |
Subdivision name1 | Al Qassim Province |
Leader title | Tory |
Leader name | Mousaed Al Sulaim |
Population as of | 2010 |
Population total | 163,729 |
Timezone | AST |
Utc offset | +3 |
Unaizah or officially The Governorate of Unaizah (also spelled Onaizah, Onizah, or Unayzah; ) is a Saudi Arabian city in the Al Qassim Province. It lies south of Buraydah (the capital of the province) and north of Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is the second largest city in Al-Qassim Province with a population of 163,729 (2010 census).
Historically, Unaizah was an important stopping point for Muslim pilgrims coming from Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Persia (now Iran) on their way to Makkah. Many scientists and historians believe that Unaizah was inhabited hundreds of years before the spread of Islam, citing its reference in numerous poems from some of the most important poets of pre-Islamic Arabia such as Imru Al-Qais.
Unaizah is an agricultural area and produces wheat and barley of various strains. The region also grows grapes, grapefruits, lemons, leeks, mandarins, oranges, pomegranates and dates.
Leeks (kurrat) are a very important part of the local culture of Unaizah. They are popular among the locals and comprise a significant portion of the local agricultural industry.
The 4th annual Date Season Festival was held in September 2008, giving Unaizah the distinction of hosting the largest date festival in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East. The festival rivals the date festival of neighboring Buraydah's, which is sometimes known as "Buraydah, the City of Dates".
Unaizah's 4th annual Date Festival was known as the "Unaizah International Date Festival", though the city's title "Unaizah, the Kingdom of Dates" was retained as a motto.
One of the first cities to embrace female education in Al-Qassim Province and Nejd was Unaizah. It faced resistance from neighboring provinces and brought Unaizah at the forefront of a national debate. After lengthy negotiations, the capital city of Qassim, Buraidah a sister city of Unaizah, officially recognized the right of an education for females, partly due to King Abdulaziz's interference in settling the dispute.
Today, there are many public schools in Unaizah for all three educational levels (primary, intermediate, and secondary). There are also two private schools and one private international school. There is also a boys' technological secondary school in the city and a technological college, as well as a girls' educational college. Qassim University is located approximately 30 kilometers north of the city, and enrolls both males and females.
Amin al-Rihani (the famous Franco-Lebanese scholar and traveler) spoke highly of the city's architecture and works of art in his book "Kings of Arabia" likening it to Paris thereby coining the nickname "Paris of Najd" for the city.
There are twelve tourist festivals and activities recognized by the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities, and a calendar has been made for these events.
(the Governor of Al-Qassim and Chairman of the province's Tourism Council)
The tourist attractions in Unaizah range from festivals to private meetings in family ranches. Some of the most notable venues in which festivals are held are the following:
There are three hotels in Unaizah, one of which is currently under construction, in addition to the rental apartments and suites distributed all around the city:
Although Unaizah is thought to be relatively more accepting of visitors than its neighbors, its tourism industry faces criticism for a number of reasons. One such criticism is its disregard for infrastructure maintenance.
The majority of the city's inhabitants are socially conservative. One of Saudi Arabia's leading religious clerics Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen was a student of the late Sheikh Abdulrahman Al Se'di, an Unaizah native. Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen himself was born and raised in Unaizah. He lived in Unaizah until he died, where many mosques have been built and named after him.
As for sweets, along with other Qassimi sweets, the Qassimi Kleeja is a well-known sweetie all over Saudi Arabia and even the Gulf States.
Like other Saudi cities, the Nejdi Kabsa is the most traditional lunch. The Yemeni Mandi is also popular as a lunch meal.
Fast food is also popular in the city. McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, Herfy, Pizza Hut, Little Caesar's, Hardee's, and KFC among others are widely distributed in Unaizah.
There are two local clubs in Unaizah, the Saudi Al Najmah club, and the Al Arabi club.
Television stations serving the city area include Saudi TV1, Saudi TV2, Saudi TV Sports, Al Ekhbariyah, ART channels network and hundreds of cable, satellite and other specialty television providers.
Category:Al Qassim Province Category:Populated places in Saudi Arabia Category:Unaizah
ar:محافظة عنيزة es:Unaizah fa:عنیزه nl:Unayzah pnb:عنیزہ pl:Unajza ru:Унайза tl:Unaizah ur:عنیزہThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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