Jeddah is a port city in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia, located along the Red Sea coast in the Hejaz region. Jeddah is the commercial center of the country and the gateway for millions of pilgrims who have arrived in Saudi Arabia, traditionally by sea and recently by air.
It is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia (after the capital Riyadh), and the ninth-largest in the Middle East.
Jeddah is the principal gateway to Mecca Sharif, the holiest city in Islam, 65 kilometers (40 mi) to the east, while Medina, the second-holiest city, is 360 kilometers (220 mi) to the north.