Dammam
Dammam (Arabic: الدمام ad-Dammām) is the capital of Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province, plus several government departments, are located in the city. Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern Province, and the fifth largest in Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. It is the center of the Dammam metropolitan area, which together forms part as the third largest metropolitan area in Saudi Arabia, with an estimated combined population of over 4,100,000 as of 2012. The Dammam metropolitan area, or Greater Dammam, is the metropolitan area associated with the city of Ad Dammam, the Eastern Province, and its suburbs; it is the area that is closely linked to the city through social, economic, and cultural ties.
The Dammam metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia; it is formed by three main neighboring cities: Dammam, Dhahran, and Khobar. These three cities are sometimes referred to as the "Triplet Cities". Greater Dammam also includes many other smaller cities such as Al Qatif, Safwa, and Ras Tanura, with a total population of 5,212,000 as of 2012. The city is growing at an exceptionally fast rate of 12% a year - the fastest in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Arab world - and has a Sunni Muslim majority population.
