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Dammam

Dammam ( ) is the capital of the Eastern Province of 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 sixth largest in Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina and Taif. Like the other 12 regional capitals of Saudi Arabia, Dammam is not included within any governorate; instead, it is governed by a "municipality" (; amanah) headed by a mayor (; amin). Dammam and its suburbs form the center of the Dammam metropolitan area, also known as Greater Dammam, 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 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.

The Dammam metropolitan area, and the rest of the Eastern Province, is served by the King Fahd International Airport (KFIA), the largest airport in the world in terms of land area (approximately 780 km), about 20 km to the northwest of the city. Dammam's King Abdul Aziz Sea Port is the largest on the Persian Gulf. Its import-export traffic in is second only to Jeddah Seaport in the Middle East and North Africa ( MENA).