Saudi Arabia — World Gazetteer, 2005 edition
Saudi Arabia had an estimated population of 23,130,024 in 2005, with 51 places recorded. Archived from the World Gazetteer, the reference work formerly published at this domain.
For current figures: Saudi Arabia today — population now 35,165,787, against 23,130,024 in 2005.
| Source | 2005 | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Gazetteer (the work cited) | 23,130,024 | — | — |
| UN World Population Prospects | 20,559,890 | 35,165,787 | +71% |
The two sources differ by 13% for 2005. The Gazetteer figure is the one the citation you followed refers to; the UN pair is the like-for-like comparison.
Agglomerations, 2005
| # | Name | Population (2005) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ad-Dammam | 1,617,873 |
| 2 | al-Hufuf | 818,840 |
Cities and towns, 2005
| # | Place | Region | Population (2005) | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riyadh | Riyadh | 4,208,051 | 4,205,961 now |
| 2 | Jiddah | Makkah | 2,869,141 | — |
| 3 | Mecca | Makkah | 1,324,383 | — |
| 4 | al-Madīnah | al-Madīnah | 944,925 | — |
| 5 | ad-Dammām | aš-Šarqīyah | 769,057 | — |
| 6 | aţ-Ţāʿīf | Makkah | 531,183 | — |
| 7 | Tabūk | Tabūk | 363,676 | 667,000 now |
| 8 | Buraydah | al-Qaşīm | 349,902 | 745,353 now |
| 9 | al-Hufūf | aš-Šarqīyah | 296,090 | 293,179 now |
| 10 | al-Mubarraz | aš-Šarqīyah | 287,249 | 290,802 now |
| 11 | H̱amīs Mušayţ | ʿAsīr | 282,894 | — |
| 12 | H̨āʿil | H̨āʿil | 242,018 | 605,930 now |
| 13 | al-H̱arj | Riyadh | 213,896 | — |
| 14 | al-H̱ubar | aš-Šarqīyah | 187,457 | — |
| 15 | H̨afar-al-Bāţin | aš-Šarqīyah | 181,452 | 271,642 now |
| 16 | aṯ-Ṯuqbah | aš-Šarqīyah | 165,212 | — |
| 17 | Abhā | ʿAsīr | 145,539 | 210,886 now |
| 18 | ʿUnayzah | al-Qaşīm | 132,775 | — |
| 19 | al-Qaţīf | aš-Šarqīyah | 129,690 | 98,259 now |
| 20 | Najrān | Najrān | 128,541 | — |
| 21 | al-H̨awīyah | Makkah | 122,370 | — |
| 22 | Yanbu | al-Madīnah | 115,932 | 200,161 now |
| 23 | Araʿar | al-H̨udūd-aš-Šamālīyah | 110,326 | — |
| 24 | al-Jubayl | aš-Šarqīyah | 103,207 | 237,274 now |
| 25 | az̨-Z̨ahran | aš-Šarqīyah | 96,613 | — |
| 26 | Sakākah | al-Jawf | 95,438 | 128,332 now |
| 27 | ar-Rass | al-Qaşīm | 82,875 | 81,728 now |
| 28 | Jīzān | Jīzān | 81,799 | 105,198 now |
| 29 | Sayhāt | aš-Šarqīyah | 76,120 | 66,702 now |
| 30 | al-Qurayyah | al-H̨udūd-aš-Šamālīyah | 76,075 | — |
| 31 | al-H̱afjī | aš-Šarqīyah | 65,198 | — |
| 32 | az-Zulfī | Riyadh | 59,931 | 125,000 now |
| 33 | Rah̨īmah | aš-Šarqīyah | 59,615 | — |
| 34 | Bīšah | ʿAsīr | 56,432 | — |
| 35 | al-Jawf | al-Jawf | 56,175 | — |
| 36 | ad-Dawādimī | Riyadh | 54,480 | 86,861 now |
| 37 | Šarūrah | Najrān | 52,402 | — |
| 38 | Şabyā | Jīzān | 50,543 | — |
| 39 | Tārūt | aš-Šarqīyah | 49,892 | 85,371 now |
| 40 | Şafwah | aš-Šarqīyah | 48,888 | — |
| 41 | Abū ʿArīs | ʿAsīr | 45,613 | — |
| 42 | ad-Dilam | Riyadh | 42,559 | — |
| 43 | al-Majmaʿah | Riyadh | 42,466 | — |
| 44 | Buqayq | aš-Šarqīyah | 41,936 | — |
| 45 | Rābig | Makkah | 41,659 | — |
| 46 | ʿAfīf | Riyadh | 40,356 | — |
| 47 | Ţurayf | al-H̨udūd-aš-Šamālīyah | 33,407 | 66,014 now |
| 48 | D̨arīyah | Najrān | 33,201 | — |
| 49 | Umm Lajj | Tabūk | 32,194 | — |
| 50 | Rafh̨ah | al-H̨udūd-aš-Šamālīyah | 31,438 | — |
| 51 | al-Bāh̨ah | al-Bāh̨ah | 19,397 | — |
The Today column links to our current page for the same place, where one matches by name and plausible size; the figure shown there is today's, never 2005's. A dash means no confident match, which is more honest than a guessed link.
Administrative divisions, 2005
| # | Name | Population (2005) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Makkah | 5,822,976 |
| 2 | Riyadh | 5,516,882 |
| 3 | aš-Šarqīyah | 3,377,053 |
| 4 | ʿAsīr | 1,739,188 |
| 5 | al-Madīnah | 1,501,222 |
| 6 | Jīzān | 1,252,264 |
| 7 | al-Qaşīm | 1,094,456 |
| 8 | Tabūk | 617,337 |
| 9 | al-Bāh̨ah | 588,237 |
| 10 | H̨āʿil | 567,110 |
| 11 | Najrān | 425,246 |
| 12 | al-Jawf | 389,086 |
| 13 | al-H̨udūd-aš-Šamālīyah | 238,967 |
The complete dataset is available as a free CSV download, with attribution to Stefan Helders / World Gazetteer.