Dhahran, Industrial city in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
Dhahran is a town in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia that serves as the headquarters of Saudi Aramco and is shaped by its proximity to the Gulf coast. The streets run in straight lines through flat land where low residential buildings stand beside multistory office blocks made of glass and concrete.
An American oil company began test drilling in this desert region in the late 1930s and struck enormous petroleum reserves. In the following decades the headquarters of what became Saudi Aramco took shape here, causing an entire town to rise from the sand.
The place takes its name from a small settlement that stood here before the oil industry arrived and developed the flat terrain into a modern town. On weekends families gather in the shaded parks while people from several continents do their shopping in the air-conditioned malls.
Summer brings temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), while winter from November to March is considered the best time to visit. Most areas are reachable by car, but some parts remain reserved for certain groups of residents.
An airplane runway from the Second World War still lies beneath parts of the town and was later built over by sections of modern infrastructure. Some older buildings from the first years of oil extraction still stand among newer constructions and show the early architecture of that era.
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