Wadi al-Fara

Wadi al-Fara is located in the Harrat Rahat volcanic field in the Hijaz Mountains south of the city of Medina. It borders the governorates of Badr to the northwest, Medina to the north, and Mahd adh Dhahab to the east, all of these also being part of the province of Medina. Wadi al-Fara also borders two governorates in the province of Mecca, Khulays to the southeast and Rabigh to the southwest. The governorate of Wadi al-Fara is located in the watersheds of Wadi Masturah, Wadi Rabigh, and , a tributary of . Of the numerous springs that historically flowed in Wadi al-Fara, three remain active today at Abu Daba', al-Madiq, and . Frederick Fraser Hunter's 1908 Map of Arabia and the Persian Gulf mistakenly connected the northern end of Wadi al-Fara to , which flows southwest past Badr into the Red Sea. The 1917 Gazetteer of Arabia reflected this error in its description of the course of Wadi al-Fara, which includes that of Wadi as-Safra. The Wadi al-Fara south of Medina should also not be confused with the Wadi Far' which drains into the Red Sea near Yanbu. The Gazetteer of Arabia reported that the upper reaches of , a tributary of Wadi al-Hamd, has also been called Wadi al-Fara. Under the Köppen climate classification, Wadi al-Fara experiences a hot desert climate. Annual rainfall in the area is about . ==History==

In the works of Yaqut al-Hamawi, Al-Bakri, and Nur al-Din al-Samhudi, Wadi al-Fara is recorded as a prosperous date-producing oasis. The place was previously known as al-Fara without the "Wadi". Charles M. Doughty recorded in Travels in Arabia Deserta that Wadi al-Fara, which lay on the middle route between Medina and Mecca, had once belonged to the Awazim, but was at the time inhabited by the Banu Amr, Banu Salim, and al-Ubbeda groups of the Harb tribe. Wadi al-Fara was separated from the governorate of Medina and inaugurated as a category B governorate on 30 December 2013. ==Demographics==

Wadi al-Fara recorded a population of 23,120 in the 2022 Saudi census. The 2022 census recorded two settlements having a population greater than 2500, (population 3561), and al-Faqir (population 3349). Wadi al-Fara contains a population of indigenous Twelver Shiites known generally as the Nakhawila, although locally they are called the Jahami. In 1996, the Nakhawila population of Wadi al-Fara was estimated at 8000. ==Economy and infrastructure==

Date palm, henna, and various vegetables are grown in the area, mostly through the use of groundwater irrigation. Highway 15 and the Haramain High Speed Railway, both of which connect Medina and Mecca, run north to south through Wadi al-Fara. ==See also==