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الاحساع (al-Aḥsa')1 is the name of an oasis and by extension a metropolitan area in the Eastern Province of العربية السعودية (al-Arabiyah as-Su'udiyah).2 الاحساع was the name of the capital city of the Qarmatians from the 9th century. It faded with the fortunes of the religious group and in the 19th century al-Hufūf (Hofuf) replaced it as the oasis' chief place. Hofūf proper had a population of about 400 thousand in 2005,3 and a metropolitan population of perhaps 600 thousand.3 It is located near the Gharwar oil field.
Year | Population | Political entity |
1000 CE | 110 thousand5 | al-Aḥsa' (al-Hasa or Bahrayn or the Qarmatians) |
1. Or al-Hasa or just Hasa.
2. Saudi Arabia in English.
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofuf, side banner, accessed 12/30/2013.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofuf, main text, accessed 12/30/2003.
5. Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987), "Tables of World's Largest Cities". It was the world's ninth largest city (and the largest in the area) in 1000 CE.