Al Khobar (also spelled
Khobar or ; ) is a large city located in the
Eastern Province of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia on the coast of the
Persian Gulf. It is one of the largest cities in the
Gulf Cooperation Council, with a population of 941,358 as of 2012. Al Khobar is a part of the
Dammam metropolitan area along with
Dammam and
Dhahran, which together forms part as the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Saudi Arabia having an estimated combined population of over 4,100,000 as of 2012. Greater Dammam also includes many other smaller cities such as: Al Qatif, Safwa, and Ras Tanura which form an overall population of 5,212,000 as of 2012. All three urban centers are served by the
King Fahd International Airport which is the largest airport in the world. The distance to the airport terminal from Khobar is about . Together, Al Khobar, Dhahran and Dammam are often known as "The Triplet Cities" by many natives and locals. Since Dammam, Dhahran and Al Khobar are less than away from each other, they essentially form one
metropolitan area, the fifth largest in the kingdom and sixth in the
Gulf Cooperation Council referred to the GCC, or "Al-Khaleej/Gulf" by many GCC citizens.