Yanbu, Saudi Arabia

Yanbu'al Bahr, also known simply as Yanbu, Yambo or Yenbo, is a major Red Sea port in the Al Madinah province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 350 kilometers north of Jeddah The population is 188,430 (2004 census). A large number of the residents are foreign expatriates, mostly from Asia, but there are also large numbers from the Middle East and Europe.The city is divided into three villages, about 15 minutes drive by car away from each other. The Downtown (often called Al-Balad) is the actual city and has most of the population with all the shopping centers. Yanbu Al-Nakheel (The Palms) is the older part of the city where mostly farms would be found. Yanbu Al-Sina'iya (literally "the industrial Yanbu"), is the industrial city, established around 1975 with a very modern housing architecture. It houses all the major refineries and petrochemical installations and is still experiencing major growth.Yanbu is an important petroleum shipping terminal and is home to three oil refineries, a plastics facility and several other petrochemical plants. It is the country's second port (after Jeddah) and serves as the main port for the holy city of Medina, 160 km (100 miles) to the east. The natural harbour is protected on both sides by wide coral reefs. These reefs remain mostly untouched making them excellent areas for diving. Three major oil pipelines lead across the desert from the oilfields in the east to terminate at the Red Sea in Yanbu.