Jizan

Jizan, town and port, southwestern Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea near the border with Yemen and opposite the Farasān Islands. Jizan is the principal town of the Tihāmah coastal plain, the exporting and shipping center of Jazan region (minṭaqah), and the capital of Jazan region.

Zaydī Yemenis considered the town part of historical Yemen, but Imam Yahya al-Mutawakkil recognized Saudi possession in the 1934 Treaty of Al-Ṭāʾif. The permanence of that treaty was challenged by the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen), reopening the dispute in the 1960s, but its status was finalized in the 2000 Treaty of Jeddah with the Yemeni government. Some Zaydī Yemenis, especially those sympathetic to the Houthi movement, have continued to claim Jizan.

In 2006 the Saudi government implemented a development project north of the city that was eventually called the Jazan City for Primary Downstream Industries (JCPDI). It substantially enhanced industry in the area as well as access to raw materials that are abundant in Jazan region. Its development was driven by Chinese interest and investment as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Analysts consider the JCPDI’s proximity to Iran-aligned areas of Yemen to be a major motivating factor in China’s role in the 2023 rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

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The area surrounding Jizan is well cultivated because of irrigation projects undertaken by the government and has become one of the main agricultural regions of Saudi Arabia. Crops include wheat, rice, barley, millet, and sorghum. Exports include grain sorghum, sesame, dried fish, dates, and salt; other economic activities are fishing, shipbuilding, and salt mining. The local architecture displays Ottoman and Yemeni influences. Roads link the port to its fertile hinterland, and an airport provides connections to other parts of Saudi Arabia. Pop. (2022) 173,919.