Sakakah is an oasis

Oasis

In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...

 town in the Al Jawf Province

Al Jawf Province

Al-Jawf , also spelled Al-Jouf, is a province of Saudi Arabia, located in the north of the country, bordering Jordan. It has an area of 100,212 km² and a population of 440,009 at the 2010 Census...

 of northwestern Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, located just to the north of the An Nufad desert and northeast of Al Jawf

Al Jawf, Saudi Arabia

Skaka is a city in the north of Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Al Jawf Province.See Sakakah for full description-External links:* , Splendid Arabia: A travel site with photos and routes...

 city. It has a population of approximately 114,000 people.

Agriculture

Al-Jawf is notable for its abundant agricultural water, making possible the cultivation of dates (200,000 Palms) and olives (12,000,000 trees), as well as other agricultural products. Farms number around 16,000, and agricultural projects around 1,500. It is the home of some agribusiness farms such as Watania Farms, the largest organic farm in the kingdom. The fertile agricultural land of Al-Jawf is due largely to underground water, which drew delegates of King Abdul Aziz. They were sent to the town of Sakaka and Dowmat Al-Jandal and Qurayat, requesting resident tribes there to join the nascent kingdom. Sakaka is home to many Saudi families that can proudly trace their lineage to a few large, old tribes that have dominated the area since time immemorial. The Khalili tribe, Surhani tribe & Al-Juraid family a part of the massive Al-Sharari tribe (among others), have large rows of houses and often own farms and businesses in town. The Al-Juraid family have a row of large homes located on Al-Sudairiyah Street, right across from the Baqalah.

Historical Places

The history of Al-Jawf dates back more than four thousand years. It is the home of many historic & prehistoric archaeological sites such Za'bal Castle & Well, the Omar ibn Al-Khattab Mosque, located in Dowmat Al-Jandal

Dumat Al-Jandal

Dumat al-Jundal , is the name for an ancient city of ruins located in North Western Saudi Arabia in the Al Jawf province its located 37KM away from Sakakah. The name Dumat al-Jandal means literally "Dumah of the Stone", since this was the territory of Dumah, one of the twelve sons of Ishmael...

and Mard Castle (just south of Sakaka). You'll also find the ancient Rajajil standing stones in Sakaka, dating back nearly 6,000 years.

Modernization

Many areas of Saudi Arabia are struggling to develop and modernize in a short span of time. In recent years, the Saudi government has been pouring money in the region of Al-Jawf, especially in Sakaka, to help develop this economically starved region of the kingdom. For this reason, the city is full of brand new government buildings, schools & hospitals that are very new, built adjacent to crumbling ruins of older buildings that are decades old and in dire need of repair. One major feature of the city is the rapidly expanding "University of Al-Jouf" (Jami'at Al-Jawf), founded in 2005. The King hopes the university to become a pillar of social, cultural, and intellectual advancement for Saudi Arabia. There are several government-run schools and some private schools. The only English-language school of note in the entire Al Jouf area is the Al Jouf International School. It has British curriculum (IGCSE O and A Levels are offered)