The Intriguing Border Crossings Of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia shares its land borders with Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen, Oman, UAE and to an extent with Bahrain (thanks to the causeway), virtually interconnecting the entire Arabian Peninsula. Have you ever wondered what the border crossings look like? (pulpjuiceandsmoothie.com)

saudi border

Though not all of these border crossings are flashy, sometimes they are just like another checkpoint on the way but what is interesting about them is that they are something not many have seen and perhaps have lingered on our minds for quite some time.

Worry no more; here they are.

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Jordan

Haql
Al Haditah
Hallat Ammar

The Levantine country shares three border crossings with Saudi Arabia. The most popular ones are the Haql border crossing for those coming from Jeddah and the Al Haditha border crossing for those coming from Riyadh and Sharqiya.

Photo Credit: al-jazirahonline.com

Iraq

Rafha
Arar

They are not the most popular of border crossings in the country as the number of vehicles that pass through it don’t match to that of UAE or Bahrain. The border crossings do however see a huge spike in crossings during Hajj and Ramadan seasons as visitors throng to The Kingdom for pilgrimage.

Photo Credit: thenewkhalij.net

Kuwait

Al Nawasib
Location south border to Khafji, Saudi Arabia
Al-Salmi
Location western border to Saudi Arabia

The huge volume of trade between the 2 countries is demonstrated at these borders, where one can see large numbers of trucks crossing this border. Not many tourists though.

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Oman

Ramlat Khaliya (Rub Al Khali Entry Point)

One of the most recent border crossings to be set up in the country, this border crossing was officially established in 2006. It is located in the middle of the enigmatic Rub Al Khali desert and there aren’t any towns nearby it. Before this border crossing was set up the only route to Oman from Saudi was through the UAE.

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Qatar

Salwa border crossing

This border crossing has quickly been rising into becoming one of the most popular border crossings for Saudi tourists, especially with the emergence of Qatar as a tourism hub.

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UAE

Batha border crossing

This border crossing is located on the world’s longest straight road that runs in Saudi Arabia from the town of Haditha till the Batha border.

Photo Credit: trbimg.com

Yemen

Saudi Arabia shares the most number of border crossings with Yemen, and one of the longest land borders as well measuring close to 1800 kilometers.

Tuwal
Al Khadhra
Al Wadeeah
Al Kharkhir
Alb Al Hadood

Photo Credit: en.wikipedia.org

Bahrain

The crown jewel of all Saudi border crossings; this crossing on the King Fahd Causeway is the most prolific of them all. It is so popular amongst Saudi residents that many just go across the border for the weekend. The volume in fact is so high that there is an app called “Zahma Wala La” that does just one thing – it tells you whether the crossing to and fro Bahrain is crowded or not.