Al Hasa

Al Hasa , region, E Saudi Arabia, on the Persian Gulf. Administrated as the Eastern Province, Hofuf is the chief town. Dates, wheat, and rice are produced. It was taken from the Turks in 1914 by Ibn Saud. The discovery of large oil reserves in the 1930s transformed the region and is Saudi Arabia's chief oil-producing area.

Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud (b. 24 Nov. 1880, d. 9 Nov. 1953). King of Saudi Arabia 1932–53 Born in Riyad of the Wahhabi dynasty, he was forced into exile to Kuwait in 1902. From there, he organized and led a successful Bedouin revolt which enabled him to recapture Riyad. He then conquered the Turkish province of Al Hasa, and was recognized by the British as Emir of Nejd and Hasa in 1915. He then challenged Hussein ibn Ali, whom he eventually defeated, annexing Azir in 1923, and taking the Holy City of Mecca in 1925. He proclaimed himself King of Hejaz and Nejd in Mecca on 8 January 1926, a country which covered most of the Arabian peninsula. In 1932, he renamed his kingdom Saudi Arabia. A devout Muslim, he laid the foundations of the country's subsequent development (and the royal household's fortune) by granting the first concession to oil exploration in 1933, and by creating the Arabia-American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in 1944. He maintained a good relationship with the USA and the UK, which he supported in World War II.