Eastern Province

The Eastern Province is the largest province of Saudi Arabia, located in the east of the country on the Persian Gulf coast, and has land borders with Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. It has an area of 710,000 km² and a population of 3,360,157 (As of 2004 census). Its capital is Dammam, and its governor is Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud.

There is a significant opposition to the government of Saudi Arabia and unrest among the population of the Eastern Province. In fact, the most challenging group to House of Saud is currently the Shi'ah, who constitute 75% of the population in the Eastern Province, the Kingdom's main oil-producing region especially as their political affiliation to Iraqi and other Shi'ite groups in the region has strengthened.