Jubail, port city, eastern Saudi Arabia, situated on the Persian Gulf north of Dhahran, near the King Abdulaziz Naval Base. In the early 1970s the Saudi government chose Jubail, an ancient fishing and pearling village, to be the site of a major industrial complex. Its location on the Persian Gulf would yield an ample water supply for cooling the large industrial plants and would also promote ease in shipping various products to and from the city. It was also near important oil fields. Although the fishing village remains nearby, the new city of Jubail based on heavy and hydrocarbon industries vastly overshadows it.
In the mid-1970s the Bechtel Company of San Francisco was commissioned to engineer the construction of the new port, one of the largest civil engineering projects in the world. The core of the new city, developed under the direction of two Saudi government agencies, the General Petroleum and Mineral Organization (PETROMIN) and the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), is composed of some 16 primary industries. These industries include factories producing steel, gasoline, diesel fuel, petrochemicals, lubricating oil, and chemical fertilizers. In addition to these plants, secondary and support industries were provided for. The entire industrial zone covers about 51 square miles (132 square km). Housing for workers was separated from the industrial area by greenbelts irrigated with desalinated gulf water. Miles of module paths and cooling-water canals were built throughout the city. Altogether, the sectors of the city covered nearly 365 square miles (945 square km). Major roads connect Jubail with Dhahran and Dammam. It also has an airport. Pop. (2010) 337,778.