Mecca

:This article is about the holy city in Saudi Arabia. For other uses, see Mecca (disambiguation)

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Mecca or Makkah (in full: Makkah al-Mukarramah; {{lang-ar|??? ???????}}) is the capital city of Saudi Arabia's Makkah province, in the historic Hijaz region. It is located at

Related Topics:
??? ??????? - Saudi Arabia - Makkah province - Hijaz

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73 kilometers inland from Jaddah, in the narrow sandy Valley of Abraham, 277 meters (909 feet) above sea level. 80 km from the Red Sea.

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The city is revered as the holiest site of Islam, and a pilgrimage to it is required of all Muslims who can afford to go. The term 'Mecca' has come into common usage metaphorically to mean any all-important site for any particular group of people.

Related Topics:
Islam - Pilgrimage - Muslim - Metaphor

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In the 1980s the government of Saudi Arabia changed the official English transliteration of the city's name from 'Mecca', as it had been known to Westerners for centuries, to 'Makkah'. See below for the reasons.

Related Topics:
1980s - Below

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