Mecca Mecca Mecca (; "" () is a city in the Hejazi region of the Arabian Peninsula, and the plain of Tihamah in Saudi Arabia, and is also the capital and administrative headquarters of the Makkah Region. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level, and south of Medina. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during the "Ḥajj" (, "Pilgrimage") period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of "Dhūl-Ḥijjah" (). As the birthplace of Muhammad, and the site
Sharifate of Mecca the 1880s, there was talk of British occupation of the Hejaz with the support of the şerifs. The British also challenged the Sultan's caliphate by claiming that Britain should appoint the Emir, as it ruled over four times as many Muslims as the Ottomans. On 23 December 1925 King Ali surrendered to the Saudis, bringing the Kingdom of Hejaz and the Sharifate to an end. Partial list of Sharif of Mecca: Sharifate of Mecca The Sharifate of Mecca "Sharāfa Makka") or Emirate of Mecca was a state, non-sovereign for much of its existence, ruled by the Sharifs of Mecca. A