Hejaz

(El,) or HEDJAZ, (hēj'az.) (Ar., the "Land of Pilgrimage." An eyalet of the Turkish Asiatic empire, forming one of the principal political divisions of Arabia, and extending along the E. shores of the Red Sea from the point of junction of Egypt and Syria, S. as far as the Yemen frontier. Area (including Yemen), 193,719 sq. m. Its surface is partly mountainous,partly desert. In the N. are the Scripturally famed mountains of Horeb and Sinai. Mecca and Medina, the chief cities of Moslem pilgrimage, are within its limits, and its principal seaport is Jiddah, on the Red Sea. Its main products are coffee, gums, and spices, and it breeds the finest horses in Arabia. Pop. (including Yemen), 900,000. [s. 446]