Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province, plus several government departments, are located in the city. Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern Province, and the sixth largest in Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina and Taif. Like the other 12 regional capitals of Saudi Arabia, Dammam is not included within any governorate; instead, it is governed as a municipality headed by a mayor . Dammam is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cities of Dhahran and Al Khobar, Dammam forms part of the Dammam Metropolitan Area, which is commonly known as greater Dammam and has an estimated population of 4,140,000 as of 2012. Dammam and its suburbs form the center of the Dammam metropolitan area, also known as Greater Dammam, which is closely linked to the city through social, economic, and cultural ties. The city is growing at an exceptionally fast rate of 12% a year - the fastest in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Arab world. As of 2016 Greater Dammam is the 4th largest area in both size and population in the Gulf Cooperation Council . The Dammam metropolitan area and the rest of the Eastern Province are served by the King Fahd International Airport , the largest airport in the world in terms of land area , about 20 km to the northwest of the city. Dammam's King Abdul Aziz Sea Port is the largest on the Persian Gulf. Its import-export traffic in is second only to Jeddah Seaport in the Middle East and North Africa .
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