Khamis Mushayt

Khamis Mushait is a city in south-west Saudi Arabia, located 35 minutes east of Abha, the provincial seat of the Asir province in southwest Saudi Arabia. It is the capital for The Shahran Tribe. Until the 1970s Khamis Mushait was a small town of less than 50,000 servicing the surrounding mild-climate agricultural region. Since then its population has grown eight-fold to reach 446,467 (2004 census). The city is the largest city in Asir province tribe, one of the most populated regions in Saudi Arabia, nowadays, The city's name comes from the weekly market that is held each Thursday, and "Khamis" simply is the Arabic word for Thursday. In the past, the city was called Khamis Bin Hamdan, who was the governor of the city.