Mountain · Saudi Arabia
Jabal Sawda
Jabal Sawda rises 3015 metres in the Asir Mountains and counts as the highest point of Saudi Arabia. Up here the air is cool and green, quite unlike the deserts of the country.
Picture credit: marviikad (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Muhammad Sobri (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Jabal Sawda?
Jabal Sawda is part of the Asir Mountains.
You will find it in: Saudi Arabia.
Summit: 18.267° N, 42.368° E
The story behind it
The Asir Mountains form a long step where the high land of Arabia breaks off towards the Red Sea, and Jabal Sawda sits on the edge of that step, so the view drops away in one huge sweep towards the coastal plain. Different surveys give the summit slightly different numbers, and the measurements go a few metres apart, partly because the top is a broad plateau rather than a single point. Moist air from the sea climbs the wall and turns into fog and rain, which is why old juniper trees, wild olives and thick bushes grow here while the land further inland is dry. Baboons sit by the roadside, and farmers still work narrow terraces built into the slope by hand. The name means the black mountain, a fair description of the dark trees and rock seen from below.
Find it on the globe
Jabal Sawda is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How high is Jabal Sawda?
The summit is listed at 3015 metres above sea level. Other surveys arrive at slightly different figures, because the highest ground is a wide plateau and not one clear peak.
Which country is Jabal Sawda in?
The mountain lies in Saudi Arabia, in the Asir region in the south-west. It stands not far from the city of Abha, above the plain that runs down to the Red Sea.
Can you climb Jabal Sawda?
Reaching the high ground is easy, because a road runs up to the plateau and families come for the cool air and the view. Walking trails and viewpoints lead along the edge, and a jacket is welcome, since it can be surprisingly chilly in the fog.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
Last checked: