Unaizah

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Unaizah محافظة عنيزة
Governorate
The internal ring road in Al-shrimyah district and Unaizah Mall
Location in Saudi Arabia
Coordinates: 26°5′26″N 43°59′15″E / 26.09056°N 43.98750°E / 26.09056; 43.98750
Country	Saudi Arabia
Province	Al Qassim Province
Founded by	zuhri bin jarrah Al-Thawri
Government
• Mayor	سليمان بن عبدالعزيز
• Borough Governor	Fahad Al Sulaim
Population  (2022[1])
• Total	184,600
Time zone	UTC+3
• Summer (DST)	UTCDST not observed
Postal Code	51911
Area code	+966-16
Website	um.gov.sa

Unaizah (Arabic: عنيزة ʿUnaizah) or officially The Governorate of Unaizah (also spelled Onaizah, Onizah, or Unayzah; Arabic: محافظة عنيزة Muḥāfiẓat ʿUnaizah) is a Saudi Arabian city in the Al Qassim Province. It lies south of the province capital Buraydah and north of Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is the second largest city in Al-Qassim Province with a population of 184,600 (2022 census).^[2]

Historically, Unaizah was an important stopping point for Muslim pilgrims coming from Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Persia (now Iran) on their way to Makkah. Many scientists and historians believe that Unaizah was inhabited hundreds of years before the spread of Islam, citing its reference in numerous poems from some of the most important poets of pre-Islamic Arabia such as Imru' al-Qais.