• • • Mecca ( ) or Makkah (: ‎ Makkah ) is a city in the plain in that is also the capital and administrative headquarters of the. The city is located 70 km (43 mi) inland from in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m (909 ft) above sea level, and 340 kilometres (210 mi) south of.

In Muhammad's Arabia. The Prophet muhammad, according to the traditional islamic sources, was an orphan. Chapter 1 muhammad in meCCa. Returned to mecca. However, a second tradi- tion, attributed to the Prophet's beloved wife uaaisha, relates that the Prophet indeed trav- eled to Jerusalem, but only in spirit. Desert for the next two years. Upon returning for a visit to Amina, the foster family was granted permission to keep Muhammad for another year, at which time he was returned to his mother. Amina reared Muhammad for the next three years until she, too, died when he was only six years old. Life at Mecca. The death of Amina.

Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during the ('pilgrimage') period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of. As the birthplace of and the site of of the (specifically, a ), Mecca is regarded as the in the of and a to it known as the is for all able. Ford Fiesta 2006 User Manual Pdf on this page. Mecca is home to the, by majority description, as well as being the. Mecca was long ruled by Muhammad's, the, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by in 1925.

In its modern period, Mecca has seen tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure, home to structures such as the, also known as the Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel, the world's fourth tallest building and the building with the. During this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj. As a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, even though non-Muslims are from entering the city.

Contents • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Etymology and usage 'Mecca' is the familiar form of the English transliteration for the Arabic name of the city, although the official transliteration used by the Saudi government is Makkah, which is closer to the Arabic pronunciation. The word 'Mecca' in English has come to be used to refer to any place that draws large numbers of people, and because of this some English speaking Muslims have come to regard the use of this spelling for the city as offensive. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the official spelling in the 1980s, but is not universally known or used worldwide.