Earth Observations taken by the Expedition 10 crew

ISS010-E-20261 (19 March 2005) --- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 10 crewmember on the International Space Station. The city of Jeddah is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia (after Riyadh), and is the country’s most important Red Sea port. A large warehouse and dock complex is visible in the lower left portion of this image. Apart from being a major port for exchange of goods with Africa and Europe, Jeddah is of great importance for Islamic pilgrims going east to Mecca (a religious journey known as the hajj). In addition to urban attractions, coral reefs along the coast (north-south trending islands to image left) are frequented by divers visiting the city. The image captures the multicolored rooftops of homes and other buildings in the city, the oldest of which were built using coral from the nearby Red Sea and clay from the al-Manqabah lagoon in the center of the Al Balad district (center of image; lagoon is approximately 0.25 km across).