Dhahran (Arabic الظهران Al-Thahran) is a city located in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of  240,742 as of 2021. It is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cities of Dammam and Khobar, Dhahran forms part of the Dammam Metropolitan Area, which is commonly known as greater Dammam and has an estimated population of 4,140,000 as of 2012.
Large oil reserves were first identified in the Dhahran area in 1931, and in 1935, Standard Oil drilled the first commercially viable oil well. Standard Oil later established a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia called the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO), now owned by the Saudi government and known as Saudi Aramco. Dhahran has been the home of Saudi Aramco's headquarters for 80 years and is its first and largest gated compound with more than 50,000 residents. Employees and dependents of Aramco, known as Aramcons, have a tendency to use Dhahran to solely refer to the Aramco camp while using Khobar and/or Dammam to refer to the area outside the camp. The Saudi Aramco Residential Camp makes up much of the city of Dhahran today. Dhahran is also home to the Mall of Dhahran, one of the biggest shopping complexes in the Eastern Province.


Dhahran has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification "BWh") with extremely hot summers and mild winters. Precipitation is generally low, except for the brief rainy season in winter, which brings relief from the heat. The city sees very little snowfall as well; however, some nearby mountains within Saudi Arabia see snow every year due to their high altitude such as Mount Sawda', which is located about 50 kilometers north of Dhahran City center.

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