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A view of Makkah during the Hajj, with Mt. Arafat in the distance.

Mecca or Makkah (officially: Makkah al-Mukarramah; Arabic: مكة المكرمة) is a city in Saudi Arabia and the holiest city in Islam. As of the 2004 census, 1,294,169 people lived there. The city is 73 kilometres (45 mi) inland from Jeddah, in the narrow sandy Valley of Abraham. It is 277 metres (909 ft) above sea level. It is 81 kilometres (50 mi) from the Red Sea.