Abha was the capital city for the Prince of Asir Ibn Ayde under the authority of the Ottoman Empire until World War I.

[2] In 1918, the Prince of Asir, Yahya bin Hasun Al Ayde, grandson of Ibn Ayed, returned to his family throne conquered in Abha with complete independence.

In 1920, Asir was conquered by the Ikhwan tribesmen of Nejd loyal to Ibn Saud during the Unification of Saudi Arabia.

International connections are available to Yemen (Sana'a), Egypt (Cairo), Qatar (Doha) and the UAE (Dubai, Sharjah), as well as to other destinations within Saudi Arabia.

The New Abha five-star hotel is a recent construction on the lake, 1.5 km (0.93 miles) southwest of the town.

[5] The head office and the main printing presses of Al Watan, a major Saudi daily, are in Abha.

[citation needed] Abha lies on the western edge of Mount Al-Hijaz,[2] near Jabal Sawda, the highest peak in Saudi Arabia.

However, the city shows weather trends that of a subtropical highland climate, apart from the lower than usual precipitation levels.

The city averages 278 millimetres (11 in) of rainfall annually, with the bulk of the precipitation occurring between February and April, with a secondary minor wet season in July and August associated with the northward movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.