MAKAKH — The Haj pilgrimage draws people from around the world to Saudi Arabia each year. The crowds, squeezed shoulder to shoulder in prayer five times a day, fill the city of Makkah and surrounding areas to perform a number of physically demanding and intricate rites.

The five-day-long Haj is required of all Muslims with the means to perform it once in a lifetime. Through intense worship and repentance, its goal is remission of past sins and drawing Muslims closer to Almighty Allah.

As Muslims around the world celebrate, here's a look at one of the world's largest pilgrimages in numbers:

* 2.35 million is the number of pilgrims from around the world performing Haj this year;

* 1.16 million sq. meters (12.5 million square feet) is the size of the Grand Mosque that houses Islam's holiest site;

* 7 is the number of times Muslims circle the cube-shaped Kaaba counterclockwise, their hearts titled toward it, during one of the rites of Haj;

* 104 is the age of the oldest pilgrim performing the Haj this year. Ibu Mariah Marghani Muhammad is from Indonesia;

* 3,500 is the number of charter buses used to transport pilgrims to the various sites for Haj;

* 1.75 million pilgrims are from outside Saudi Arabia;

* 600,000 is the number of pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, either residents or citizens;

* 1.33 million is the number of male pilgrims;

* 1.02 million is the number of female pilgrims;

* 59 percent are from non-Arab Asian countries;

* 24 percent are from Arab countries;

* 11 percent are from non-Arab African countries;

* 5 percent are from Europe;

* 1 percent are from North America;

* 100,000 is the number of Saudi security forces tasked with protecting and assisting pilgrims on the Haj;

* 5,000 is the number of cameras along Haj routes. — AP