Population density in Mecca is very high. Most long-term residents of Mecca live in the Old City, and many work in the industry known locally as the Hajj Industry. Iyad Madani, Saudi Arabia's minister for Hajj, was quoted as saying, "We never stop preparing for the Hajj."[75] Year-round, pilgrims stream into the city to perform the rites of Umrah, and during the last weeks of Dhu al-Qi'dah, on average 4 million Muslims arrive in the city to take part in the rites known as Hajj.[76]
Pilgrims are from varying ethnicities and backgrounds, mainly Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Many of these pilgrims have remained and become residents of the city. Adding to the Hajj-related diversity, the oil-boom of the past 50 years has brought hundreds of thousands of working immigrants.
Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca under Saudi law,[11] and using fraudulent documents to do so may result in arrest and prosecution.[77] The prohibition extends to Ahmadis, as they are considered non-Muslims.[78] Nevertheless, many non-Muslims and Ahmadis have visited the city. The first such recorded example of non-Muslims is that of Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna in 1503.[79] Guru Nanak Sahib, the founder of Sikhism, visited Mecca in December 1518.[80] One of the most famous was Richard Francis Burton,[81] who traveled as a Qadiriyyah Sufi from Afghanistan in 1853. The Saudi government supports their position using[citation needed] Sura 9:28 from the Qur'an: O ye who believe! Truly the Pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque.