Muslims in Mecca - level 3
More than two million Muslims have made the pilgrimage to Mecca for the annual Hajj, the world's largest gathering of Muslims and often considered the largest gathering of people in the world.
The Hajj pilgrimage is a religious journey that every devout follower of Islam is expected to make at least once in their life and is considered one of the faith's greatest acts of worship. It is one of the five pillars of Islam.
On Wednesday, thousands of visitors wearing simple white folds of cloth circled around the Kaaba at the center of the Al-Masjid al-Haram Mosque. Pilgrims walk anticlockwise around the Kaaba seven times while praying.
Hajj occurs in the twelfth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and three million people are expected to visit Mecca for Hajj this year, Saudi Arabian authorities said.
Difficult words: annual (happening every year), gathering (meeting), devout (having deep religious commitment), pillar (an important base of something), pilgrim (religious person who makes a journey).