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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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Area

2,240,000 sq km (864,869 sq miles).

Population

27.6 million (2007 estimate).

Population Density

12.3 per sq km.

Capital

Riyadh (royal). Population: 4.7 million (UN estimate 2005). Jeddah (administrative). Population: 3.2 million (UN estimate 2001; including suburbs).

Government

Absolute monarchy since 1932.

Saudi Arabia occupies four-fifths of the Arabian peninsula. It is bordered to the northwest by Jordan, to the north by Iraq and Kuwait, to the east by the Gulf of Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, and to the south by Yemen. To the west lies the Red Sea. Along the Red Sea coast is a narrow coastal strip (Tihama) which becomes relatively hotter and more humid towards the south and has areas of extensive tidal flats and lava fields. Behind this coastal plain is a series of plateaux reaching up to 2,000m (6,560ft). The southern part of this range, Asir, has some peaks of over 3,000m (9,840ft). North of these mountains, in the far north, is An Nafud, a sand sea, and further south the landscape rises to Najd, a semi-desert area scattered with oases. Still further south the land falls away, levelling out to unremitting desert, the uninhabited ‘Empty Quarter’ or Rub al Khali. Along the Gulf coast is a low fertile plain giving way to limestone ridges inland.

Language

Arabic. English is spoken in business circles.

Religion

The majority of Saudi Arabians follow Islam; around 90% are Sunni Muslim, but Shia Muslims predominate in the Eastern Province.

Time

GMT + 3.

Social Conventions

Saudi culture is based on Islam and the perfection of the Arabic language. The Saudi form of Islam is conservative and fundamentalist, based on the 18th-century revivalist movement of the Najdi leader Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdel-Wahhab. This still has a great effect on Saudi society, especially on the position of women, who are required by law only to leave the home totally covered in black robes (abaya) and masks, although there are regional variations of dress. The Najd and other remote areas remain true to Wahhabi tradition, but throughout the country this way of life is being altered by modernisation and rapid development.

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