History of Saudi Arabia information

Part of a series on the
History of Saudi Arabia
Ancient Arabia Early Islamic State Rashidun Caliphate Umayyad and Abbasid periods Sharifate of Mecca Ottoman rule Jabrids Bani Khalid Emirate Emirate of Diriyah Mu'ammarid Imamate Emirate of Nejd Emirate of Jabal Shammar Emirate of Riyadh Emirate of Nejd and Hasa Kingdom of Hejaz Idrisid Emirate of Asir Sheikdom of Upper Asir Sultanate of Nejd Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Unification Declaration of unification
Saudi Arabia portal
v t e

Listen to this article (21 minutes)

This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 30 March 2008 (2008-03-30), and does not reflect subsequent edits.

(Audio help · More spoken articles)

The history of Saudi Arabia as a nation state began with the emergence of the Al Saud dynasty in central Arabia in 1727^[1][2] and the subsequent establishment of the Emirate of Diriyah. Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern Saudi Arabia, was the site of several ancient cultures and civilizations; the prehistory of Saudi Arabia shows some of the earliest traces of human activity in the world.^[3]

The world's second-largest religion,^[4] Islam, emerged in what is now Saudi Arabia. In the early 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad united the population of Arabia and created a single Islamic religious polity.^[5] Following his death in 632, his followers rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering huge and unprecedented swathes of territory (from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to modern-day Pakistan in the east) in a matter of decades. Arab dynasties originating from modern-day Saudi Arabia founded the Rashidun (632–661), Umayyad (661–750), Abbasid (750–1517), and Fatimid (909–1171) caliphates, as well as numerous other dynasties in Asia, Africa, and Europe.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of mainly four distinct historical regions: Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia (Al-Ahsa), and Southern Arabia ('Asir).^[11] The modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, also known as Ibn Saud in Western countries. Abdulaziz united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family. Saudi Arabia has since been an absolute monarchy governed along Islamist lines. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called "the Land of the Two Holy Mosques", in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca) and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam.

Petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province.^[12][13] Saudi Arabia has since become the world's second largest oil producer (behind the US) and the world's largest oil exporter, controlling the world's second largest oil reserves and the sixth largest gas reserves.^[14]

From 1902 until his death in 1953, Saudi Arabia's founding father, Abdulaziz, ruled the Emirate of Riyadh (1902–1913), the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa (1913–1921), the Sultanate of Nejd (1921–1926), the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd (1926–1932), and as the King of Saudi Arabia (1932–1953). Thereafter, six of his sons in succession have reigned over the kingdom:

1. Saud, the immediate successor of Abdulaziz, faced opposition from most in the royal family and was eventually deposed.
2. Faisal replaced Saud in 1964. Until his murder by a nephew in 1975, Faisal presided over a period of growth and modernization fuelled by oil wealth. Saudi Arabia's role in the 1973 oil crisis, and the subsequent rise in the price of oil, dramatically increased the country's political significance and wealth.
3. Khalid, Faisal's successor, reigned during the first major signs of dissent: Islamist extremists temporarily seized control of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979.
4. Fahd became king in 1982. During his reign, Saudi Arabia became the largest oil producer in the world. However, internal tensions increased when the country allied itself with the United States, and others, in the 1991 Gulf War. In the early 2000s, the Islamist opposition to the regime carried out a series of terrorist attacks.
5. Abdullah succeeded Fahd in 2005. He instituted a number of mild reforms to modernize many of the country's institutions and, to some extent, increased political participation.
6. Salman became king in 2015, at the age of 79. He oversaw the reorganization of the Saudi government and bestowed most of the king's political power into the crown prince, whom he replaced twice.

Salman's son and current crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, effectively controls the government. Mohammed has been responsible for the controversial Saudi intervention in the Yemeni Civil War. He has overseen a number of legal and social reforms in the country, while also seeking to diversify the economy with Saudi Vision 2030.