Global InformationSaudi Arabia information
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ٱلْمَمْلَكَة ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة ٱلسُّعُودِيَّة (Arabic) al-Mamlaka al-ʿArabiyya al-Suʿūdiyya | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Emblem
| |
| Motto: لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰه، مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُوْلُ ٱللَّٰه Lā ilāha illa llāh, Muḥammadun rasūlu llāh "There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God"[1][a] (shahada) | |
| Anthem: ٱلنَّشِيْد ٱلْوَطَنِي ٱلسُّعُوْدِي Al-Nashīd al-Waṭanī al-Suʿūdī "Chant of the Saudi Nation" | |
  | |
| Capital and largest city | Riyadh 24°39′N 46°46′E / 24.650°N 46.767°E |
| Official languages | Arabic[5] |
| Ethnic groups (2014)[6][b] | 90% Arab 10% Afro-Arab |
| Religion (2010)[8] |
|
| Demonym(s) |
|
| Government | Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy |
• King | Salman |
• Crown Prince and Prime Minister | Mohammed |
| Legislature | none[c] |
| Establishment | |
• Emirate of Diriyah | 1727 |
• Emirate of Nejd | 1824 |
• Emirate of Riyadh | 13 January 1902 |
• Unification | 23 September 1932 |
• Admitted to the United Nations | 24 October 1945 |
• Current constitution | 31 January 1992 |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,149,690[11] km2 (830,000 sq mi) (12th) |
• Water (%) | 0.7 |
| Population | |
• 2022 census |  32,175,224[12] (46th) |
• Density | 15/km2 (38.8/sq mi) (174th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $2.354 trillion[13] (17th) |
• Per capita | $70,333[13] (15th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $1.106 trillion[13] (19th) |
• Per capita | $33,040[13] (34th) |
| Gini (2013) |  45.9[14]medium |
| HDI (2022) | 0.875[15] very high (40th) |
| Currency | Saudi riyal (SR)[d] (SAR) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (AST) |
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy (AH) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +966 |
| ISO 3166 code | SA |
| Internet TLD |
|
Saudi Arabia,[e] officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA),[f] is a country in West Asia and the Middle East. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2150000 km2 (830000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest country in Asia and the largest in the Middle East. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. Bahrain is an island country off its east coast. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. The capital and largest city is Riyadh; the kingdom also hosts Islam's two holiest cities of Mecca and Medina.
Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern-day 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 outside Africa.[17] The world's second-largest religion,[18] Islam, emerged in what is now Saudi Arabia. In the early 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad united the population of the Arabian Peninsula and created a single Islamic religious polity.[19] Following his death in 632, his followers expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering territories in North Africa, Central, South Asia and Iberia in a matter of decades.[20][21][22] 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.
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 South Arabia ('Asir).[23] The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by King Abdulaziz (known as Ibn Saud in the West). He 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, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been an absolute monarchy, where political decisions are made on the basis of consultation among the King, the Council of Ministers, and the country's traditional elites that oversee a highly authoritarian regime.[24][25][26] The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam was described as a "predominant feature of Saudi culture" until the 2000s.[25][27] In 2016, the Saudi Arabian government curtailed the influence of the Wahhabi religious establishment and restricted the activities of the morality police and launched various Westernization policies such as the economic programme of Saudi Vision 2030.[28][29][30] In its Basic Law, Saudi Arabia defines itself as a sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its official religion and Arabic as its official language. Petroleum was discovered in 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province.[31][32] Saudi Arabia has since become the world's third-largest oil producer and largest oil exporter, controlling the world's second-largest oil reserves and the sixth-largest gas reserves.[33] The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy and is the only Arab country to be part of the G20 major economies.[34][35] The Saudi government has attracted criticism for various policies such as its intervention in the Yemeni Civil War, alleged sponsorship of terrorism as well as for its use of executions.[36][37]
Saudi Arabia is considered both a regional and middle power.[38][39] The Saudi economy is the largest in the Middle East; the world's nineteenth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the seventeenth largest by PPP. As a country with a very high Human Development Index,[40] it offers a tuition-free university education, no personal income tax,[41] and a free universal health care system. With its dependency on foreign labour, Saudi Arabia is home to the world's third-largest immigrant population. It also has one of the world's youngest populations, with approximately 50% of its population of 32.2 million[42] being under 25 years old.[43] In addition to being a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia is an active and founding member of the United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, Arab Air Carriers' Organization and OPEC. Saudi Arabia is a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
- ^ "About Saudi Arabia: Facts and figures". The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington, DC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012.
- ^ "God". Islam: Empire of Faith. PBS. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ 'Islam and Christianity', Encyclopedia of Christianity (2001): Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews also refer to God as Allah.
- ^ L. Gardet. "Allah". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
BLGwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "The World Factbook". 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia – The World Factbook". CIA. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ "Religious Composition by Country" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
- ^ Hefner, Robert W. (2009). Remaking Muslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation, Democratization. Princeton University Press. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-4008-2639-1.
- ^ "Analysts: Saudi Arabia Nervous About Domestic Discontent". www.voanews.com. VoA News – English. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
CIA World Factbookwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Saudi Census 2022". portal.saudicensus.sa. General Statistics Authority - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2024 Edition. (Saudi Arabia)". www.imf.org. International Monetary Fund. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ "The World Factbook". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2023/24" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. p. 288. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ Strohecker, Karin (27 April 2016). "Saudi riyal peg pressure eases, but not gone". reuters.com. Reuters. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "88,000-Year-Old Finger Bone Pushes Back Human Migration Dates". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 2 May 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
- ^ "The Global Religious Landscape". Pew Forum. 18 December 2012. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
- ^ Lindsay, James E. (2005). Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World. Greenwood Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-313-32270-9.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Abbaswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Reichlwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Barberwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Madawi Al-Rasheed (2013). A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics and Religion in Saudi Arabia. Cambridge University Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-521-76104-8. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ "Council of Ministers System | The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia". www.saudiembassy.net. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b Tripp, Culture Shock, 2003: p. 14
- ^ "The Authoritarian Resurgence: Saudi Arabia's Anxious Autocrats". Carnegie Endowment. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ Malbouisson, p. 23
- ^ Dadouch, Sarah (3 August 2021). "Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed seeks to reduce influential clerics' power". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021.
- ^ FAROUK, YASMINE; BROWN, NATHAN J. (7 June 2021). "Saudi Arabia's Religious Reforms Are Touching Nothing but Changing Everything". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: 24, 26. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ Holleis, Jennifer (10 March 2023). "Saudi Arabia rebrands as Ramadan approaches". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023.
- ^ Caryl, Sue (20 February 2014). "1938: Oil Discovered in Saudi Arabia". National Geographic. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 12 December 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ Learsy, Raymond (2011). Oil and Finance: The Epic Corruption. p. 89.
- ^ "International – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". eia.gov. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
- ^ Wynbrandt, James (2004). A Brief History of Saudi Arabia. Infobase Publishing. p. 242. ISBN 978-1-4381-0830-8. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ Soldatkin, Vladimir; Astrasheuskaya, Nastassia (9 November 2011). "Saudi Arabia to overtake Russia as top oil producer-IEA". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia has carried out 800 executions since 2015, says rights group". Independent.co.uk. 15 April 2020. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
- ^ "Death Penalty Worldwide". Archived from the original on 16 June 2019.
- ^ Buzan, Barry (2004). The United States and the Great Powers. Cambridge: Polity Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-7456-3375-6.
- ^ "The erosion of Saudi Arabia's image among its neighbours". Middle East Monitor. 7 November 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013.
- ^ Human Development Report 2014 (PDF). United Nations. 2013. p. 159. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
- ^ "Tax in Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia Tax Guide – HSBC Expat". www.expat.hsbc.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ "بوابة الهيئة - الصفحة الرئيسية". portal.saudicensus.sa (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ "Why Saudi Arabia". Invest Saudi. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).