Saudi Arabia

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
ٱلْمَمْلَكَة ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة ٱلسُّعُودِيَّة (Arabic)
al-Mamlaka al-ʿArabiyya as-Suʿūdiyya
Motto: لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰه، مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُوْلُ ٱللَّٰه
Lā ilāha illa llāh, Muḥammadun rasūlu llāh
"There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah"[1][a] (shahada)
Anthem: ٱلنَّشِيْد ٱلْوَطَنِي ٱلسُّعُوْدِي
"an-Našīd al-Waṭanīy as-Saʿūdī"
"The National Saudi Anthem"
Capital
and largest city
Riyadh
24°39′N 46°46′E / 24.650°N 46.767°E / 24.650; 46.767
Official languagesArabic[5]
Ethnic groups
(2014)[6][b]
90% Arab
10% Afro-Arab
(for Saudi citizens only)
Religion
(2010)[8]
  • 4.4% Christianity
  • 1.1% Hinduism
  • 0.7% unaffiliated
  • 0.3% Buddhism
Demonym(s)
GovernmentUnitary Islamic absolute monarchy
• King
Salman
Mohammed bin Salman
Legislaturenone[c]
Establishment
1727
1824
13 January 1902
23 September 1932
24 October 1945
31 January 1992
Area
• Total
2,149,690[11] km2 (830,000 sq mi) (12th)
• Water (%)
0.0
Population
• 2022 census
Neutral increase 32,175,224[12] (46th)
• Density
15/km2 (38.8/sq mi) (174th)
GDP (PPP)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $2.354 trillion[13] (17th)
• Per capita
Increase $70,333[13] (15th)
GDP (nominal)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $1.106 trillion[13] (19th)
• Per capita
Increase $33,040[13] (34th)
Gini (2013)Steady 45.9[14]
medium
HDI (2022)Increase 0.875[15]
very high (40th)
CurrencySaudi riyal (SR)[d] (SAR)
Time zoneUTC+3 (AST)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy (AH)
Driving sideright
Calling code+966
ISO 3166 codeSA
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, Bahrain,[17] Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. 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; other major cities include Jeddah and the two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina. With a population of 32.2 million, Saudi Arabia is the fourth most populous country in the Arab world.

Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern-day Saudi Arabia, has some of the earliest traces of human activity outside Africa.[18] Islam, the world's second-largest religion,[19] emerged in what is now Saudi Arabia in the early seventh century. Islamic prophet Muhammad united the population of the Arabian Peninsula and created a single Islamic religious polity. Following his death in 632, his followers expanded Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering territories in North Africa, Central, South Asia and Iberia within 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 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by King Abdulaziz (also known as Ibn Saud), who united the regions of Hejaz, Najd, parts of Eastern Arabia (Al-Ahsa) and South Arabia ('Asir) 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.[23][24][25] 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. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam was the prevailing political and cultural force in the country until the 2000s.[24][26] In 2016, the Saudi Arabian government curtailed the influence of the Wahhabi religious establishment, restricted the activities of the morality police, and launched various Westernization policies such as the economic programme Saudi Vision 2030.[27][28][29] Notwithstanding ongoing efforts at political, social, and economic liberalization, the Saudi government has attracted criticism for various policies such as its intervention in the Yemeni Civil War, alleged sponsorship of terrorism, and widespread human rights abuses.[30][31]

Saudi Arabia is considered both a regional and middle power.[32][33] Since petroleum was discovered in the country in 1938,[34][35] the kingdom has become the world's third-largest oil producer and leading oil exporter, controlling the world's second-largest oil reserves and the sixth-largest gas reserves.[36] Saudi Arabia is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy and is the only Arab country among the G20 major economies.[37][38] The Saudi economy is the largest in the Middle East and the world's nineteenth largest by nominal GDP and seventeenth largest by PPP. Ranking very high in the Human Development Index,[39] Saudi Arabia offers tuition-free university education, no personal income tax,[40] and free universal health care. With its dependency on foreign labour, Saudi Arabia has the world's third-largest immigrant population. Saudi Arabians are among the world's youngest people, with approximately half being under 25 years old.[41][42] Saudi Arabia is an active and founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, and OPEC, as well as a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

  1. ^ "About Saudi Arabia: Facts and figures". The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington, DC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012.
  2. ^ "God". Islam: Empire of Faith. PBS. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
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  4. ^ L. Gardet. "Allah". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference BLG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "The World Factbook". 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014.
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  9. ^ Hefner, Robert W. (2009). Remaking Muslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation, Democratization. Princeton University Press. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-4008-2639-1.
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  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference CIA World Factbook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "The World Factbook". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ Through a maritime border marked by an artificial island.
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ "The Global Religious Landscape". Pew Forum. 18 December 2012. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference Abbas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reichl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barber was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ "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.
  24. ^ a b Tripp, Culture Shock, 2003: p. 14
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  26. ^ Malbouisson, p. 23
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  28. ^ 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.
  29. ^ Holleis, Jennifer (10 March 2023). "Saudi Arabia rebrands as Ramadan approaches". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023.
  30. ^ "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.
  31. ^ "Death Penalty Worldwide". Archived from the original on 16 June 2019.
  32. ^ Buzan, Barry (2004). The United States and the Great Powers. Cambridge: Polity Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-7456-3375-6.
  33. ^ "The erosion of Saudi Arabia's image among its neighbours". Middle East Monitor. 7 November 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013.
  34. ^ 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.
  35. ^ Learsy, Raymond (2011). Oil and Finance: The Epic Corruption. p. 89.
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  38. ^ 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.
  39. ^ Human Development Report 2014 (PDF). United Nations. 2013. p. 159. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  40. ^ "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.
  41. ^ "بوابة الهيئة - الصفحة الرئيسية". portal.saudicensus.sa (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
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