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SAUDI ARABIA
Background:In 1902, ABD AL-AZIZ bin Abd al-Rahman Al Saud captured Riyadh and set out on a 30-year campaign to unify the Arabian Peninsula. In the 1930s, the discovery of oil transformed the country. Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia accepted the Kuwaiti royal family and 400,000 refugees while allowing Western and Arab troops to deploy on its soil for the liberation of Kuwait the following year. A burgeoning population, aquifer depletion, and an economy largely dependent on petroleum output and prices are all major governmental concerns.
Location:Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen
Geographic coordinates: 25 00 N, 45 00 E
Area:1,960,582 sq km
Climate: harsh, dry desert with great temperature extremes
Coastline: 2,640 km
Population: 25,795,938(July 2004 est)
Ethnic groups: Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%
Languages: Arabic
Economy:This is an oil-based economy with strong government controls over major economic activities. Saudi Arabia has the largest reserves of petroleum in the world , ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC. Roughly 4 million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, for example, in the oil and service sectors. The government in 1999 announced plans to begin privatizing the electricity companies, which follows the ongoing privatization of the telecommunications company. Water shortages and rapid population growth constrain the government's efforts to increase self-sufficiency in agricultural products.
Conventional long form:Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Government type: monarchy
Capital: Riyadh
Administrative divisions:13 provinces (mintaqat, singular - mintaqah); Al Bahah, Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah, Al Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Ar Riyad, Ash Sharqiyah (Eastern Province), 'Asir, Ha'il, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, Tabuk)
Independence: 23 September 1932 (Unification of the Kingdom)
Legal system:based on Islamic law, several secular codes have been introduced; commercial disputes handled by special committees; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Religions:Muslim 100%
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper
7/13/2008
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