Saudi Arabia — map and facts

About Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Arabian Peninsula, covering approximately 2.15 million square kilometres, and is home to around 36 million people, including a large expatriate workforce. It is an absolute monarchy governed by the Al Saud royal family under Islamic law, with Riyadh as its capital. The official language is Arabic, and the country is the custodian of Islam's two holiest cities—Mecca and Medina—making it a spiritual focal point for the world's 1.8 billion Muslims. Saudi Arabia possesses the world's second-largest proven oil reserves and has been the dominant member of OPEC since the organisation's founding. Vision 2030, a sweeping reform programme initiated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aims to diversify the economy, expand tourism, and modernise Saudi society. Women gained the right to drive in 2018 and restrictions on entertainment have eased significantly. Despite reforms, the kingdom maintains strict limits on political freedoms and has faced international criticism over human rights.

Geography and Landscape

Saudi Arabia is dominated by vast desert landscapes. The Rub' al Khali, or Empty Quarter, in the south is the world's largest continuous sand desert, covering approximately 650,000 sq km. The Nafud Desert lies in the north, and the central Najd plateau forms the geographic and political heartland. Along the Red Sea coast, the Hejaz Mountains rise steeply, with peaks exceeding 3,000 metres, providing dramatic scenery and a cooler climate. The eastern coast along the Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf) is where most of the country's oil infrastructure is concentrated. Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers or lakes; rainfall is sparse and irregular except in the Asir region in the southwest, which receives monsoon-influenced precipitation. Despite aridity, the desert landscape is punctuated by fertile oases that have sustained human settlement for millennia. Summer temperatures regularly exceed 45°C in the interior, while highland areas experience mild winters with occasional frost and snow.

History

The Arabian Peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with ancient trade routes linking it to Mesopotamia, Africa, and Asia. The Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 CE, and Islam emerged from the region in the seventh century, rapidly spreading across the known world. The first Saudi state was established in 1744 when Muhammad ibn Saud allied with the religious reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, founding a political-religious compact that endures today. The modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was unified by Abdulaziz ibn Saud in 1932. The discovery of oil in 1938 transformed the country from a poor, sparsely populated land into one of the world's wealthiest nations within decades. The 1973 oil embargo demonstrated Saudi Arabia's global economic leverage. The kingdom navigated the turbulence of the Gulf War (1990–91) and regional uprisings. Modernisation and reform have accelerated under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since 2016, alongside continued social conservatism and political authoritarianism.