Map of Saudi Arabia | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | More stats

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Background: In 1902 Abdul al-Aziz Ibn 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.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries: 4,410 km total; Iraq 488 km, Iraq-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone 198 km, Jordan 742 km, Kuwait 222 km, Oman 676 km, Qatar 40 km, UAE 586 km, PDRY 830 km, YAR 628 km

Coastline: 2,510 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 18 nm
Continental shelf: not specific;

Climate: harsh, dry desert with great extremes of temperature

Terrain: mostly uninhabited, sandy desert

Elevation

Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper

Land use: 1% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 39% meadows and pastures; 1% forest and woodland; 59% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: extensive coastlines on Persian Gulf and Red Sea provide great leverage on shipping (especially crude oil) through Persian Gulf and Suez Canal


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Population: 17,115,728 (July 1990), growth rate 4.4% (1990; note--the population figure is based on growth since the last official Saudi census of 1974 reported a total of 7 million persons and includes foreign workers, while estimates from other sources may be 15-30% lower

Nationality: noun--Saudi(s; adjective--Saudi or Saudi Arabian

Ethnic groups: 90% Arab, 10% Afro-Asian

Languages: Arabic

Religions: 100% Muslim

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 37 births/1000 population (1990)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 13 migrants/1000 population (1990)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: no perennial rivers or permanent water bodies; developing extensive coastal seawater desalination facilities; desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 71 deaths/1000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 67 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 6.8 children born/woman (1990)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 52%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Government type: monarchy

Capital: Riyadh

Administrative divisions: 14 emirates (imarat, singular--imarah; Al Bahah, Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah, Al Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Al Qurayyat, Ar Riyad, Ash Sharqiyah, Asir, Hail, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, Tabuk

Dependent areas

Independence: 23 September 1932 (unification)

National holiday: Unification of the Kingdom, 23 September (1932)

Constitution: none; governed according to Sharia (Islamic law)

Legal system: based on Islamic law, several secular codes have been introduced; commercial disputes handled by special committees; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: none

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government--King and Prime Minister FAHD bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (since 13 June 1982; Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (half-brother to the King, appointed heir to the throne 13 June 1982)

Legislative branch: Saudi Arabian Land Forces, Royal Saudi Naval Forces, Royal Saudi Air Force, Royal Saudi Air Defense Force, Saudi Arabian National Guard, Coast Guard and Frontier Forces, Special Security Force, Public Security Force, Special Emergency Force

Judicial branch: Supreme Council of Justice

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador BANDAR Bin Sultan; Chancery at 601 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20,037; telephone (202) 342-3,800; there are Saudi Arabian Consulates General in Houston, Los Angeles, and New York; US--Ambassador Charles W. FREEMAN; Embassy at Collector Road M, Diplomatic Quarter, Riyadh (mailing address is P. O. Box 9,041, Riyadh 11,143, or APO New York 9,038; telephone p966o (1) 488-3,800; there are US Consulates General in Dhahran and Jiddah (Jeddah)

Flag description: green with large white Arabic script (that may be translated as There is no God but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God) above a white horizontal saber (the tip points to the hoist side; green is the traditional color of Islam

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: By far the most important economic activity is the production of petroleum and petroleum products. The petroleum sector accounts for about 85% of budget revenues, 80% of GDP, and almost all export earnings. Saudi Arabia has the largest reserves of petroleum in the world, is the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC. Oil wealth has provided a per capita GDP that is comparable to most industrialized countries. Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries where consumer prices have been dropping or showing little change in recent years.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for about 10% of GDP, 16% of labor force; fastest growing economic sector; subsidized by government; products--wheat, barley, tomatoes, melons, dates, citrus fruit, mutton, chickens, eggs, milk; approaching self-sufficiency in food

Industries: crude oil production, petroleum refining, basic petrochemicals, cement, small steel-rolling mill, construction, fertilizer, plastic

Industrial production growth rate: 6.1% (1980-86)

Labor force: 4,200,000; about 60% are foreign workers
By occupation government: 34%
By occupation industry and oil: 28%
By occupation services: 22%
By occupation agriculture: 16%

Unemployment rate: 0% (1989 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $31.5 billion; expenditures $38.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $24.5 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.)
Commodities: petroleum and petroleum products 89%
Partners: Japan 26%, US 26%, France 6%, Bahrain 6%

Imports: $21.8 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.)
Commodities: manufactured goods, transportation equipment, construction materials, processed food products
Partners: US 20%, Japan 18%, UK 16%, Italy 11%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $18.9 billion (December 1989 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Saudi riyals (SR) per US$1--3.7450 (fixed rate since late 1986), 3.7033 (1986), 3.6221 (1985)


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Electricity access

Electricity production

Electricity consumption

Electricity exports

Electricity imports

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet country code

Internet users

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 16.9% of GDP, or $12.3 billion (1990 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 204 total, 179 usable; 66 with permanent-surface runways; 13 with runways over 3,659 m; 33 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 98 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Airports with paved runways

Airports with unpaved runways

Heliports

Pipelines: 6,400 km crude oil; 150 km refined products; 2,200 km natural gas, includes 1,600 km of natural gas liquids

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine: 94 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,988,322 GRT/3,474,788 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 6 short-sea passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 15 cargo, 12 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 container, 6 refrigerated cargo, 4 livestock carrier, 32 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 8 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 1 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 3 bulk

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: no defined boundaries with PDRY, UAE, and YAR; shares Neutral Zone with Iraq--in July 1975, Iraq and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to divide the zone between them, but the agreement must be ratified, however, before it becomes effective; Kuwaiti ownership of Qaruh and Umm al Maradim Islands is disputed by Saudi Arabia

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs