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: Middle East, between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: total: 1,960,582 km²

Land boundaries: total 4,415 km, Iraq 814 km, Jordan 728 km, Kuwait 222 km, Oman 676 km, Qatar 60 km, UAE 457 km, Yemen 1,458 km

Coastline: 2,640 km
Contiguous zone: 18 nm
Continental shelf: not specified
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Maritime claims

Climate: harsh, dry desert with great extremes of temperature

Terrain: mostly uninhabited, sandy desert

Elevation

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper

Land use
Arable land: 1%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 39%
Forest and woodland: 1%
Other: 59%

Irrigated land: 4,350 km² (1989 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population: 17,615,310 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 3.3% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Saudi(s)
Adjective: Saudi or Saudi Arabian

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

Languages: Arabic

Religions: Muslim 100%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 3.3% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 38.59 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 6.05 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

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

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 67.32 years
Male: 65.71 years
Female: 69.01 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1993 est.)

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: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
Total population: 62%
Male: 73%
Female: 48%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Conventional short form: Saudi Arabia
Local long form: Al Mamlakah al 'Arabiyah as Su'udiyah
Local short form: Al 'Arabiyah as Su'udiyah

Government type: monarchy

Capital: Riyadh

Administrative divisions:

Dependent areas

Independence: 23 September 1932 (unification)

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

Constitution

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: monarch and prime minister, crown prince and deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers

Legislative branch: none

Judicial branch: Supreme Council of Justice

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador BANDAR Bin Sultan
In the us chancery: 601 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,037
In the us telephone: (202) 342-3,800
In the us consulates general: Houston, Los Angeles, and New York
From the us chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires C. David Welch
From the us embassy: Collector Road M, Diplomatic Quarter, Riyadh
From the us mailing address:
From the us telephone: 966 (1) 488-3,800
From the us fax: Telex 406,866
From the us consulates general: Dhahran, Jiddah (Jeddah)

Flag description: green with large white Arabic script (that may be translated as color of Islam

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 75% of budget revenues, 35% of GDP, and almost all export earnings. 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. For the 1990s the government intends to encourage private economic activity and to foster the gradual process of turning Saudi Arabia into a modern industrial state that retains traditional Islamic values. Four million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, for example, in the oil and banking sectors.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 3.6% (1992 est.)

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; 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, two small steel-rolling mills, construction, fertilizer, plastics

Industrial production growth rate:

Labor force: 5 million
By occupation government: 34%
By occupation industry andoil: 28%
By occupation services: 22%
By occupation agriculture: 16%

Unemployment rate: 6.5% (1992 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $45.1 billion; expenditures $52.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)

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: $48.2 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
Commodoties: petroleum and petroleum products 92%
Partners: US 21%, Japan 18%, Singapore 6%, France 6%, Korea 5%

Imports: $26.1 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
Commodoties: food stuffs, manufactured goods, transportation equipment, chemical products, textiles
Partners: US 21%, UK 13%, Japan 12%, Germany 8%, France 6%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

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)


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Electricity access

Electricity production: 28,554,000 kW capacity; 63,000 million kWh produced, 3,690 kWh per capita (1992)

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: exchange rate conversion - $16.5 billion, 13% of GDP (1993 budget)

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: 213
Usable: 193
With permanentsurface runways: 71
With runways over 3659 m: 14
With runways 2440-3659 m: 36
With runways 1220-2439 m: 107

Airports with paved runways

Airports with unpaved runways

Heliports

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

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine:

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international:

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: death penalty for traffickers