Saudi Arabia
Name
| Official name | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — al-Mamlaka al-ʿArabiyya as-Suʿūdiyya (المملكة العربية السعودية) |
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| Former names | The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd (1926–32) of the two crowns Abdulaziz wore before the union; the Sultanate of Nejd (1921–26) and the Emirate of Riyadh (1902–21); the Emirate of Diriyah, the First Saudi State (1744–1818), and the Emirate of Nejd, the Second (1824–91); the Kingdom of Hejaz of the Hashemites (1916–25); the Ottoman Hejaz and al-Hasa; Arabia Felix, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Petraea of the Romans |
| Demonym | Saudi; Saudi Arabian; Saʿūdī |
| Meaning of the name | The kingdom of the House of Saud — Āl Suʿūd, the descendants of Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin of Diriyah of the 1720s and of his son Muhammad ibn Saud of the pact of 1744, the family of the 15,000 princes, the only state of the world named for its dynasty; "Arabia" of the Arabs, the ʿArab of the Assyrian inscriptions of 853 BC, the "land of the Arabs" of the Greeks; the "Hejaz," the barrier, the "Najd," the highland, the "al-Hasa," the sandy |
| Motto | None but the Shahada of the flag — "Lā ilāha illā-llāh, Muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh," "There is no god but God; Muhammad is the messenger of God" |
Quick facts
| Capital | Riyadh — ar-Riyāḍ — the Al Saud's seat since 1824 and the capital of the kingdom since 1932; about 7.7 million in the city and 8 million in the region, from 150,000 in 1960 |
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| Largest cities | Riyadh; Jeddah, about 4.7 million, the Red Sea port of the Hajj and the trade, the second city and the "Bride of the Red Sea," the old town of the World Heritage; Mecca, about 2.2 million, the holy city of the Kaaba and the two million pilgrims; Medina, about 1.5 million, the city of the Prophet's mosque and tomb; Dammam, the capital of the Eastern Province and the oil with Khobar and Dhahran of the Aramco headquarters, about 1.5 million together; Taif of the summer, Tabuk of the north, Buraidah of the Qassim dates, Abha of the Asir, Khamis Mushait, Hail, Najran and Jazan of the Houthi missiles, Jubail and Yanbu of the industry, AlUla of the tombs, Diriyah of the origin |
| Official language | Arabic — the classical of the Quran and the Modern Standard of the state, the language of the Prophet and of the peninsula where it was born, the dialects of the Najdi of the capital and the Bedouin, the Hejazi of Jeddah and Mecca of the pilgrims' mixing and the Gulf of the east; English the second language of the business, the schools and the 13 million foreigners; Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam, Tagalog, Tamil, Amharic, Indonesian and the rest of the workers; the Arabic of the "Arabic Language Month" |
| Currency | Saudi riyal — SAR, ﷼; 100 halalas; since 1925 in silver and 1961 in notes; pegged at 3.75 to the U.S. dollar since 1986 |
| Time zone | Arabia Standard Time, UTC+3; no summer time; the "Mecca time" of the Islamic proposals |
| Calling code | +966 |
| Internet domain | .sa and .السعودية |
| ISO 3166 codes | SA · SAU · 682 |
| Vehicle registration code | KSA |
| Driving side | Right — the women since 24 June 2018 |
| Electricity | 230 V, 60 Hz; plug type G, with A and B in the older buildings |
| Independence | 23 September 1932, the unification of the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the decree of Abdulaziz, the National Day; never a colony, the Ottoman rule of the Hejaz and al-Hasa ended in 1913 and 1918 and the British treaties of 1915 and 1927 of the recognition; the Founding Day of 22 February for the 1727 of the emirate of Diriyah, declared in 2022; the taking of Riyadh of 15 January 1902 the beginning |
| National days | 23 September, National Day, the only secular holiday until 2022, the green of the flags and the fireworks; 22 February, Founding Day, since 2022, for the First Saudi State of 1727; 11 March, Flag Day, since 2023; the Eid al-Fitr of the four days and the Eid al-Adha of the four of the Hajj's end, the Islamic calendar of the state; the Islamic New Year not a holiday; no Christmas, no birthday of the Prophet in the Wahhabi rite; the Riyadh Season of the winter and the Jeddah Season of the entertainment since 2019 |
| Constitution | The Quran and the Sunna — "the Constitution of the Kingdom is the Book of God and the Sunna of His Messenger," Article 1 of the Basic Law of Governance of 1 March 1992, the royal decree of King Fahd that wrote the state's order: the monarchy of the sons and the grandsons of Abdulaziz of the "most upright" chosen by the king and the Allegiance Council of 2006, the king as prime minister and the Council of Ministers of 1953, the Consultative Council, the Majlis ash-Shura, of 1992 of the 150 appointed for four years with the 30 women since 2013, the judiciary of the Sharia courts, the regions of the 13 emirates of 1992; the amendment of 2022 that made the crown prince the prime minister; no parties, no elections but the municipal of 2005, 2011 and 2015, no constitution the word allows |
| Population | 32,175,224 at the census of 2022 — 18,795,217 Saudi citizens, 58.4%, and 13,380,007 foreigners, 41.6%; about 36 million (GASTAT, 2026 est.) |
| Area | 2,149,690 km² (830,000 sq mi) — land 2,149,690 km², water negligible; the twelfth-largest of the world and the largest of Western Asia; four-fifths of the peninsula; the Rub' al Khali of 650,000 km² of it |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | A green field bearing the Shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, in white Thuluth script above a white sword pointing to the hoist — "There is no god but God; Muhammad is the messenger of God" and the sword of Abdulaziz of the justice and the strength of the unification; the green of Islam and of the Prophet's banner, the flag of the Wahhabi reform of the 1700s with the Shahada, the sword added in 1902 and the form fixed by the decree of 15 March 1973; the flag made in two halves sewn back to back so that the writing reads from right to left on both sides, never flown at half-mast for the words of God it bears, never printed on the goods the law forbids and the football shirts of 2018 tested; the Flag Day of 11 March since 2023.Flag of Saudi Arabia |
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| National emblem | Two crossed swords in gold beneath a date palm — the two swords of the justice and the strength of the two states of the Najd and the Hejaz joined by Abdulaziz, the palm of the growth, the prosperity and the generosity of the land of the dates; adopted 1950; the emblem of the passports, the coins, the government and the "Saudi" of every ministry |
| National anthem | "an-Nashīd al-Waṭanī as-Suʿūdī" — "Sārʿī," "Hasten," the "Hasten to glory and supremacy, glorify the Creator of the heavens" of the words of Ibrahim Khafaji of 1984 to the "Royal Salute" that the Egyptian composer Abdul Rahman al-Khatib wrote in 1947 at King Abdulaziz's request for his visit to Egypt, the wordless anthem of 1950 given its words by King Fahd in 1984; "the green flag flutters, bearing the light written on it, repeat: God is the greatest, my country, live as the pride of the Muslims" |
| National motto | The Shahada |
| National colors | Green and white |
| National animal | The Arabian camel, the dromedary of the Bedouin and the races, the "ship of the desert" of the 1.4 million of the kingdom and the beauty pageants of the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival of the billion riyals of the prizes; the falcon of the hunt and the emblem of the Saudi Falcons Club, the saker and the peregrine of the auctions; the Arabian oryx brought back from the extinction in the wild of 1972 to the Uruq Bani Ma'arid of the World Heritage; the Arabian leopard of the 200 left and the AlUla breeding; the Arabian horse of the Najd; the houbara of the hunts; the baboons of Taif; the whale sharks of the Red Sea; widely cited |
| National flower | The arfaj, Rhanterium epapposum, the yellow desert daisy of the spring after the rains, the national flower by the acclamation; the date palm of the emblem, the 30 million palms and the 300 varieties of the Al-Ahsa and the Qassim, the kingdom the second producer of dates of the world; the acacia of the wadis; the juniper of the Asir; widely cited |
| National dish | Kabsa — the spiced rice of the long grain cooked with the lamb, the chicken or the camel, the cardamom, the dried lime and the saffron, the mound of the platter of the shared meal, the national dish of the Najd and the country; the mandi of the Hadhramaut of the underground oven of the south, the jareesh of the cracked wheat, the harees, the saleeg of the Hejaz of the milk rice, the mutabbaq of the pastry, the shakshouka of the breakfast, the dates of the ajwa of Medina and the sukkari of the Qassim, the gahwa of the cardamom coffee of the majlis on UNESCO's list, the "Saudi coffee" of the renaming of 2022, the laban, the camel milk; the Al Baik of Jeddah's chicken; widely cited |
| National sport | Football — the Green Falcons of the World Cups of 1994 of the round of 16, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018 and 2022 of the win over Argentina of 22 November 2022, the greatest upset of the tournament by the count, and of 2026 in North America, the Asian Cups of 1984, 1988 and 1996, the Saudi Pro League of Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr since January 2023 and the stars of the Public Investment Fund's four clubs, Al-Hilal's Club World Cup win over Manchester City of June 2025, the World Cup of 2034 awarded on 11 December 2024, the Asian Cup of 2027; the camel racing of the robot jockeys and the King's Cup; the falconry; the horse racing of the Saudi Cup of Riyadh, the richest race of the world at US$20 million; the boxing of the "Riyadh Season" of Fury and Usyk of 2024; the golf of the LIV of 2022–26 the fund stopped funding on 30 April 2026; the Formula One of Jeddah since 2021, the Dakar Rally since 2020, the Esports World Cup since 2024, the Asian Games of 2034; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag by the decree of 1973 and the law of 2023; the emblem by the decree of 1950; the anthem by the decree of 1984; the animals, the flower, the dishes and the sports widely cited |
Geography
| Location | The Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula — the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba to the west, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Gulf of the Saudis, to the east, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait to the north, Qatar, Bahrain across the causeway, the Emirates and Oman to the east and the south, Yemen to the south along the mountains; the Neutral Zone with Iraq divided in 1981 and with Kuwait in 1969; the Strait of Hormuz beyond the Gulf and the Bab-el-Mandeb beyond the Red Sea the two gates the war of 2026 closed |
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| Land borders | 4,272 km (2,654 mi) with seven neighbors — Yemen 1,307 of the Asir and the Najran of the Houthi missiles and the wall of the 2000s, the treaty of Jeddah of 2000, the war since 26 March 2015 and the strikes of 2026; Iraq 811 of the desert of the pilgrim road and the Arar crossing reopened in 2020, the drones from Iraqi territory of July and September 2026; Jordan 731; Oman 658 of the Empty Quarter of the treaty of 1990; the United Arab Emirates 457 of the treaty of Jeddah of 1974 the Emirates dispute; Kuwait 221 of the Neutral Zone divided in 1969 and the Wafra and Khafji fields shared; Qatar 87 of the Abu Samra crossing the blockade of 2017–21 closed; the King Fahd Causeway to Bahrain of 25 km of 1986, closed for hours on 7 April 2026 for the Iranian threat |
| Coastline | 2,640 km (1,640 mi) — the Red Sea coast of 1,760 km from the Gulf of Aqaba of the NEOM and the Tabuk to Jeddah, Yanbu of the pipeline terminal, Rabigh, the Farasan islands of Jazan and the Yemen border, the coral reefs of the Red Sea Global of the tourists, the Bab-el-Mandeb the Houthis blockaded on 20 July 2026; the Gulf coast of 880 km of the oil from Kuwait past Khafji, Jubail, Ras Tanura of the largest refinery the Iranian drones hit, Dammam, Dhahran and the causeway to the Qatar border, the Safaniya of the largest offshore field shut in March 2026; the Tarut and Abu Ali islands; the 1,300 islands of the count; the desalination plants of Jubail and the Red Sea of the largest of the world that give the country half its water |
| Highest point | Jabal Sawda, about 3,000 m (9,840 ft), in the Asir near Abha by the Factbook; Jabal Ferwa, 3,002 m, by the surveys that put it higher |
| Lowest point | The Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 665 m (2,182 ft) |
| Rivers | None permanent — the largest country of the world without a river; the wadis of the flash floods, the Wadi al-Rummah of 600 km from Medina toward Iraq, the longest, the Wadi Hanifa of Riyadh restored as the park of the capital, the Wadi ad-Dawasir, the Wadi Fatima of Mecca, the Wadi Bisha and the Wadi Najran of the south, the Wadi Sirhan of the north; the floods of Jeddah of November 2009 of the 122 dead and January 2011, of Mecca of 2018; the springs of the Al-Ahsa and the Qatif of the oasis; the fossil water of the aquifers of the wheat of the 1980s pumped away; the desalination of half the water and the two-thirds of the cities' |
| Lakes | None natural of size — the Layla lakes of the Aflaj dried by the pumping of the 1990s, the Dumat al-Jandal of the ancient of the Al-Jawf, the salt flats of the sabkhas of the Gulf coast and the Umm as-Samim; the dams of the Wadi Bisha of the largest of the Middle East by the earthen and the King Fahd of the Bisha, the reservoirs of the Asir; the desalinated of the taps |
| Terrain | The desert plateau of the peninsula tilting from the Red Sea mountains to the Gulf — the Hejaz range of the west of the Sarawat of 1,500 to 3,000 m of Taif, Abha and the Asir of the terraces and the juniper, the coastal plain of the Tihama below; the Najd plateau of the center of the Riyadh at 600 m, the Tuwaiq escarpment of 800 km of the cliffs of the Edge of the World, the Jabal Shammar of Hail; the sand seas of the Nafud of the north of 65,000 km², the Dahna of the red arc and the Rub' al Khali of the south of 650,000 km² of the dunes of 250 m, the largest sand desert on earth, the Empty Quarter of Thesiger's crossing and the Shaybah oil field; the Al-Ahsa and the Qatif of the east of the largest oasis of 30,000 hectares of palms, the Gulf plain of the oil; the lava fields of the harrats of the Hejaz of the 2,000 volcanoes, the Harrat Rahat of the 1256 eruption near Medina; the Hisma of Tabuk of the sandstone of the NEOM |
| Climate | Arid — the hottest of the large countries, the summers of 45°C of Riyadh and 50 of the Eastern Province, the record of 52°C, the humidity of the coasts of Jeddah and Dammam, the winters mild of 20 in the day and cold at night of the Najd of the frosts and the snow of the Tabuk and the Jabal al-Lawz of the northwest; the rain of 100 mm a year of the most of the country and none for years in the Empty Quarter, the Asir of the monsoon of 500 mm the exception; the shamal wind of the Gulf and the dust storms of the spring; the Hajj of the heat of the June of 2024 of the 1,301 dead of the 50°C of Mecca; the warming of the 2°C by 2050 the plans fear |
| Natural hazards | The heat and the dust storms; the flash floods of Jeddah of 2009 and 2011 and of the Riyadh of the wadis; the Hajj disasters — the Mina stampede of 24 September 2015 of the 2,400 dead by the count of the agencies and 769 by the state's, the deadliest of the Hajj, the crane collapse of the Grand Mosque of 11 September 2015 of the 111, the stampedes of 1990 of 1,426, of 2006, the fires, the heat of 2024; the earthquakes of the Red Sea rift and the harrats of the Harrat Lunayyir swarm of 2009; the volcanoes dormant of the Rahat; the locusts; the MERS of 2012 of the camels; the war — the Iranian and Iraqi missiles and drones of 2026 of the Ras Tanura fires of 2 March, the Al-Kharj of the two dead and 12 wounded of 8 March, the Prince Sultan Air Base of the E-3 Sentry and the tankers destroyed and the 29 Americans wounded, the Jubail of 7 April, the Houthi strikes of the south of 8 September 2026 of the 73 wounded of Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait, the Abqaiq of 14 September 2019; the Aramco helicopter crash of Ras Tanura of 28 June 2026 with 14 dead; the Riyadh factory fire of 9 August 2026 of the 16 Bangladeshi workers |
| Natural resources | Oil — the reserves of 267 billion barrels, the second of the world after Venezuela's and the largest of the conventional, the Ghawar of the largest field on earth of the 280 km, the Safaniya of the largest offshore, the Shaybah of the Empty Quarter, the Khurais, the Abqaiq of the largest processing plant, the production of 9 to 12 million barrels a day of the largest exporter of the world, cut to 8 million on 13 March 2026 by the war; natural gas of the sixth reserves of 9 trillion cubic meters, the Jafurah of the largest unconventional field of the Middle East of 2025; gold of the Mahd adh Dhahab of the "cradle of gold" of Solomon's legend and the Ma'aden mines, phosphate of the Wa'ad al-Shamal of the world's largest deposits, bauxite of the Al-Baitha, copper, zinc, silver, iron, uranium of the surveys, the "US$2.5 trillion of the minerals" of the ministry's claim; the sun of the solar of the 2030 and the wind; the water of the aquifers of the sea; the two holy cities of the pilgrims |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 81% of the count, the pastures of the camels and the goats of the desert, the arable of 1.5% of the irrigated circles of the Wadi ad-Dawasir and the Qassim of the alfalfa and the dates and the oases; forest about 0.5%, the juniper of the Asir and the acacia of the wadis, the Saudi Green Initiative of the 10 billion trees; the desert the rest |
| National parks | The Asir National Park of 1980, the first, of the juniper mountains of Abha and the baboons; the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve of 2018 of the north, 130,000 km², the largest nature reserve of the Middle East; the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Reserve of the Nafud; the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve of the Riyadh; the Uruq Bani Ma'arid of the Empty Quarter of the oryx of the World Heritage of 2023; the Harrat al-Harrah; the Farasan Islands Marine Reserve of the Red Sea of the dugongs of the UNESCO biosphere of 2021; the Sharaan Reserve of AlUla of the Arabian leopard; the Ibex Reserve of the Hawtat Bani Tamim; the 90 protected areas of the 30% target of 2030 of the Saudi Green Initiative |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 7 carried here — the Hegra Archaeological Site, al-Hijr, of AlUla (2008), the Nabataean tombs of the first century of the "second Petra," the first site of the kingdom; the At-Turaif District in ad-Diriyah (2010), the mud-brick capital of the First Saudi State; Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah (2014), the coral houses of the Al-Balad; the Rock Art in the Hail Region (2015), the Jubbah and the Shuwaymis of 10,000 years; the Al-Ahsa Oasis, an Evolving Cultural Landscape (2018), the largest oasis of the world; the Ḥimā Cultural Area (2021), the rock inscriptions of Najran; the ʿUruq Bani Maʿarid (2023), the first natural site, the oryx of the Empty Quarter; the falconry (2010, shared), the Arabic coffee (2015, shared), the majlis (2015, shared), the Ardah dance of Najd (2015), the date palm (2019, shared), the Al-Sadu weaving (2020, shared), the Alheda'a camel calls (2022, shared), the harees (2023, shared) and the Khawlani coffee of the Jazan (2024) on the intangible list; Mecca and Medina not listed |
| Administrative divisions | 13 regions — manāṭiq — of the Basic Law of 1992 each under an emir of the royal family, Riyadh of the capital and the Al-Kharj, Makkah of Mecca, Jeddah and Taif, Madinah of Medina and Yanbu, the Eastern Province of Dammam, the oil and the Empty Quarter, the largest, Asir of Abha, Jazan, Najran and Al-Bahah of the Yemen border, Tabuk of the NEOM, Hail, Al-Qassim of Buraidah, Al-Jawf and the Northern Borders of Arar; 136 governorates; the municipal councils of the 285 of the elections of 2005, 2011 and 2015, the women voting and standing in 2015, none since; the Emirate of the Two Holy Mosques of the Makkah region's emir; the "Royal Commission" cities of Jubail, Yanbu, Riyadh City and AlUla; the NEOM of its own law |
People
| Population | 32,175,224 (census of 2022); about 36 million (2026 est.) — the citizens about 20 million, the foreigners about 16 |
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| Population density | About 16 per km² (42 per sq mi) — Riyadh region at 20, Makkah at 60, the Eastern Province at 10, the Empty Quarter at none |
| Population growth | About 2% a year, the citizens at 1.5 and the foreigners of the projects at the swing, the 7 million of 1975 to the 36 of now, the "Saudization" of the Nitaqat quotas of the jobs, the exit of a million foreigners in the fees of 2017–19 and the return of the giga-projects; the 2 million of the Hajj a year who leave |
| Median age | About 30 years — a third under 15 among the citizens |
| Life expectancy | About 78 years |
| Fertility rate | About 2.3 births per woman — from 7 in 1980 |
| Urban population | About 85% |
| Adult literacy | About 98% |
| Ethnic groups | Saudi Arab about 58% of the census, the citizens of the tribes of the Najd of the Anizah, the Shammar, the Qahtan, the Utaybah, the Harb, the Mutayr and the Dawasir of the Bedouin lineages and the hadar of the towns, the Hejazis of Mecca, Medina and Jeddah of the pilgrims' mixing of the Indian, Indonesian, Central Asian, African and Egyptian centuries, the Shia of the Eastern Province of the Qatif and the Al-Ahsa of 10 to 15% of the citizens and the Ismailis of Najran, the Afro-Saudis of the slaves freed in 1962, the Baloch of the east, the naturalized of the Yemeni and the Hadhrami of the Bin Laden and the Bugshan; the foreigners about 42% — the Indians of 2.5 million the largest, the Pakistanis, the Bangladeshis, the Egyptians, the Yemenis of the two million of the wars, the Filipinos of the nurses and the shops, the Sudanese, the Syrians of the 2010s, the Indonesians of the maids, the Sri Lankans, the Nepalis, the Ethiopians of the irregular, the Jordanians, the Palestinians, the Lebanese, the Westerners of Aramco and the compounds; the "citizenship" of the naturalization of the few of the 2021 decree of the talents |
| Languages | Arabic by all the citizens and the Arab foreigners of the half, the Najdi of the Riyadh and the Bedouin, the Hejazi of the west of the "Jeddah" accent the media made the standard, the Gulf Arabic of the east of the Shia towns, the Modern Standard of the state and the Quranic of the mosque; English by the educated and the business of the "Saudi English" of the schools since the first grade of 2021; Urdu of the 3 million of the subcontinent the second language of the streets, Bengali, Malayalam, Tagalog, Tamil, Sinhala, Indonesian, Amharic, Tigrinya, the Turkish of the pilgrims; the Saudi Sign Language; the Arabic of the "Arabic Language Academy" of 2020 |
| Religion | Islam, the religion of the state and of all the citizens by the law — Sunni about 85% of the citizens of the Hanbali school of the Wahhabi reform of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab of the pact of 1744 the kingdom was built on, the "Salafi" of the ulema of the Council of Senior Scholars, the Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Al ash-Sheikh of the founder's line, the religious police of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue stripped of its powers in 2016, the "moderate Islam" of the crown prince's 2017 promise and the cinemas, the concerts, the women's driving and the mixing; Shia about 10 to 15% of the citizens, the Twelvers of the Qatif and the Al-Ahsa of the Eastern Province of the oil, the Ismailis of Najran, the Zaidis of the south, the executions of the Nimr al-Nimr of 2016 and the 81 of March 2022; the foreigners of the 13 million of the Muslims of the majority and the two million Christians of the Filipinos and the Indians without a church, the Hindus, the Buddhists and the Sikhs of the private worship the law tolerates and the public forbids; the Hajj of the two million and the Umrah of the 30 million of 2025, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques of the king's title since 1986; no other religion of the citizens, the apostasy a crime |
| Human Development Index | 0.900 (2023 data, 2025 report) — very high; about 37th of 193 |
| The Vision and the reforms | The Vision 2030 of 25 April 2016 of the crown prince's plan to end the "addiction to oil" — the Public Investment Fund of the US$925 billion, the giga-projects of NEOM of the US$500 billion of the Tabuk of The Line of the 170 km cut to 2.4 by 2030, the Trojena of the Winter Games of 2029 in doubt, the Sindalah island, the Oxagon, the Red Sea Global of the resorts, the Qiddiya of the entertainment city of Riyadh, the Diriyah Gate, the AlUla, the Riyadh of the King Salman Park and the New Murabba; the social reforms of 2017–19 — the cinemas of April 2018 after 35 years, the concerts of the Riyadh Season, the women at the wheel of 24 June 2018, the guardianship of the men eased in 2019 for the passports and the travel of the women over 21, the abaya not required, the tourist visas of September 2019, the Personal Status Law of 2022, the women of 35% of the workers from 17; the "Saudization"; the executions of the record of 345 of 2024 and the 300 of 2025, the critics of the Twitter sentences, the Loujain al-Hathloul of the driving campaign jailed 2018–21, the Khashoggi of Istanbul of 2 October 2018 the CIA laid to the crown prince's order and he denied, "the reforms" and "the repression" of the two readings; the "Expo 2030" and the "2034 World Cup" of the soft power; the "Saudi Green" of the 2060 net zero |
| Sport | Football — the Argentina of 22 November 2022, the World Cup of 2026 of the group of June, the Pro League of Ronaldo's 900 goals and the Benzema, Neymar of the 2023 season and the Kanté of the fund's 75% of Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal's Manchester City of the 2025 Club World Cup, the 2034 World Cup of the fifteen stadiums of the plans, the "sportswashing" of the critics and the "diversification" of the state; the boxing of Riyadh Season of the Fury–Usyk of 18 May 2024 of the undisputed and the Joshua; the golf of LIV of 2022 of the US$5 billion and the PGA framework of June 2023, the funding ended after 2026; the Formula One of Jeddah since 2021 and the Qiddiya of the plans, the Formula E of Diriyah, the Dakar since 2020; the tennis of the WTA Finals of Riyadh of 2024–26 and the Six Kings Slam; the Esports World Cup of 2024 of the US$60 million and the Olympic Esports Games of 2027; the wrestling of the WWE of the Royal Rumble of 31 January 2026; the Saudi Cup horse race; the camel races; the Asian Games of 2034 and the Asian Indoor Games of December 2026; the Olympics of the two medals of 2000 and 2012 and the 2020 of the karate silver |
| Diaspora | Small of the citizens — the 100,000 students of the King Abdullah Scholarship of the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia of the 2005–20 program of 200,000 sent, the businessmen of London, Geneva and Dubai, the princes' houses of the world; the 16 million foreigners the reverse diaspora of the remittances of US$35 billion a year to India, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Yemen, the second-largest source of the world after the United States |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy — the king as head of state, the crown prince as prime minister since 2022, the Council of Ministers of the royal appointment, the Allegiance Council of the family of 2006 for the succession, the Consultative Council of 150 appointed, the Council of Senior Scholars of the ulema, the Sharia courts; no constitution but the Quran and the Basic Law, no parties, no unions, no national election, no legislature of the vote; the 13 emirs of the regions of the family; "not free" by Freedom House, the "absolute monarchy" of the index at the bottom, the "reformer" and the "autocrat" of the crown prince's two names; the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" |
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| King | Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, since 23 January 2015 — the seventh king of the kingdom, the sixth son of the founder to reign and the 25th of his sons; born 31 December 1935 at Riyadh, the son of Abdulaziz and Hassa Al Sudairi of the "Sudairi Seven," the governor of Riyadh of 1963 to 2011 who made the town of 200,000 the capital of 5 million and kept the family's discipline, the minister of defense of 2011–15, the crown prince of 2012–15, the king at 79 on the death of Abdullah; the king of the Yemen war of 26 March 2015 begun weeks into the reign, of the Vision 2030, of the two crown princes removed of Muqrin and Mohammed bin Nayef and of the son named on 21 June 2017, of the Ritz-Carlton purge, of the Khashoggi, of the Qatar blockade and the Al-Ula, of the Trump visit of May 2017 of the sword dance and the glowing orb and of May 2025, of the Aramco IPO and the pandemic's Hajj of 1,000; the king of the hospital stays of 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025 of the lung and the "routine examinations," the powers delegated to the son by the amendment of 2022, the appearances of the Eid and the Cabinet by video; the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" of the title; the Sudairi of the last of the seven; at 90 the second-oldest monarch of the world |
| Crown Prince and Prime Minister | Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, "MBS," the crown prince since 21 June 2017 and the prime minister since 27 September 2022 — born 31 August 1985 at Jeddah, the seventh son of Salman and the eldest of Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain, the law graduate of King Saud University who never studied abroad, the adviser of his father's Riyadh governorate, the chief of the royal court of 2015, the minister of defense of 23 January 2015 at 29 who launched the Yemen war two months later, the deputy crown prince of April 2015, the chairman of the Public Investment Fund and of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, the author of the Vision 2030; the crown prince of the purge of 4 November 2017 of the 200 princes and businessmen of the Ritz-Carlton of the "anti-corruption" of the US$100 billion recovered, of the Qatar blockade, of the Hariri of Lebanon summoned and released, of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Istanbul consulate on 2 October 2018 the CIA assessed he ordered and he "takes full responsibility" for and denies ordering, of the women's driving and the women activists jailed, of the "moderate Islam," of the Aramco listing, of the détente with Iran of 10 March 2023 at Beijing, of the normalization with Israel of the 2023 talks the Gaza war stopped and the "at some point" of Trump's 2026, of the Trump of the fist bump of Biden of 2022 and the US$600 billion of 13 May 2025 and the Syria sanctions lifted at his ask, of the immunity of the American court of 2022 as the head of government; the ruler of the war of 2026 — the "all necessary measures" of the first night, the kingdom that "never declared war," the Prince Faisal of the calls to Araghchi, the retaliatory strikes on Iran the American officials reported and Riyadh did not confirm, the Islamabad Memorandum of June of the "limiting the damage," the Saudi–Pakistan–Turkey defense pact of 7 August 2026, the Houthi war resumed; the World Cup of 2034 and the Expo of 2030; the wife Sara bint Mashour and the five children; the "MBS" of the Western press and the "Abu Salman" of the Saudis; the next king by the Allegiance Council's word of 2017 |
| The Shura Council | The Consultative Council — Majlis ash-Shura — of 150 members appointed by the king for four years since the reconstitution of 1992 of King Fahd's reform of the "shura" of the Islamic consultation, the 60 of 1993 grown to 150 in 2005, the 30 women since 11 January 2013 of King Abdullah's decree, the ninth term of 2024; the chairman Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh of the founder's ulema line since 2009; the council of the advice, the laws proposed and the ministers questioned without the vote of the confidence or the budget, the "parliament" the Saudis do not call it; the "Council of Ministers" of the 25 of the king and the crown prince's presidency; the "Allegiance Council" of the 34 sons and grandsons of Abdulaziz that Abdullah made in 2006 for the succession and that named MBS in 2017 by 31 of 34 |
| The next election | None — no national election; the municipal councils of the 285 elected on 12 December 2015 with the women for the first time, the elections since postponed and the councils appointed; the Shura appointed; the kingdom hereditary |
| The Iran war of 2026 | The kingdom in the war it did not choose — the détente with Iran of the Beijing agreement of 10 March 2023 that restored the embassies broken in 2016, the Saudi refusal of the airspace for the Israeli strikes and the "no" to the American use of the bases for the offensive of February 2026; the American and Israeli strikes on Iran of 28 February 2026 and the Iranian answer the same night on the Gulf states, the explosions of eastern Riyadh, the missiles at the Prince Sultan Air Base and the Riyadh airport intercepted, "all necessary measures" and "the option of responding to aggression" of the foreign ministry; 2 March, the Iranian missiles and drones on the Ras Tanura refinery of Aramco, the largest of the kingdom of the 550,000 barrels a day and the export terminal, the fires and the closure, the "limited damage" of Riyadh and the "very minor" of the satellites, the oil price of the spike; 3 March, the two drones on the American embassy in Riyadh of the "limited fire"; 6 March, the ballistic missile on the Prince Sultan Air Base of the American planes; 8 March, the "projectile" on the residential Al-Kharj of the two dead and the 12 wounded, the kingdom's dead of the war; 12 March, the two missiles and seven drones destroyed; 13 March, the oil output cut by 20% to 8 million barrels a day after the Safaniya and a second offshore field shut; 14 March, the five American tankers hit at Prince Sultan; 18 March, the drones on the gas plants of the east intercepted; 21 March, the Iranian military attaché, his deputy and three staff expelled; 27 March, the six missiles and 29 drones on Prince Sultan of the E-3 Sentry and the KC-135 destroyed, the 15 Americans wounded of the five critical, the 29 of the week, "the value of the American partnership" the question; 7 April, the drones on the SABIC of Jubail and the fire, the King Fahd Causeway closed for the Fars list of the bridges; the ceasefire of 8 April; the Iraqi militias' drones of 27 July and of 11 September on the East–West pipeline that closed it; the "Saudi Arabia never declared war" and the "retaliatory strikes on Iran" the Americans said and the Saudis did not, the telephone line of Prince Faisal to Araghchi kept, the Beijing deal not renounced, the Islamabad Memorandum of 17–18 June of the "limiting the damage" of the Arab Center's reading; the two civilians dead, the 23 wounded, the two American soldiers dead and 29 wounded, the two aircraft destroyed and five damaged of the count; the Greek and the Ukrainian air-defense crews of the kingdom's allies |
| The Houthi war | The war of Yemen of 26 March 2015 of "Decisive Storm" of the crown prince's first weeks, the coalition of the ten, the 150,000 dead of the war and the 250,000 of the hunger by the counts, the "worst humanitarian crisis" of the UN, the Abqaiq of 14 September 2019 of the drones that halved the oil for days, the truce of April 2022 and the road map of 2023 of the Saudi exit that the Gaza war and the Red Sea of the Houthis stalled; the resumption of 2026 — the Houthi missiles at the Abha airport of 13 July 2026 after the strike on Sanaa airport laid to Riyadh, the blockade of the Saudi ports and ships in the Bab-el-Mandeb declared 20 July, the two Saudi tankers hit in the Red Sea of 23 July, the Saudi-led strikes on Hodeidah of 24 July of the "response to the attacks on the shipping," the Greek Patriot crew's two missiles downed of 25 July, the Aramco of Jizan and Yanbu struck, the Najran of 4 and 6 August of the 11 wounded, the Jizan refinery of 9 and 13 and 18 August, the Red Sea defense alliance announced 14 August of the "will it work," the vessel off Yanbu of 24 August, the strikes of 8 September 2026 on Abha, Jizan, Najran and Khamis Mushait of the 73 wounded and the fires of the oil and the utilities, the "more than 30" and "about 40" Saudi strikes of 9 and 10 September on Marib, Al-Jawf, Taiz and Hodeidah and the Mokha airport of the 11th, the two wounded of Jazan of 12 September; the East–West pipeline of the Yanbu route the Iraqi drones closed on 11 September, the two routes of the exports both hit; the Houthis' "operations" and the coalition's "legitimate targets" |
| Legal system | Islamic Sharia of the Hanbali school without a penal code until the reforms of 2021–22 of the Personal Status Law and the Evidence Law, the "codification" of the crown prince's promise of the Penal Code pending — the Supreme Court of 2007, the Board of Grievances of the administrative, the Specialized Criminal Court of the terrorism of the dissidents' sentences, the Sharia courts of the qadis; the death penalty of the beheading of the Deera Square of the 345 executions of 2024, the most since the records, and the 300 and more of 2025, the drugs of the half, the 81 of 12 March 2022 in a day; the flogging replaced by the prison in 2020, the minors' executions ended in 2020 in law; the "counterterrorism" and "cybercrime" laws of the tweets of the 30 years, the Salma al-Shehab of 2022 and the 34 years; the women's guardianship eased and not ended; the alcohol banned with the one shop of the diplomats of 2025; the Khashoggi trial of 2019 of the five death sentences commuted; the Ritz-Carlton of the "settlements"; the corruption rank of the 50s |
| Regional government | 13 regions under the emirs of the royal family appointed by the king — Faisal bin Bandar of Riyadh, Khalid al-Faisal of Makkah since 2007 and 2015, Salman bin Sultan of Madinah, Saud bin Nayef of the Eastern Province since 2013, Turki bin Talal of Asir, Fahd bin Sultan of Tabuk since 1987, the longest; the governorates of the 136; the municipal councils appointed since the last election of 2015; the Royal Commissions of the cities of Jubail and Yanbu of 1975, of Riyadh City of 2019, of AlUla of 2017 and of Makkah; the NEOM of the "autonomous" law and the regulator; the "Emirate" of the Two Holy Mosques |
| Defense | The Saudi Arabian Armed Forces of about 260,000 with the Royal Saudi Air Force of the 230 F-15s, the Typhoons and the Tornados of the largest air force of the Arabs, the Royal Saudi Land Forces, the Navy of the two fleets of the Red Sea and the Gulf of the Multi-Mission Surface Combatants of 2024, the Strategic Missile Force of the Chinese DF-3 and DF-21, the Air Defense of the Patriot and the THAAD of the interceptions of 2026; the National Guard of 130,000 of the tribes of the king's own of the crown prince's cousin; the defense spending of about US$78 billion, 7% of GDP, the fifth of the world, the largest importer of arms of the world of the decade, the American of the two-thirds and the 730 Patriots of the US$9 billion of 30 January 2026 and the US$2 billion of 16 July, the British Typhoons, the French, the Chinese drones and the Turkish; the American troops of the 3,000 at Prince Sultan since 2019 and the Fifth Fleet's Bahrain next door, the base the Iranians struck; the Saudi–Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement of 17 September 2025, "an aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both," the Pakistani nuclear umbrella of the readings, extended to Turkey by the trilateral pact of 7 August 2026; the Red Sea alliance of 14 August; the Yemen war; the conscription none; the "Saudi Arabian Military Industries" of the 50% local by 2030; the Greek and Ukrainian Patriot crews of 2026; the nuclear program of the American agreement of 22 July 2026 for the civilian reactors conditioned on the Abraham Accords, the enrichment the kingdom wants and the "if Iran gets a bomb, we will" of the crown prince of 2018 |
| Foreign policy | The United States of the Quincy of 14 February 1945 of Roosevelt and Abdulaziz and the oil-for-security of 80 years, the troops of 1990 and 2019, the 9/11 of the 15 Saudis, the Trump of 2017 and of 13 May 2025 of the US$600 billion of the arms, the AI and the Boeings, the nuclear agreement of 22 July 2026 held to the Abraham Accords, the tariffs of 24 July 2026, "the value of the partnership" of the war; Israel of the normalization the crown prince said in 2023 was "closer every day," stopped by Gaza on 7 October 2023, the "Palestinian state" of the condition since, the "at some point" of Trump; Iran of the Beijing of 2023, the embassies, the war and the telephone; Yemen of the war; Qatar of the blockade of 2017–21 and the Al-Ula; the Emirates of the rivalry of the Yemen and the OPEC; Egypt of the Tiran islands and the money; Syria of the sanctions lifted at Riyadh's ask in 2025 and the Sharaa; Lebanon of the imports ban lifted on 10 June 2026; Pakistan of the pact and the nuclear; Turkey of the pact of 2026 and the solar of February; China of the largest buyer of the oil and the Beijing broker; Russia of the OPEC+ of the cuts of 2016–26; India of the 2.5 million; Sudan of the Jeddah talks; Somalia of the military agreement of 9 February 2026; the OPEC of the Vienna and the OPEC+ of the swing producer; the Arab League of the summits of Jeddah and Riyadh; the G20 of the Riyadh summit of 2020; the BRICS invited in 2023 and undecided; the "Saudi-first" of the crown prince |
| United Nations | A founding member of 24 October 1945, the signature of the Charter by Prince Faisal at San Francisco; the Security Council seat of 2014–15 refused on the day of the election, the only state to decline a seat, "the Council's failure" on Syria; the Human Rights Council of the memberships the critics fought; the UNESCO of the seven sites and the intangibles; the OIC of Jeddah of the 57; the Yemen of the UN's "worst crisis"; the "Expo 2030" of the Bureau International des Expositions vote of 28 November 2023 at Paris, 119 of 165 |
| Other memberships | The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (1969), its headquarters at Jeddah; the Arab League (1945), a founder; the Gulf Cooperation Council (1981), a founder, its headquarters at Riyadh; OPEC (1960), a founder, the swing producer, and the OPEC+ of 2016; the G20; the WTO (2005); the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank (1957); the Islamic Development Bank of Jeddah (1975); the Non-Aligned Movement; the Saudi–Pakistan–Turkey defense pact (2026); the Red Sea alliance (2026); BRICS invited (2023); the International Olympic Committee; the FIFA of 2034 |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$1.1 trillion (2025, IMF) — the largest economy of the Arab world and the Middle East and the eighteenth of the world |
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| GDP per capita | About US$32,000 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$70,000 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 1.3% in 2024 of the OPEC+ oil cuts and the non-oil of 4%, about 3.5% in 2025 of the production restored, and the 2026 of the war — the output cut by a fifth in March, the Ras Tanura and the Safaniya shut, the Hormuz closed and the East–West pipeline to Yanbu the lifeline until the Houthis blockaded the Red Sea in July and the Iraqi drones closed the pipeline in September, the oil price of the spike that the volume lost, the tourism of the Hajj kept and the Riyadh of the events emptied, the growth of about 1% the forecasts of the summer and the recession of the risk; inflation about 2%; the riyal pegged; the deficit of the 2024 and 2025 of 3% of GDP of the giga-projects' spending and the 2026 of the war's budget; the public debt of about 30% of GDP and rising, the largest bond issuer of the emerging markets; unemployment of the Saudis about 7%, the lowest ever, and of the women of 12% from 33; the non-oil of 50% of GDP of 2024, the Vision's milestone; the "reprioritization" of the NEOM |
| Economy by sector | Industry about 45%, the oil and the gas of 30% of GDP and 60% of the state's revenue, the petrochemicals of SABIC, the refining, the mining, the construction of the giga-projects; services about 50%, the government, the finance, the trade, the pilgrims and the entertainment; agriculture about 2.5%, the dates, the dairy, the poultry and the vegetables of the irrigation |
| Currency | Saudi riyal (SAR) |
| Aramco and the oil | Saudi Aramco, the Arabian American Oil Company of the Socal concession of 29 May 1933 and the oil of Dammam No. 7 of 3 March 1938, nationalized by 1980, the largest oil company of the world and the most profitable company of any kind, the US$161 billion of 2022, the US$1.7 trillion of the listing of 11 December 2019 on the Riyadh exchange of 1.5% of the shares of the largest IPO in history at US$29.4 billion and the 0.6% of 2024, the Public Investment Fund of the 16%; the reserves of 267 billion barrels, the capacity of 12 million barrels a day of the "maximum sustainable" and the production of 9 to 10 of the OPEC+ cuts, the Ghawar of 3.8 million a day of the largest field, the Safaniya of the offshore, the Abqaiq of the 7 million a day of the processing hit in 2019, the Ras Tanura of the largest refinery and the terminal hit in 2026, the East–West pipeline of 1,200 km to Yanbu of 7 million barrels a day of the Hormuz bypass closed on 11 September 2026, the tankers of the Bahri; the exports of 7 million barrels to China, Japan, India, South Korea and the United States; the cut of 13 March 2026 to 8 million; the gas of the Jafurah of the 2025 start of the US$100 billion; the refineries of the Jazan, the Yanbu, the Jubail of the SATORP with Total and the SAMREF the Houthis struck; the "Aramco" of the 70,000 employees and the Dhahran of the American camp of 1938 |
| The fund and the giga-projects | The Public Investment Fund of 1971 refounded in 2015 under the crown prince, about US$925 billion of the assets and the US$2 trillion target of 2030, the owner of the NEOM, the Red Sea Global, the Qiddiya, the Diriyah, the ROSHN of the housing, the Riyadh Air, the Saudi Pro League's four clubs, the LIV Golf, the Lucid of the electric cars, the Uber, the Newcastle United, the SoftBank Vision Fund of the US$45 billion and the Aramco's 16%, the "sovereign wealth" of the diversification and the "sportswashing" of the critics; NEOM of the Tabuk of the US$500 billion of the 2017 announcement — The Line of the 170 km mirrored city cut in 2024 to the 2.4 km of the first phase for 2030, the Trojena of the ski resort of the Winter Games of 2029 in doubt, the Sindalah of the island of the yachts opened in 2024, the Oxagon of the port and the industry, the layoffs and the "reprioritization" of 2025 and the CEO changed; the Red Sea Global of the 50 resorts; the Qiddiya of the theme parks and the Formula One track of Riyadh; the Diriyah Gate of the origin; the King Salman Park of Riyadh, the largest urban park; the Expo 2030 of the US$8 billion; the World Cup of 2034; the Jeddah Tower of the 1,000 m resumed in 2025 for 2028; the "US$1 trillion" of the projects and the "60% delivered" of the debate |
| Industry and the mines | SABIC of Jubail of the petrochemicals of the fourth of the world, the Aramco's 70% since 2020; Ma'aden of the mining of the phosphate of the Wa'ad al-Shamal of the world's largest fertilizer complex, the gold of the Mahd adh Dhahab and the Mansourah-Massarah, the aluminum of the Ras Al-Khair of the largest smelter of the world, the copper, the "US$2.5 trillion" of the mineral wealth of the ministry's claim and the Future Minerals Forum; the steel of the Hadeed; the cement; the desalination of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation of the largest producer of the world; the Almarai of the dairy of the largest of the Middle East; the Lucid of the electric cars of the King Abdullah Economic City plant of 2023 and the Ceer of the own brand of 2026; the Saudi Arabian Military Industries; the Jubail and the Yanbu industrial cities of the Royal Commission of 1975; the "Made in Saudi"; the Riyadh of the regional headquarters of the 600 companies the state required by 2024 |
| The pilgrims, the tourists and the rest | The Hajj of the 1.8 million of 2024 and the 1.67 million of 2025 of the Dhul Hijjah and the Umrah of the 30 million a year of the Mecca and Medina of the US$12 billion, the Grand Mosque of the largest of the world of the 4 million capacity of the expansion, the Abraj Al Bait of the clock tower of 601 m, the Haramain railway, the "Nusuk" visas; the tourism of the 100 million visitors of 2023 of the Vision's 2030 target met early and the 150 million of the new, the tourist visas of September 2019 of the first, the AlUla, the Red Sea, the Riyadh Season of the entertainment of the concerts and the boxing, the Diriyah; the Riyadh Air of the 2023 of the launch of 26 October 2025; the remittances of US$35 billion out; the "entertainment" of the General Entertainment Authority of 2016; the war of 2026 that grounded the flights of the March and emptied the events |
| Trade | Exports of about US$300 billion — the crude oil of 60% and the refined and the petrochemicals of 20%, the plastics, the fertilizer, the aluminum, the dates — to China at 20%, Japan, South Korea, India, the United States, the Emirates and Egypt; imports of about US$200 billion of the machinery, the vehicles, the electronics, the food and the arms from China, the United States, the Emirates, Germany, India and Japan; the surplus of the oil of the US$100 billion of the good years and the war's cut; the American tariffs of 24 July 2026; the Lebanon ban of 2021 lifted 10 June 2026; the Jeddah Islamic Port and the King Abdulaziz of Dammam of the containers; the "Saudi Exim" bank; the OPEC+ of the quotas |
| Public finances | Public debt about 30% of GDP, US$330 billion, of the bonds and the sukuk of the largest emerging-market issuer since the deficits of 2015; the budget of about 1.3 trillion riyals of 2026 on the oil at US$75 of the plan the war broke both ways, the deficit of 3% of 2024 and 2025 and the war's of 2026; the revenue of 60% from the oil of the Aramco dividends of US$85 billion and the royalties, the VAT of 15% since 1 July 2020 tripled from the 5% of 2018, the corporate tax of 20% on the foreigners and the zakat of 2.5% on the Saudis, no personal income tax, the "expat levy" of 2017; the reserves of the Saudi Central Bank of US$450 billion; the Public Investment Fund; the "Saudization" fees; the "fiscal sustainability" of the IMF's Article IV of 2025 and the "reprioritization" of the projects; the pensions of the GOSI |
| Income classification | High income (World Bank) |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | King Khalid International Airport of Riyadh, about 40 million passengers, the hub of Riyadh Air and Saudia's second, the six terminals, to be replaced by the King Salman International Airport of the six runways and the 120 million of 2030, the largest of the world by the plan; King Abdulaziz International Airport of Jeddah, about 45 million, the Hajj Terminal of the tents of 1981 and the Terminal 1 of 2019 of the Saudia hub, the gate of the pilgrims; King Fahd International Airport of Dammam, the largest airport of the world by area at 776 km²; Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz of Medina of the pilgrims; Abha of the Houthi missiles of 2019 and 2026, Najran, Jazan of the strikes; Taif, Tabuk, Hail, AlUla, the Red Sea International of 2023 and the NEOM Bay of the giga-projects; the 28 airports; the airspace closed and reopened of the March of 2026 |
|---|---|
| Airlines | Saudia, the Saudi Arabian Airlines of 1945 of the DC-3 Roosevelt gave the king, the flag carrier of the Jeddah hub of the 150 aircraft and the Dreamliners of the SkyTeam; Riyadh Air of the Public Investment Fund of 2023, the second carrier of the Riyadh hub of the 72 Dreamliners and the 60 A321neos ordered, the first flight of 26 October 2025 to London, the "100 destinations by 2030"; flynas of the low-cost of the largest of the Middle East by the count, flyadeal of Saudia's low-cost; the Hajj charters of the world; the Nesma; the airspace of the March of 2026 of the missiles |
| Main ports | Jeddah Islamic Port, the largest of the kingdom and the Red Sea of 5 million containers, the pilgrims' port and the DP World terminal; King Abdulaziz Port of Dammam of the Gulf of the containers and the Aramco; Ras Tanura of the oil terminal of the 6 million barrels a day, the largest of the world, and the refinery of the Iranian drones; Yanbu of the East–West pipeline's end of the Red Sea exports of the Hormuz bypass and the SAMREF refinery the Houthis struck; Jubail Commercial and King Fahd Industrial of the petrochemicals; King Abdullah Port of Rabigh of 2013 of the private of the 3 million containers; Jazan of the refinery; the NEOM's Oxagon of the floating port of the plans; the Bahri of the largest tanker fleet of the VLCCs; the Red Sea of the Houthi blockade of July 2026 and the Gulf of the Hormuz of the March |
| Railways | About 5,300 km (3,300 mi) of the standard gauge and growing — the Riyadh–Dammam line of 1951 of Aramco's building, the first, of 450 km; the North–South Railway of 2017 of 2,750 km from Riyadh to the Jordanian border of the phosphate and the bauxite of Ma'aden, the longest; the Haramain High Speed Railway of 11 October 2018 of Mecca to Medina by Jeddah and the airport, 450 km at 300 km/h, the fastest of the Middle East, the 60 million of the pilgrims; the Riyadh Metro of 1 December 2024 of the six lines and 176 km of the largest driverless metro network built in one project, the 85 stations of the Zaha Hadid of the KAFD; the Saudi Landbridge of Riyadh to Jeddah of 1,000 km of the contract of 2025 for 2030; the Mecca Metro of the Hajj of 2010; the GCC railway to Kuwait and the Emirates of the plans; the Etihad Rail link; the Saudi Arabia Railways of the merger of 2021; the Hejaz Railway of the Ottomans of 1908 of the ruins of Lawrence's raids |
| Roads | About 260,000 km (162,000 mi), about 73,000 paved — the Riyadh–Dammam of the Highway 40, the Riyadh–Jeddah of the 950 km, the Mecca–Medina of the pilgrims, the Coastal Road of the Red Sea, the Tabuk–Jordan, the King Fahd Causeway of 25 km to Bahrain of 1986 of the 20 million a year; the driving on the right; the women since 24 June 2018 of the 200,000 licenses of the first year; the Toyota and the Hyundai of the cheapest fuel of the world of 2 riyals a liter; the road deaths of the 7,000 a year of the worst of the rich countries falling; the Riyadh of the ring roads and the Metro; the Careem and the Uber of the fund |
| The holy cities and the sands | The Hajj of the five days of the Mina tents, the Arafat and the Jamarat of the two million; the Umrah of the year; the Haramain train; the Masmak fort and the Diriyah of Riyadh; the Edge of the World of the Tuwaiq; the AlUla of Hegra and the Maraya mirror hall; the Empty Quarter of the four-by-fours and the Shaybah; the Red Sea of the diving of Yanbu and the Farasan; the Asir of Abha and the Rijal Almaa village; the Jeddah of the Al-Balad and the Corniche; the Riyadh Season |
History in dates
| c. 100 BC | The Nabataeans at Hegra |
|---|---|
| 570 | The Prophet born at Mecca |
| 622 | The Hijra to Medina, 16 July |
| 630 | Mecca taken, January |
| 632 | The Prophet dies at Medina, 8 June |
| 1517 | The Ottomans take the Hejaz |
| 1744 | The pact of Diriyah — the First Saudi State |
| 1818 | Diriyah destroyed by the Egyptians |
| 1824 | The Second Saudi State at Riyadh |
| 1891 | The Rashidis take Riyadh; the Al Saud to Kuwait |
| 1902 | Abdulaziz takes Riyadh, 15 January |
| 1913 | Al-Hasa taken from the Ottomans |
| 1925 | The Hejaz conquered — Jeddah, December |
| 1932 | The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 23 September |
| 1933 | The Socal concession, 29 May |
| 1938 | Oil at Dammam No. 7, 3 March |
| 1945 | Quincy — Roosevelt and Abdulaziz, 14 February |
| 1953 | Abdulaziz dies, 9 November — Saud |
| 1960 | OPEC founded at Baghdad |
| 1962 | Slavery abolished |
| 1964 | Faisal, 2 November |
| 1973 | The oil embargo, October |
| 1975 | Faisal assassinated, 25 March — Khalid |
| 1979 | The Grand Mosque seized, 20 November – 4 December |
| 1980 | Aramco nationalized |
| 1982 | Fahd, 13 June |
| 1986 | The causeway; the "Custodian" title; the peg |
| 1990 | The American troops, August |
| 1992 | The Basic Law, 1 March |
| 2001 | The 9/11 of the fifteen Saudis |
| 2005 | Abdullah, 1 August; the WTO |
| 2015 | Salman, 23 January; the Yemen war, 26 March; Mina, 24 September; the women vote, 12 December |
| 2016 | Vision 2030, 25 April |
| 2017 | The Qatar blockade, 5 June; MBS crown prince, 21 June; the Ritz-Carlton, 4 November |
| 2018 | Women drive, 24 June; Khashoggi, 2 October |
| 2019 | Abqaiq, 14 September; the Aramco IPO, 11 December |
| 2022 | The Biden visit, 15 July; MBS prime minister, 27 September |
| 2023 | The Iran deal, 10 March; Expo 2030, 28 November |
| 2024 | The Hajj heat, June — 1,301 dead; the Riyadh Metro, 1 December; the World Cup 2034, 11 December |
| 2025 | Trump at Riyadh, 13 May; the Pakistan pact, 17 September; Riyadh Air flies, 26 October |
| 2026 | The Patriots, 30 January; the missiles, 28 February; Ras Tanura, 2 March; the embassy, 3 March; Al-Kharj, 8 March; the oil cut, 13 March; the attachés expelled, 21 March; Prince Sultan, 27 March; Jubail, 7 April; the ceasefire, 8 April; LIV ended, 30 April; the Memorandum, 17–18 June; the helicopter, 28 June; the Houthis, 13 July; the blockade, 20 July; the nuclear deal, 22 July; the tariffs, 24 July; the pact of three, 7 August; the Red Sea alliance, 14 August; the 73 wounded, 8 September; the pipeline closed, 11 September |
Records & firsts
| The largest oil exporter | About 7 million barrels a day |
|---|---|
| The largest oil field | Ghawar |
| The most profitable company | Aramco, US$161 billion, 2022 |
| The largest IPO | Aramco, US$29.4 billion, 2019 |
| The largest sand desert | The Rub' al Khali |
| The largest oasis | Al-Ahsa |
| The largest country without a river | 2.15 million km² |
| The largest mosque | The Grand Mosque of Mecca |
| The largest annual gathering | The Hajj, two million |
| The largest driverless metro built at once | Riyadh, 176 km |
| The largest airport by area | King Fahd, Dammam |
| The only country named for its dynasty | The Al Saud |
| The last country to let women drive | 24 June 2018 |
| The richest horse race | The Saudi Cup, US$20 million |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Saudi Arabia?
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — al-Mamlaka al-ʿArabiyya as-Suʿūdiyya — the state that Abdulaziz ibn Saud proclaimed on 23 September 1932 when he joined the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd he had conquered from the Masmak fort of Riyadh in 1902 into one, the third state of the House of Saud after the emirates of Diriyah of 1744, destroyed by the Egyptians in 1818, and of Riyadh of 1824, lost to the Rashidis in 1891; the custodian of Mecca and Medina and the largest exporter of oil on earth. The name is the family's: "Saudi" for the dynasty of Muhammad ibn Saud, the emir of Diriyah who made the pact of 1744 with the reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the only country of the world named for its ruling house, and "Arabia," the land of the Arabs, of the Greeks and the Romans.
What is the capital of Saudi Arabia?
Riyadh — ar-Riyāḍ, "the gardens," the town of the Najd plateau at the center of the peninsula that the young Abdulaziz took from the Rashidis in the night raid of 15 January 1902 on the Masmak fort and made the capital of his state, the seat of the Al Saud of the Second Saudi State from 1824 and of the kingdom since 1932 — about 7 million people in the metropolis, from 150,000 in 1960, the Kingdom Centre and the Al Faisaliah, the King Abdullah Financial District, the Riyadh Metro of 2024, the Diriyah of the family's origin on its edge, the Expo of 2030, the King Salman airport of the plans, the Riyadh Season, the palaces of the princes and the Prince Sultan Air Base 100 km south that the Iranian missiles struck in March 2026 and the American embassy the drones hit. Jeddah, the port of Mecca and the second city, Mecca of the Kaaba, Medina of the Prophet's mosque, Dammam of the oil and Khobar of the Eastern Province follow.
How big is Saudi Arabia, and how many people live there?
About 2,149,690 km² (830,000 sq mi) — a fifth the size of the United States, four-fifths of the Arabian Peninsula, the twelfth-largest country of the world and the largest of the Middle East after Algeria in Africa's count — the Red Sea coast of the Hejaz and the Asir on the west, the Gulf coast of the oil on the east, the Najd plateau of the capital between, the Nafud sands of the north and the Rub' al Khali of the south, the largest sand desert on earth, with Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait to the north, Qatar, the Emirates and Oman to the east and south, Yemen along the longest border. The census of 2022 counted 32,175,224 people, of whom 18.8 million, 58 percent, were Saudi citizens and 13.4 million were foreigners, and the statistics authority estimates about 36 million in 2026 — a nation of the young, a median age of 30, a third of them under 15, and of the workers of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt and the Philippines who built it.
What are the highest and lowest points of Saudi Arabia?
Jabal Sawda, about 3,000 m (9,840 ft), in the Asir mountains of the southwest above Abha, the green edge of the peninsula where the monsoon reaches and the juniper grows, the highest point by the Factbook's reckoning, though the Jabal Ferwa of the same range is measured a few meters higher by others; and the Red Sea and the Gulf. The kingdom has no permanent river, the largest country of the world without one, only the wadis of the flash floods and the aquifers under the sand; the Rub' al Khali, the Empty Quarter, is 650,000 km² of dunes to 250 m, the largest sand desert of the world, the Al-Ahsa oasis of the east the largest oasis, the Tuwaiq escarpment the wall of the Najd, the Hegra of AlUla the Nabataean tombs of the first World Heritage site, and Mecca, at 277 m in its valley, the center of the world for two billion.
What currency does Saudi Arabia use?
The Saudi riyal (ISO code SAR, ﷼), of 100 halalas, the currency of the silver riyals Abdulaziz struck in 1925 and of the notes since 1961, issued by the Saudi Central Bank, SAMA, and pegged at 3.75 to the U.S. dollar since June 1986, the peg of the oil dollars that the reserves of US$450 billion and the Public Investment Fund defend and the war of 2026 did not shake; the notes of King Salman and the Kaaba, the polymer of 2020. Clocks keep Arabia Standard Time, UTC+3, all year; Saudi Arabia drives on the right, on the 73,000 km of paved road, the women too since 24 June 2018, the last country to let them.
Who governs Saudi Arabia?
King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the 25th son of the founder, king since 23 January 2015 and 90 years old, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques whose powers have passed in fact to his son; and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, "MBS," heir since June 2017 and prime minister since September 2022, the ruler of the kingdom at 41 — of the Vision 2030 of the giga-projects, the cinemas, the concerts and the women at the wheel, of the Ritz-Carlton purge, the Yemen war and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, of the Aramco listing, the Iran détente of 2023 and the Trump visit of 2025 with its US$600 billion — who spent 2026 as the ruler of a country under fire: the Iranian missiles and drones of the war that began on 28 February struck the Ras Tanura refinery, the American embassy in Riyadh and the Prince Sultan Air Base, killed two civilians at Al-Kharj and cut the oil output by a fifth, the kingdom "never declared war" and kept the telephone line to Tehran, and the Houthis of Yemen resumed their missiles on the southern cities in July and blockaded the Red Sea ports while the Saudi jets went back to Hodeidah. There are no elections; the Shura Council of 150 is appointed, and the municipal councils have not been elected since 2015.
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