Saudi Arabia

From New World Encyclopedia
المملكة العربية السعودية
Al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Saʻūdiyya

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Flag of Saudi Arabia Coat of arms of Saudi Arabia
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله (Arabic)
Lā ilāhā illā-llāhu; muhammadun rasūlu-llāhi (transliteration)
"There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" (the Shahadah)
Anthem: "Aash Al Maleek"
"Long live the King"
Location of Saudi Arabia
Capital Riyadh
24°39′N 46°46′E
Largest city capital
Official languages Arabic
Government Absolute monarchy
 - King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz
 - Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz
Establishment  
 - Kingdom declared January 8, 1926 
 - Recognized May 20, 1927 
 - Unified September 23, 1932 
Area
 - Total 2,149,690 km² (14th)
829,996 sq mi 
 - Water (%) negligible
Population
 - 2006 estimate 27,019,7311
 - Density 11/km²
29/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate
 - Total $446 billion
 - Per capita $16,514
HDI  (2004) Green Arrow Up (Darker).png 0.777 (medium)
Currency Riyal (SAR)
Time zone AST (UTC+3)
 - Summer (DST) (not observed) (UTC+3)
Internet TLD .sa
Calling code +966

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Saʻūdiyya) is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula.

The Kingdom is sometimes called "The Lands of The Two Holy Mosques" in reference to Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest places.

Saudi Arabia is the world's leading petroleum producer and exporter, and petroleum exports fuel the Saudi economy]]. Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of exports and nearly 75 percent of government revenues, facilitating the creation of a welfare state, which the government has found difficult to fund during periods of low oil prices.

Geography

Map of Saudi Arabia

In English, the nation is most commonly referred to as “Saudi Arabia” by many English-speaking expatriates in the kingdom. The Arabic short form is usually as-Saʻūdiyya (السعودية), but local citizens often just refer to the nation as al-Mamlaka (the Kingdom).

Saudi Arabia is bounded by seven countries and three bodies of water. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south, with the Persian Gulf to its northeast and the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba to its west. Bahrain, is an island off the east coast.

The kingdom occupies about 80 percent of the Arabian Peninsula. A significant length of the country's southern borders with the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen are not precisely defined or marked, so the exact size of the country remains unknown. The Saudi government's estimate is 829,996 square miles (2,149,690 square kilometres). The kingdom is commonly listed as the world's 14th largest nation, or slightly more than one-fifth the size of the United States.

Saudi Arabia's geography is varied. From the western coastal region (Tihamah), the land rises from sea level to a peninsula-long mountain range (Jabal al-Hejaz) beyond which lies the plateau of Nejd in the center. The southwestern 'Asir region has mountains as high as 9840 feet (3000 meters) and is known for having the greenest and freshest climate in all of the country, one that attracts many Saudis to resorts such as Abha in the summer months. The east is primarily rocky or sandy lowland continuing to the shores of the Persian Gulf. The geographically hostile Rub' al Khali ("Empty Quarter") desert along the country's imprecisely defined southern borders contains almost no life.

The highest point is claimed to be Jabal Sawda at 10,278 feet (3133 meters), but this elevation is disputed by space shuttle radar data, which also questions the high point location.

Desert view in Saudi Arabia. The reddish color of sand and rocky hills in the background indicate this image was taken in the middle/western part of the kingdom

Mostly uninhabited, much of the nation's landmass consists of desert and semi-arid regions, with a dwindling traditional Bedouin population. In these parts of the country, vegetation is limited to weeds, xerophytic herbs and shrubs. Less than two percent of the kingdom's total area is arable land.

Saudi Arabia has no permanent year-round rivers or lakes. However, its coastline extends for 1640 miles (2640km) and, on the Red Sea side, offers world-class coral reefs, including those in the Gulf of Aqaba.

Native animals include the ibex, wildcats, baboons, wolves, and hyenas in the mountainous highlands. Small birds are found in the oases. The coastal area on the Red Sea with its coral reefs has a rich marine life.

Extreme heat and aridity are characteristic of most of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the few places in the world where summer temperatures above 120°F (50°C) are common, while in winter frost or snow can occur in the interior and the higher mountains, although this does not occur annually. The average winter temperature range is 47°F to 68°F in January in interior cities such as Riyadh (8°C to 20°C), and 66°F to 83°F (19°C to 29°C) in Jeddah on the Red Sea coast. The average summer range in July is 81°F to 109°F (27°C to 43°C) in Riyadh and 80°F to 100°F (27°C to 38°C) in Jeddah. Night-time temperatures in the mid desert can be famously chilly even in summer, as sand gives up daytime heat rapidly once the sun has set.

Annual precipitation is usually sparse (up to four inches or 100mm or in most regions) between January and May, although sudden downpours can lead to violent flash floods in wadis. Plants can still survive in Saudi Arabia, mostly in the south-east mountains and lowlands. They bloom mid-March through mid-May. The plants provide food for birds and insects.

File:Riyadh city.jpg
Downtown Riyadh.

Natural hazards include frequent sand and dust storms. Environmental issues include coastal pollution from oil spills, desertification, and the depletion of underground water resources. The lack of perennial rivers or permanent water bodies has prompted the development of extensive seawater desalination plants.

Population centers are mainly located along the eastern and western coasts and densely populated interior oases such as Hofuf and Buraidah. In some extended areas, primarily the Rub' al-Khali and the Arabian Desert and East Sahero-Arabian xeric shrublands, there is no population whatsoever, although the petroleum industry is constructing a few planned communities there.

Riyadh is the capital; Jeddah, is the second largest city, is the main Red Sea port, and is a pilgrimage gateway to Mecca; Dammam is the eastern province capital, and third largest metropolitan area; Mecca is the holiest city in Islam; Medina is the second holiest city; and Ta'if is a mountain resort above Mecca.

History

People of various cultures have lived in the peninsula over a span of more than 5,000 years. The Dilmun culture, along the Persian Gulf coast (c. 3000 – 1600 B.C.E.), was contemporaneous with the Sumerians and ancient Egyptians, and most of the empires of the ancient world traded with the states of the peninsula. Except for a few major cities and oases, the harsh climate prevented much settlement of the Arabian Peninsula.

The earliest known events in Arabian history are migrations from the peninsula into neighbouring areas. About 3500 B.C.E., semitic-speaking peoples of Arabian origin migrated into the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia and became the Assyro-Babylonians. Some archeologists argue that another group of Semites left Arabia about 2500 B.C.E., during the Early Bronze Age, and settled along the Levant, mixing in with the local populations there some of these migrants became the Amorites and Canaanites. Some archeologists argue that the migration instead came from the northern Levant.

The rise of Islam in the 620s C.E., and the subsequent religious importance of the Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina (two of the holiest places in Islam), have given the rulers of this territory significant influence beyond the peninsula.

First Saudi State

First Saudi State

The first Saudi state was established in 1744, when leader Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abd al Wahhab settled in Diriyah and Prince Mohammed Ibn Saud agreed to support and espouse his cause, with a view to cleansing the Islamic faith from distortions. The House of Saud, with other allies, rose to become the dominant state in Arabia controlling most of the Nejd, but not either coast. This Saudi state lasted for about 75 years.

Concerned at the growing power of the Saudis the Ottoman Sultan instructed Mohammed Ali Pasha to reconquer the area. Ali sent his sons Tusun Pasha and Ibrahim Pasha who were successful in routing the Saudi forces in 1818.

Rulers of the first Saudi state were: Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud (1726 –1765), Imam Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Ibn Saud (1765 – 1803), Imam Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Ibn Saud (1803 – 1814) and Imam Abdullah bin Saud (1814 – 1818).

Second and third Saudi states

After a rebuilding period following the ending of the first Saudi state, the House of Saud returned to power in the second Saudi state in 1824. The state lasted until 1891 when it succumbed to the Al Rashid dynasty of Ha'il.

In 1902, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud captured Riyadh, the Al-Saud dynasty's ancestral capital, from the rival Al-Rashid family. Continuing his conquests, Abdul Aziz subdued Al-Hasa, the rest of Nejd, and the Hejaz between 1913 and 1926. On January 8, 1926, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud became the King of Hejaz. On January 29, 1927, he took the title King of Nejd (his previous Nejdi title was Sultan). By the Treaty of Jeddah, signed on May 20, 1927, the United Kingdom recognized the independence of Abdul Aziz's realm (then known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd). In 1932, these regions were unified as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Oil discovered

The discovery of oil on March 3, 1938, transformed the country. Development programmes, which were delayed due to the onset of the Second World War in 1939, began in earnest in 1946 and by 1949 production was in full swing. Oil has provided Saudi Arabia with economic prosperity and a great deal of leverage in the international community.

Boundaries with Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait were established by a series of treaties negotiated in the 1920s, with two "neutral zones" created, one with Iraq and the other with Kuwait. In 1965, there was an exchange of territories between Saudi Arabia and Jordan in which Jordan gave up a relatively large area of inland desert in return for a small piece of sea-shore near Aqaba.

Isolationist policy

The founder of modern Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz, converses with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on board a ship returning from the Yalta Conference in 1945.

Internationally Abdul Aziz initially chose to follow an isolationist policy. He refused to allow Saudi Arabia to join the League of Nations, and he chose to leave his kingdom on only three occasions from 1916 until his death in 1953. One of which was the meeting with President Roosevelt pictured above. Eventually however Abdul Aziz acceded to the realities of world politics and in 1945 Saudi Arabia became a founding member of the Arab League and joined the United Nations.

Prior to his death in 1953 Abdul Aziz, aware of the difficulties facing other regional absolute rulers reliant on extended family networks, attempted to regulate the succession. He took steps to provide that his eldest living son, Saud, would become king but that he would be required to work closely with his more financially and diplomatically astute brother, Faisal.

Saud and Faisal

Saud succeeded to the throne on his father's death in 1953, and reigned for 11 years. However by the early 1960s the kingdom was in jeopardy due to Saud's economic mismanagement and failure to deal effectively with a regional challenge from Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Because of fiscal difficulties, King Saud had been persuaded in 1958 to delegate direct conduct of Saudi Government affairs to his half-brother Faisal as prime minister. In October 1962, Faisal outlined a broad reform program, stressing economic development. In 1964 Saud was forced to abdicate in favour of Faisal. Faisal also continued to serve as prime minister. Subsequent kings followed this practice.

Neighboring wars

The mid-1960s saw external pressures generated by Saudi-Egyptian differences over Yemen. When civil war broke out in 1962 between Yemeni royalists and republicans, Egyptian forces entered Yemen to support the new republican government, while Saudi Arabia backed the royalists. Tensions subsided only after 1967, when Egypt withdrew its troops from Yemen.

Saudi forces did not participate in the Six-Day (Arab-Israeli) War of June 1967, but the government later provided annual subsidies to Egypt, Jordan, and Syria to support their economies. During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Saudi Arabia participated in the Arab oil boycott of the United States and the Netherlands. A member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Saudi Arabia had joined other member countries in moderate oil price increases beginning in 1971. After the 1973 war, the price of oil rose substantially, dramatically increasing Saudi Arabia's wealth and political influence.

King Faisal assassinated

In 1975, King Faisal was assassinated by a nephew, who was executed after an extensive investigation concluded that he acted alone. Faisal was succeeded by his half-brother Khalid as king and prime minister. Their half-brother Prince Fahd was named crown prince and first deputy prime minister. King Khalid empowered Crown Prince Fahd to oversee many aspects of the government's international and domestic affairs. Economic development continued rapidly under King Khalid, and the kingdom assumed a more influential role in regional politics and international economic and financial matters.

King Fahd period

In June 1982, King Khalid died, and Fahd became king and prime minister in a smooth transition. Another half-brother, Prince Abdullah, Commander of the Saudi National Guard, was named crown prince and first deputy prime minister. King Fahd's brother, Prince Sultan, the minister of defense and aviation, became second deputy prime minister. Under King Fahd, the Saudi economy adjusted to sharply lower oil revenues resulting from declining global oil prices. Saudi Arabia supported neutral shipping in the Gulf during periods of the Iran-Iraq war and aided Iraq's war-strained economy. King Fahd played a key role in bringing about the August 1988 cease-fire between Iraq and Iran and in organizing and strengthening the Gulf Cooperation Council, a group of six Persian Gulf states dedicated to fostering regional economic cooperation and peaceful development.

Gulf War

Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. and President Bush Sr. visit U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia on Thanksgiving Day, 1990.

In August 1990, Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait. Iraqi troops began massing on the border of Kuwait and some feared that they were about to invade Saudi Arabia. King Fahd allowed American and coalition soldiers to be stationed in Saudi Arabia to counter the Iraqi threat. Many Muslims were angered by this move, because it allowed foreign armies to be stationed in their holiest land.

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. King Fahd's action also consolidated the coalition of forces against Iraq and helped define the tone of the operation as a multilateral effort to re-establish the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kuwait. Acting as a rallying point and personal spokesman for the coalition, King Fahd helped bring together his nation's GCC allies, Western allies, and Arab allies, as well as non-aligned nations from Africa and the emerging democracies of eastern Europe. He used his influence as custodian of the two holy mosques to persuade other Arab and Islamic nations to join the coalition.

During the Gulf War, Iraq fired Scud missiles into Saudi Arabia and even penetrated its northern border. These attacks were repelled, and Iraqi forces were expelled from Kuwait. American forces as well as some multinational contingents continued to occupy bases in the kingdom.

Terrorism

Building #131 after the Khobar Towers bombing, the second major terrorist attack against Western troops in Saudi Arabia, 1996

The stationing of Western troops angered many Muslims, and led radicals to declare a religious war against the United States. One of these was Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi expelled in 1991 after he voiced opposition to the monarchy, and a key ally of the United States in the early Soviet war in Afghanistan.

In November 1995, a Saudi National Guard base was bombed, killing seven people. In June 1996, a truck bomb killed 19 American servicemen at |Khobar towers in Al-Khobar. These bombings caused the monarchy to focus on militancy inside their own kingdom, yet they denied there was much of a problem.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the New York city World Trade towers, it became known that 15 of the 19 suspected hijackers were Saudi. Saudi Arabia became the focus of worldwide attention once again, as it was questioned whether the government was indeed cracking down on radicals. The Saudi government pledged their support to the “war on terror”, and vowed to try to eliminate militant elements.

However, in May 2003, an insurgency in Saudi Arabia began, believed to be conducted by al-Qaeda affiliates. This consisted mainly of attacks on foreigners in an attempt to expel them from the country and hurt the Saudi government. While the number of attacks dropped significantly in 2005, they exposed the vulnerability of the country.

Concern was also voiced over the large numbers of Saudis fighting American soldiers in Iraq following the 2003 invasion. It was suspected that these fighters, many of them young, had become radicalized in Saudi mosques and were travelling to Syria and then intoIraq.

Death of Fahd

King Fahd suffered a stroke in November 1995, and died in July 2005. He was succeeded by his brother Crown Prince Abdullah, who had handled most of the day-to-day operations of the government.


Abdul Aziz's military and political successes were not mirrored economically until vast reserves of oil were discovered in March 1938. Development programmes, which were delayed due to the onset of the Second World War in 1939, began in earnest in 1946 and by 1949 production was in full swing. Oil has provided Saudi Arabia with economic prosperity and a great deal of leverage in the international community.

Internationally Abdul Aziz initially chose to follow an isolationist policy. He refused to allow Saudi Arabia to join the League of Nations, and he chose to leave his kingdom on only three occasions from 1916 until his death in 1953. One of which was the meeting with President Roosevelt pictured above. Eventually however Abdul Aziz acceded to the realities of world politics and in 1945 Saudi Arabia became a founding member of the Arab League and joined the United Nations.

Prior to his death in 1953 Abdul Aziz, aware of the difficulties facing other regional absolute rulers reliant on extended family networks, attempted to regulate the succession. He took steps to provide that his eldest living son, Saud, would become king but that he would be required to work closely with his more financially and diplomatically astute brother, Faisal.

Saud succeeded to the throne on his father's death in 1953. However by the early 1960s the Kingdom was in jeopardy due to Saud's economic mismanagement and failure to deal effectively with a regional challenge from Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. As a consequence Saud was deposed in favour of Faisal in 1964.

Intra-family rivalry was one of the factors that led to the assassination of Faisal by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musa'id, in 1975. He was succeeded by King Khalid until 1982 and then by King Fahd. When Fahd died in 2005, his half-brother Abdullah ascended to the throne.


Military

File:RSAFF15S.jpg
Saudi fighter.
File:RSAFAH-64A.jpg
Saudi helicopter.

Saudi military was founded as the Ikhwan army, the tribal army of Ibn Saud. The Ikhwan had helped king Ibn Saud conquer the Arabian peninsula during first world war.

By expanding the military forces years later, Saudi Arabian today has many military branches.

Military branches of Ministry of Defence :

Army
Air Force
Navy
Air Defense

Independent Military branches:

National Guard
Royal Guard

Military branches of Ministry of Interior:

Saudi Arabian Police Force
Saudi Arabian Border Guard
Saudi Border Guard
Saudi Coast Guard
Al-Mujahidoon
Saudi Emergency Force

Politics

The central institution of the Saudi Arabian government is the Saudi monarchy. The Basic Law of Government adopted in 1992 declared that Saudi Arabia is a monarchy ruled by the sons and grandsons of the first king, Abd Al Aziz Al Saud, it also claims that the Qur'an is the constitution of the country, which is governed on the basis of Islamic law (Sharia) [1].

File:Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.jpg
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

There are no recognized political parties or national elections, except the local elections which were held in the year 2005. The king's powers are theoretically limited within the bounds of Shari'a and other Saudi traditions. He also must retain a consensus of the Saudi royal family, religious leaders (ulema), and other important elements in Saudi society. The Saudi government spreads Islam by funding construction of mosques and Qur'an schools around the world. The leading members of the royal family choose the king from among themselves with the subsequent approval of the ulema.

Saudi kings have gradually developed a central government. Since 1953, the Council of Ministers, appointed by the king, has advised on the formulation of general policy and directed the activities of the growing bureaucracy. This council consists of a prime minister, the first prime minister and twenty ministers.

Legislation is by resolution of the Council of Ministers, ratified by royal decree, and must be compatible with the Shari'a. A 150-member Consultative Assembly, appointed by the King, has limited legislative rights. Justice is administered according to the Shari'a by a system of religious courts whose judges are appointed by the king on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council, composed of twelve senior jurists. Independence of the judiciary is protected by law. The king acts as the highest court of appeal and has the power to pardon. Access to high officials (usually at a majlis; a public audience) and the right to petition them directly are well-established traditions.

The combination of relatively high oil prices and exports led to a revenues windfall for Saudi Arabia during 2004 and early 2005. For 2004 as a whole, Saudi Arabia earned about $116 billion in net oil export revenues, up 35 percent from 2003 revenue levels. Saudi net oil export revenues are forecast to increase in 2005 and 2006, to $150 billion and $154 billion, respectively, mainly due to higher oil prices. Increased oil prices and consequent revenues since the price collapse of 1998 have significantly improved Saudi Arabia's economic situation, with real GDP growth of 5.2 percent in 2004, and forecasts of 5.7% and 4.8% growth for 2005 and 2006, respectively.

For fiscal year 2004, Saudi Arabia originally had been expecting a budget deficit. However, this was based on an extremely conservative price assumption of $19 per barrel for Saudi oil and an assumed production of 7.7 million bbl/d. Both of these estimates turned out to be far below actual levels. As a result, as of mid-December 2004, the Saudi Finance Ministry was expecting a huge budget surplus of $26.1 billion, on budget revenues of $104.8 billion (nearly double the country's original estimate) and expenditures of $78.6 billion (28 percent above the approved budget levels). This surplus is being used for several purposes, including: paying down the Kingdom's public debt (to $164 billion from $176 billion at the start of 2004); extra spending on education and development projects; increased security expenditures (possibly an additional $2.5 billion dollars in 2004; see below) due to threats from terrorists; and higher payments to Saudi citizens through subsidies (for housing, education, health care, etc.). For 2005, Saudi Arabia is assuming a balanced budget, with revenues and expenditures of $74.6 billion each.

In spite of the recent surge in its oil income, Saudi Arabia continues to face serious long-term economic challenges, including high rates of unemployment (12 percent of Saudi nationals [1]), one of the world's fastest population growth rates, and the consequent need for increased government spending. All of these place pressures on Saudi oil revenues. The Kingdom also is facing serious security threats, including a number of terrorist attacks (on foreign workers, primarily) in 2003 and 2004. In response, the Saudis reportedly have ramped up spending in the security area (reportedly by 50 percent in 2004, from $5.5 billion in 2003). Saudi Arabia's per capita oil export revenues remain far below high levels reached during the 1970s and early 1980s. In 2004, Saudi Arabia earned around $4,564 per person, versus $22,589 in 1980. This 80 percent decline in real per capita oil export revenues since 1980 is in large part due to the fact that Saudi Arabia's young population has nearly tripled since 1980, while oil export revenues in real terms have fallen by over 40 percent (despite recent increases). Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has faced nearly two decades of heavy budget and trade deficits, the expensive 1990-1991 war with Iraq, and total public debt of around $175 billion. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia does have extensive foreign assets (around $110 billion) which provide a substantial fiscal "cushion."

Saudi municipal elections took place in 2005 and some commentators saw this a first tentative step towards the introduction of democratic processes in the Kingdom, including the legalization of political parties. Other analysts of the Saudi political scene were more skeptical.[2]

Legal system

Saudi Arabia does not have much of a formal criminal code, and thus much of its law is derived from an ultra-conservative form of Sunni Islam commonly Wahhabism or Salafism. To that end judges are free to impose capital punishment or corporal punishment, including amputations of hands and feet for certain crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, drug smuggling and for various forms of sexual behavior such as homosexuality and adultery. The courts may impose less severe punishments, such as floggings, for less serious crimes against public morality such as drunkenness [3].

The punishments, especially the executions, are carried out in public in order to add humiliation to the convicted person and also to act as a deterrence. Judges are generally given a tremendous amount of discretion in deciding how to punish a particular individual, and will make such decisions based on the particular school of Islam that they follow. For example;

Theft is punishable by the amputation of the right hand, unless the thief is poor and the stolen money is from public sources or a company (i.e. the thief is a well-off adult who stole private, secure money). If the right hand has already been amputated, the left hand is chosen instead.

Drinking, selling, or buying alcohol and sniffing drugs or injecting drugs is punished by a sentence of eighty lashes. Smuggling heroin or cocaine into the country is punished by death (beheading with a sword).

Fornication is normally punished with 40 lashes. During flogging, the face, head and vital organs of the person are protected.

Adultery can only be proven by the testimony of four reliable witnesses. It is punishable by death by stoning.

Murder, accidental death and bodily harm are open to punishment from the victim's family. Retribution may be sought in kind or through blood money. The blood money payable for a woman's accidental death is half as much as that for a man.[4]

Human rights

Several international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the United Nations Human Rights Committee have issued reports critical of the Saudi legal system and its human rights record in various political, legal, and social areas. The Saudi government typically dismisses such reports as being outright lies or asserts that its actions are based on its adherence to Islamic law.

In 2002, the United Nations Committee against Torture criticized Saudi Arabia over the amputations and floggings it carries out under the Shari'a. The Saudi delegation responded defending its legal traditions held since the inception of Islam in the region 1400 years ago and rejected "interference" in its legal system.

Opposition movements

There have been no military opposition movements with the exception of Al-Qaeda, however there have been two serious attempts to overthrow the Saudi royal family: The first was on November 20, 1979, when heavily armed and provisioned Sunni Islamic fundamentalists, consisting of Saudis and Egyptians enrolled in Islamic studies at the Islamic University of Medina, took over and besieged Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. The other was in the year 1980 by Shia Muslims in the Eastern part of the country. The movement was allegedly supported by the Iranian government.

The current main opponents of the government are now the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia and al-Qaeda.

Cities

File:Riyadh city.jpg
Downtown Riyadh.
Population over 1 million
Riyadh capital
Jeddah second largest city; pilgrimage gateway to Mecca; main Red Sea port
Dammam Eastern Province capital; third largest metropolitan area
Makkah the holiest city in Islam (traditionally spelled Mecca in English)
Madinah the second holiest city in Islam (traditionally spelled Medina in English)
Other major cities
Ta'if mountain resort above Mecca
Tabuk northwestern border city near Jordan
Buraidah city in north central Arabia
Hofuf major urban center of the Al-Hasa oasis
Qatif large coastal oasis city and oilfield
Khamis Mushayt western Arabian mountain city and military base

Economy

Aramco, the Saudi national oil company, whose main offices are in Dhahran.

Saudi Arabia's economy is Petroleum-based; roughly 75% of budget revenues and 90% of export earnings come from the oil industry. The oil industry comprises about 45% of Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product, compared with 40% from the private sector (see below). Saudi Arabia has claimed to be in possession of 260.1 billion barrels of oil reserves (about 24% of the world's proven total petroleum reserves) as of 2003 [citation needed]. Moreover, according to the Saudi government, the proven reserves increase gradually as more oil fields are discovered and oil recovery improves with technology. These reserve figures have been contested and may be significantly lower [citation needed].

The government is attempting to promote growth in the private sector by privatizing industries such as power and telecom. Saudi Arabia announced plans to begin privatizing the electricity companies in 1999, which followed the ongoing privatization of the telecommunications company. Shortages of water and rapid population growth may constrain government efforts to increase self-sufficiency in agricultural products.

In the 1990s, Saudi Arabia experienced a significant contraction of oil revenues combined with a high rate of population growth. Per capita income has fallen from $25,000 in 1980 to $8,000 in 2003, up from about $7,000 in 1999. The decline in inflation-adjusted per-capita income from 1980 to 1999 set a record, being by far the worst such decline suffered by any nation-state in history. [citation needed]

In 2003, the price of oil jumped to record high of 40 to 50 dollars, which triggered a second oil boom. Saudi Arabia's budget surplus has crossed $28 billion (110SR billion) in 2005. Tadawul (the Saudi stock market Index) finished 2004 with a massive 76.23% to close at 4437.58 points. Market capitalization was up 110.14% from a year earlier to stand at $157.3 billion (589.93SR billion), which makes it the biggest stock market in the Middle East.‏

OPEC limits its members oil production based on its "proven reserves." The higher their reserves, the more OPEC allows them to produce. Over the past fifteen years, Saudi Arabia's claimed reserves have been flat, with the exception of an increase of about 100 billion barrels between 1987 and 1988. Many experts now believe that Saudi Arabia is greatly exaggerating its reserves and may soon show production declines (see peak oil)[citation needed].

To diversify the economy, Saudi Arabia launched a new city on the western coast with investments exceeding 26.6 billion dollars. The city which is named "King Abdullah Economic City" will be built near al-Rabegh industrial city north to Jeddah. The new city, where construction work started in December 2005, includes a port which is the largest port of the kingdom. Extending along a coastline of 35 km, the city will also include petrochemical, pharmaceutical, tourism, finance and education and research areas.

Saudi Arabia officially became a World Trade Organization member in December 2005.

Foreign labour

Many men and women from South, South East (Philippines, Indonesia), and East Asia, East Africa (Egypt) and the Middle East seek work in Saudi Arabia.[5] There are also some people from North America, South America, and Europe. Hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers and skilled workers from regions of the developing world migrate to Saudi Arabia, sometimes only for a short period of time, to work. Although exact figures are not known, skilled experts in the banking and services professions seek work in the Kingdom.

It is reported that some guest workers present in the country (like in many countries) are sometimes subject to mistreatment, as documented by Human Rights Watch:

"Domestic workers face a wide range of grave abuses and labor exploitation, including physical and sexual abuse, forced confinement, non-payment of wages, denial of food and health care and excessive working hours with no rest days, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today."


Human Rights Watch[6]

Demographics

Saudi Arabia's population as of July 2006 is estimated to be about 27,019,731, including about 5,576,076 resident foreigners. Until the 1960s, most of the population was nomadic or semi-nomadic; due to rapid economic and urban growth, more than 95% of the population now is settled. The birth rate is 29.56 births per 1,000 people. The death rate is only 2.62 deaths per 1,000 people. Some cities and oases have densities of more than 1,000 people per square kilometer (2,600/sq mi).

Around 90 percent of Saudis are ethnically Arab. In addition, there are some citizens of Asian and sub-Saharan/East African ancestry. There are some seven million migrants from countries all around the world, including:[7] Indian: 1.4 million, Bangladeshi: 1 million, Filipino: 950,000, Pakistani: 900,000, and Egyptian: 750,000. Many Arabs from nearby countries are employed in the kingdom. There are around 100,000 Westerners in Saudi Arabia, most of whom live in compounds or gated communities.

The Saudi government states that all citizens must be Muslim. The majority of the population adheres to a theological interpretation within Islam most commonly known as Salafism or Wahhabism. The Shia population of the country is estimated at around 15 percent,[8] primarily in the eastern provinces, and larger cities.

The country allows religious minorities such as Christians and Hindus to enter the country as temporary workers, but does not allow them to practice their faiths. The U.S. State Department suggests that there are 500,000 to 1 million people who adhere to the Catholic faith.

Education

At the time the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932, education was not accessible to everyone and limited to individualized instruction at religious schools in mosques in urban areas. These schools taught Islamic law and basic literacy skills. By the end of the century, Saudi Arabia had a nationwide educational system providing free training from preschool through university to all citizens. The modern Saudi educational system provides quality instruction in diverse fields of modern and traditional arts and sciences. This diversity helps meet the Kingdom's growing need for highly-educated citizens to build on its rapid progress.

Formal primary education began in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s. By 1945, King Abdulaziz bin Abdelrahman Al-Saud, the country's founder, had initiated an extensive program to establish schools in the Kingdom. Six years later, in 1951, the country had 226 schools with 29,887 students. In 1954, the Ministry of Education was established, headed by then Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz as the first Minister of Education. The first university, now known as King Saud University, was founded in Riyadh in 1957.

Today, Saudi Arabia's nationwide public educational system comprises Twenty universities, more than 24,000 schools, and a large number of colleges and other educational and training institutions. Open to every citizen, the system provides students with free education, books and health services. Over 25 percent of the annual State budget is for education including vocational training. The Kingdom has also worked on scholarship programs to send students overseas, mainly to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and other nations. Over the past couple of years, thousands of students have been sent to higher-educations programs each year.

The study of Islam remains at the core of the Saudi educational system. The Islamic aspect of the Saudi national curriculum is examined in a recent report by Freedom House.[9] The report finds how, in religious education classes (in any religious school), children are taught to deprecate other religions, in addition to other branches of Islam. The Saudi religious studies curriculum is taught outside the Kingdom in madrassas throughout the world.

Sports

Men can often be found playing sports. Women rarely participate in sports, and always away from the presence of men; this often leads to indoor gyms. Even though football (soccer) is the most popular sport, Saudi Arabia has recently participated in the Summer Olympic Games and in international competitions in volleyball and other sports. The Saudi Arabia national football team is often most known for being in four consecutive times in the FIFA World Cup and six times in the AFC Asian Cup, which the team won three times and was runner-up two times. Some popular football players include Majed Abdullah, Mohamed Al-Deayea, Sami Al-Jaber, and Saeed Al-Owairan.

Culture

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A supplicant at Masjid Al Haram, Mecca.
File:Montazah alsalam.jpg
A recreation park in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabian culture revolves around the religion of Islam. Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, are located in the country. Every day, five times a day, Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of mosques which dot the country. The weekend consists of Thursday and Friday. The public practice of any religion other than Islam, including Christianity and Judaism, the presence of churches, and possession of non-Islamic religious materials is not allowed.

One of Saudi Arabia's most compelling folk rituals is the Al Ardha, the country's national dance. This sword dance is based on ancient Bedouin traditions: drummers beat out a rhythm and a poet chants verses while sword-carrying men dance shoulder to shoulder. Al-sihba folk music, from the Hijaz, has its origins in al-Andalus. In Mecca, Medina and Jeddah, dance and song incorporate the sound of the mizmar, an oboe-like woodwind instrument. The drum is also an important instrument according to traditional and tribal customs.

Saudi Arabian dress follows strictly the principles of hijab (the Islamic principle of modesty, especially in dress) The predominantly loose and flowing but covering garments reflect the country's large desert country. Traditionally, men usually wear an ankle-length shirt woven from wool or cotton (known as a thawb), with a keffiyeh (a large checkered square of cotton held in place by a cord coil) or a ghutra (a plain white square made of finer cotton, also held in place by a cord coil) worn on the head. For rare chilly days, Saudi men wear a camel-hair cloak (bisht) over the top. Women's clothes are decorated with tribal motifs, coins, sequins, metallic thread, and appliques. However, Saudi women must wear a long cloak (abaya) and veil (niqāb) when they leave the house to protect their modesty. The law does not apply to foreigners at such a high degree, but both men and women are told to dress modestly.

Islamic dietary laws forbid the eating of pork and the drinking of alcohol, and this law is enforced strictly throughout Saudi Arabia. Arabic unleavened bread, or khobz, is eaten with almost all meals. Other staples include lamb, grilled chicken, falafel (deep-fried chickpea balls), shawarma (spit-cooked sliced lamb), and Ful medames (a paste of fava beans, garlic and lemon). Traditional coffeehouses used to be ubiquitous, but are now being displaced by food-hall style cafes. Arabic tea is also a famous custom, which is used in both casual and formal meetings between friends, family and even strangers. The tea is black (without milk) and has herbal flavoring that comes in many variations.

Public theatres and cinemas are prohibited, as Wahhabi tradition deems those institutions to be incompatible with Islam. However, in private compounds such as Dhahran and Ras Tanura public theaters can be found, but often are more popular for local music, arts, and theatre productions rather than the exhibition of motion pictures. Recently, plans for some cinemas that will be allowed to feature Arabic cartoons for women and children were announced [citation needed]. DVDs of western movies are legal and widely available and IMAX theatres are also legal[2]. The cultural heritage is celebrated at the annual Jenadriyah cultural festival.

Some Saudi novelists have had their books published in Beirut, Lebanon because of censorship in Saudi Arabia. Despite signs of increasing openness, Saudi novelists and artists in film, theatre, and the visual arts face greater restrictions on their freedom of expression than in the West. Contemporary Saudi novelists include:

  • Abdelrahman Munif (exiled, now deceased)
  • Yousef Al-Mohaimeed
  • Abdu Khal
  • Turki Al-Hamad (subject of a fatwa and death threats)
  • Ali al-Domaini (in jail)
  • Ahmed Abodehman (now writes in French)
  • Rajaa Al Sanie

International rankings

Organization Survey Ranking
Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom 62 out of 157
The Economist Worldwide Quality-of-life Index, 2005 72 out of 111
Reporters Without Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index 161 out of 167
Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 70 out of 163
United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index 76 out of 177
A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine Globalization Index 2005 45 out of 62

See also

  • Communications in Saudi Arabia
  • Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia
  • Holidays in Saudi Arabia
  • Human rights in Saudi Arabia
  • Human trafficking in Saudi Arabia
  • Irrigation in Saudi Arabia
  • Basic Law of Saudi Arabia
  • Military of Saudi Arabia
  • Saudi Arabian Boy Scouts Association
  • Saudi Aramco
  • Saudi riyal
  • Ancient Arabia
  • Status of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia
  • Transport in Saudi Arabia



Lists

  • List of Arabian Houses
  • List of cities and towns in Saudi Arabia
  • List of Saudi Arabian companies
  • List of Saudi Arabian universities
Mekkah May 2007

Notes and references

Bibliography

  • Lippman, Thomas W. "Inside the Mirage: America's Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia" (Westview 2004) ISBN 0-8133-4052-7
  • Mackey, Sandra, The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom (Houghton Mifflin, 1987) ISBN 0-395-41165-3
  • Ménoret, Pascal, The Saudi Enigma: A History (Zed Books, 2005) ISBN 1-84277-605-3
  • al-Rasheed, Madawi, A History of Saudi Arabia (Cambridge University Press, 2002) ISBN 052164335X
  • Matthew R. Simmons, Twilight in the Desert The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, John Wiley & Sons, 2005, ISBN 0-471-73876-X
  • Robert Lacey, THE KINGDOM: Arabia & The House of Sa'ud, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1981 (Hard Cover) and Avon Books, 1981 (Soft Cover. Library of Congress: 81-83741 ISBN 0-380-61762-5
  • T R McHale, A Prospect of Saudi Arabia, International Affairs Vol. 56 No 4 Autumn 1980 pp622-647
  • Roger Owen, State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, 3rd Edition (Routledge, 2006) ISBN 10: 0-415-29713-3

External links

Portal Saudi Arabia Portal

Government

Overviews

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Other links

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