Saudi Arabia

Capital: Riyadh Population: 29,195,895 Official Languages: Arabic Time Zone: +3 Dialing Code: +966

Government: Unitary Islamic monarchy Area: 2,149,690km2 largest city: Riyadh Currency : Saudi riyal ISO 3166 code: SA

Basic Info

Saudi Arabia, officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , is the largest Arab state in Western Asia by land area (approximately 2,250,000 km2 (870,000 sq mi), constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula) and the second-largest in the Arab world (after Algeria). It is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast, Yemen in the south, the Red Sea to the west and Persian Gulf to the east. Its population is estimated to consist of 16 million citizens and an additional 9 million registered foreign expatriates and 2 million illegal immigrants.

Geography

Saudi Arabia occupies about 80% of the Arabian peninsula, lying between latitudes 16° and 33° N, and longitudes 34° and 56° E. Because the country's southern borders with the United Arab Emirates and Oman are not precisely defined or marked, the exact size of the country remains unknown. The CIA World Factbook's estimate is 2,250,000 km2 (868,730 sq mi) and lists Saudi Arabia as the world's 13th largest state.

Climate

The climate of Saudi Arabia is marked by high temperatures during the day and low temperatures at night. Most of the country follows the pattern of the desert climate, with the exception of the southwest.

Religion

There are about 25 million people who are muslim, or 97% of the total population. Data for Saudi Arabia comes primarily from general population surveys, which are less reliable than censuses or large-scale demographic and health surveys for estimating minority-majority ratios. About 85–90% of Saudis are Sunni, while Shias represent around 10–15% of the muslim population. The official and dominant form of Sunni islam in Saudi Arabia is commonly known as Wahhabism (a name which some of its proponents consider derogatory, preferring the term Salafism), founded in the Arabian Peninsula by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the eighteenth century, is often described as 'puritanical', 'intolerant' or 'ultra-conservative'. However, proponents consider that its teachings seek to purify the practise of islam of any innovations or practices that deviate from the seventh-century teachings of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his companions

Administrative divisions

Saudi Arabia is divided into 13 provinces. The provinces are further divided into 118 governorates This number includes the 13 provincial capitals, which have a different status as municipalities (amanah) headed by mayors (amin). The governorates are further sudivided into sub-governorates (marakiz, sing. markaz).

1 Al Jawf (or Jouf) 2 Northern Borders 3 Tabuk 4 Ha'il 5 Al Madinah 6 Al Qasim 7 Makkah 8 Al Riyadh

See Other Map

9 Eastern Province 10 Al Bahah (or Baha) 11 Asir 12 Jizan 13 Najran

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