Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia (officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is an absolute monarchy located in Western Asia, covering approximately 2,150,000 square kilometres and constituting roughly 80 percent of the Arabian Peninsula. Founded in its modern form on 23 September 1932 by King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, the kingdom is the birthplace and spiritual centre of Islam and hosts tens of millions of pilgrims annually at its holy sites.

Geography

Saudi Arabia borders Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast, and Yemen to the south. The Red Sea lies along its western coast and the Persian Gulf along its northeastern coast. The landscape is dominated by the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter), one of the world's largest continuous sand deserts, occupying much of the southern interior. The Hejaz mountain range runs along the western edge of the country, while the central Najd plateau forms the geographical and political heartland of the kingdom. The capital, Riyadh, sits on the Najd plateau and is the largest city in the country. Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast, serves as the main commercial hub and gateway for pilgrims arriving for the Hajj.

History

Early and Pre-Modern Period

The Arabian Peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times and was the origin point of the Arab people and the Arabic language. The region gave rise to Islam in the seventh century CE, when the Prophet Muhammad founded the faith in Mecca around 610 CE. The peninsula subsequently became central to the early Islamic caliphates. By the eighteenth century, much of the region was fragmented among tribal confederacies. A pivotal alliance formed in 1744 between Muhammad ibn Saud, the ruler of the Diriyah oasis, and the religious reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, establishing the theological-political compact that underpins the modern Saudi state.

Unification

The First Saudi State (1744–1818) expanded across much of the peninsula before being suppressed by Ottoman-Egyptian forces. The Second Saudi State (1824–1891) similarly rose and collapsed through internal conflict. The modern kingdom traces its direct origin to Abdulaziz ibn Saud, who recaptured Riyadh in 1902 and spent the following three decades consolidating control over the Hejaz, Najd, and adjacent regions. On 23 September 1932, the unified Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formally proclaimed, a date commemorated as Saudi National Day.

Modern Era

The discovery of commercially viable oil reserves in 1938 in the Eastern Province transformed the kingdom's economy and geopolitical significance. Revenues from petroleum exports, particularly after the price increases of the 1970s, funded rapid modernisation of infrastructure, education, and healthcare. Saudi Arabia is a founding member of OPEC and has long served as the organisation's de facto leader due to the scale of its reserves and production capacity. The kingdom has navigated significant regional tensions, including the 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca by militants, the Gulf War of 1990–1991, and ongoing conflicts in neighbouring Yemen.

Government and Politics

Saudi Arabia is governed as an absolute monarchy under the Al Saud dynasty. The king serves simultaneously as head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Islamic law (Sharia) forms the basis of the legal system, and the country has no elected legislature, though a Consultative Assembly (Majlis al-Shura) of appointed members advises the monarch on legislation. Political parties are prohibited.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has reigned since January 2015. His son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (commonly referred to as MbS), serves as Prime Minister and is widely regarded as the kingdom's most powerful political figure. Mohammed bin Salman has pursued a broad reform programme under the banner of Vision 2030, which seeks to diversify the economy away from oil dependency, expand the entertainment and tourism sectors, and increase female participation in the workforce. Critics and human rights organisations have simultaneously documented significant restrictions on political dissent and civil liberties, and the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul drew widespread international condemnation.

Economy

Saudi Arabia possesses the world's second-largest proven oil reserves (estimates vary and rankings are periodically disputed) and is consistently among the world's top petroleum exporters. The national oil company, Saudi Aramco, is among the most valuable corporations in the world by market capitalisation. Oil and gas revenues have historically accounted for the large majority of government income, though the proportion fluctuates with global commodity prices.

Vision 2030 initiatives have expanded investment in sectors including tourism, entertainment, mining, and technology. Megaprojects such as NEOM, a planned futuristic city in the Tabuk Province, reflect the ambition of the diversification agenda, though their timelines and feasibility have been subject to debate. The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) is the largest in the Arab world.

Society and Culture

The population of Saudi Arabia is estimated at over 35 million people, including a substantial proportion of expatriate workers from South Asia, Southeast Asia, and other Arab countries. Arabic is the official language and Islam is the state religion. The country administers the two holiest sites in Islam — the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina — and hosts the annual Hajj pilgrimage, one of the largest regular human gatherings on earth.

Social norms have traditionally been conservative, shaped by Wahhabi-influenced interpretations of Islamic practice. Since approximately 2017, the government has relaxed a number of restrictions: women were granted the right to drive in 2018, entertainment venues including cinemas were permitted to reopen, and mixed-gender public events became more common. Significant restrictions on individual freedoms nevertheless remain, and the human rights situation continues to be criticised by international observers.