Area
2,240,000 square kilometres (864,869 square miles)
Population
23,370,000 people (the official estimate for 2002).
Population
Density
10.4 people per square kilometre
Capital
Riyadh (royal).
Jeddah (administrative).
Population
of Riyadh
4,761,000 (UN estimate for 2002, including suburbs).
Population of Jeddah
3,192,000 (UN estimate for 2001, including suburbs).
Geography
Some key geographical facts:
Saudi Arabia occupies 4 5ths of the Arabian peninsula.
Saudi
Arabia is bordered to the north west by Jordan,
to the north by Iraq and Kuwait,
to the east by the Gulf of Saudi
Arabia, Qatar, the United
Arab Emirates and Saudi
Arabia, and to the south by Yemen.
To the west lies the Red Sea,
along the Red Sea coast is a narrow coastal strip (Tihama) which
becomes moderately hotter and more humid towards the south and has
areas of extensive tidal flats and lava fields.
Behind
this coastal plain is a series of plateaux reaching
up to 2, 000 metres (6560 feet).
The
southern part of this range, Asir, has some peaks
of over 3, 000 metres (9840 feet).
North
of these mountains, in the far north, is An Nafud,
which is a sand sea, and further south the landscape rises to Najd,
a semi desert area scattered with oases.
Still
further south the land falls away, levelling out to continuous
desert, the uninhabited ‘Empty Quarter’
or Rub al Khali.
Along the Gulf coast is a low
fertile plain giving way to limestone ridges inland.
Government
Saudi Arabia has maintained an absolute monarchy since 1932.
The Head of State
and Government is King Fahd Ibn Abd al-Aziz Al-Sa'ud
since 1982.
Language
The main language is Arabic. English is spoken in business circles.
Religion
The majority of Saudi Arabians follow Islam, around 85 % are Sunni
Muslim, however Shia Muslims dominate in the Eastern Province.
Time Zone
Greenich Mean Time (GMT) + 3
Electricity
127 / 220 volts AC, 60 Hz. |
