Saudi Arabia

"KSA" redirects here. For other uses, see KSA (disambiguation).

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
المملكة العربية السعودية
Al-Mamlakah al-Arabiyah as-Sa'ūdiyah
Flag Emblem
Motto: لا إله إلا الله، محمد رسول الله
"Lā ʾilāha ʾillāl–lāh, Muhammadun rasūl allāh"
"There is no god but God; Muhammad is the messenger of God."[1][lower-alpha 1] (Shahada)
Anthem: السلام الملكي (as an instrumental)
"as-Salām al-Malakiyy"
"The Royal Salute"
Capital
and largest city		Riyadh
24°39′N 46°46′E / 24.650°N 46.767°E / 24.650; 46.767
Official languages Arabic[5]
Ethnic groups 90% Arab
10% Afro-Arab
Religion Sunni Islam (official)[6]
Demonym
Government Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy
 •  King Salman bin Abdulaziz
 •  Crown Prince Mohammad bin Nayef
 •  Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman
Legislature None (Legislation passed by the Council of Ministers)[lower-alpha 2]
Establishment
 •  Kingdom founded 23 September 1932 
Area
 •  Total 2,149,690[5] km2 (13th)
830,000 sq mi
 •  Water (%) 0.7
Population
 •  2014 estimate 30,770,375[7] (41st)
 •  Density 12.3/km2 (216th)
31/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2015 estimate
 •  Total $1.668 trillion[8] (14th)
 •  Per capita $53,149[8] (12th)
GDP (nominal) 2015 estimate
 •  Total $648.971 billion[8] (20th)
 •  Per capita $20,677[8] (38th)
HDI (2014)Increase 0.837[9]
very high · 39th
Currency Saudi riyal (SR) (SAR)
Time zone AST (UTC+3)
Drives on the right
Calling code +966
ISO 3166 code SA
Internet TLD
a. ^ Legislation is by king's decree. The Consultative Assembly exists to advise the king.

Saudi Arabia[lower-alpha 3] (i/ˌsɔːdiː əˈreɪbiə/, i/ˌsaʊ-/), officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA),[lower-alpha 4] is an Arab state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. With a land area of approximately 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), Saudi Arabia is geographically the second-largest state in the Arab world after Algeria. Saudi Arabia 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, and Yemen to the south. It is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast, and most of its terrain consists of arid inhospitable desert or barren landforms.

The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four distinct regions: Hejaz, Najd, and parts of Eastern Arabia (Al-Ahsa) and Southern Arabia ('Asir).[10] The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud. He united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. The country has since been an absolute monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultra-conservative Wahhabism religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called "the predominant feature of Saudi culture", with its global spreading largely financed by the oil and gas trade.[11][12] Saudi Arabia is sometimes called "the Land of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca), and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam. The Kingdom has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners.[13][14][15]

Petroleum was discovered in 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Shia-majority Eastern Province.[16] Saudi Arabia has since become the world's largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the world's second largest oil reserves, and the sixth largest gas reserves.[17] The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index,[18] and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies.[19][20] However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, lacking any significant service or production sector (apart from the extraction of resources).[21] It is a monarchical autocracy[22][23] and is ranked as "Not Free" by Freedom House.[24] Saudi Arabia has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world,[25][26] and in 2010–14, SIPRI found that Saudi Arabia was the world's second largest arms importer.[27] Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power.[28] In addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC.[29]

Limitations on women's rights in Saudi Arabia make it the only country where women are not permitted to drive.[30] The country is also criticised for its capital punishment, which is condemned internationally because of the wide range of crimes which can result in the death penalty. It is usually carried out by public beheading and sometimes crucifixion. It applies even to individuals who were under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes, which is a violation of international law.[31][32]

Etymology

Following the unification of the kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah (a transliteration of المملكة العربية السعودية in Arabic) by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud (Ibn Saud). Although this is normally translated as "the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" in English[33] it literally means "the Arab Saudi Kingdom".[34][35]

The word "Saudi" is derived from the element as-Suʻūdīyah in the Arabic name of the country, which is a type of adjective known as a nisba, formed from the dynastic name of the Saudi royal family, the Al Saud (آل سعود). Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the personal possession of the royal family.[36][37] Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning "family of" or "House of",[38] to the personal name of an ancestor. In the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynasty's 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud.[39]

Those who do not recognize Saudi rule (particularly the Islamic State) call the nation the "land of Haramayn (the two holy places)" in reference to Mecca and Medina.[40]

History

Before the foundation of Saudi Arabia

The Arabian Peninsula in 1914

In pre-Islamic times, apart from a small number of urban trading settlements (such as Mecca and Medina), most of what was to become Saudi Arabia was populated by nomadic tribal societies in the inhospitable desert.[41] The Islamic prophet, Muhammad, was born in Mecca in about 571 A.D. In the early 7th century, Muhammad united the various tribes of the peninsula and created a single Islamic religious polity. Following his death in 632, his followers rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering huge swathes of territory (from the Iberian Peninsula in west to modern day Pakistan in east) in a matter of decades. In so doing, Arabia soon became a politically peripheral region of the Muslim world as the focus shifted to the more developed conquered lands.[42] From the 10th century to the early 20th century Mecca and Medina were under the control of a local Arab ruler known as the Sharif of Mecca, but at most times the Sharif owed allegiance to the ruler of one of the major Islamic empires based in Baghdad, Cairo or Istanbul. Most of the remainder of what became Saudi Arabia reverted to traditional tribal rule.[43][44]

In the 16th century, the Ottomans added the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coast (the Hejaz, Asir and Al-Ahsa) to the Empire and claimed suzerainty over the interior. One reason was to thwart Portuguese attempts to attack the Red Sea (hence the Hejaz) and the Indian Ocean.[45] Ottoman degree of control over these lands varied over the next four centuries with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the Empire's central authority.[46][47] The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as the Al Saud, began in Nejd in central Arabia in 1744, when Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab,[48] founder of the Wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam.[49] This alliance formed in the 18th century provided the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion and remains the basis of Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today.[50] The first "Saudi state" established in 1744 in the area around Riyadh, rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia,[51] but was destroyed by 1818 by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Ali Pasha.[52] A much smaller second "Saudi state", located mainly in Nejd, was established in 1824. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the Al Saud contested control of the interior of what was to become Saudi Arabia with another Arabian ruling family, the Al Rashid. By 1891, the Al Rashid were victorious and the Al Saud were driven into exile in Kuwait.[43]

Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, the first king of Saudi Arabia

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire continued to control or have a suzerainty over most of the peninsula. Subject to this suzerainty, Arabia was ruled by a patchwork of tribal rulers,[53][54] with the Sharif of Mecca having pre-eminence and ruling the Hejaz.[55] In 1902, Abdul Rahman's son, Abdul Aziz—later to be known as Ibn Saud—recaptured control of Riyadh bringing the Al Saud back to Nejd.[43] Ibn Saud gained the support of the Ikhwan, a tribal army inspired by Wahhabism and led by Faisal Al-Dawish, and which had grown quickly after its foundation in 1912.[56] With the aid of the Ikhwan, Ibn Saud captured Al-Ahsa from the Ottomans in 1913.

In 1916, with the encouragement and support of Britain (which was fighting the Ottomans in World War I), the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, led a pan-Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire to create a united Arab state.[57] Although the Arab Revolt of 1916 to 1918 failed in its objective, the Allied victory in World War I resulted in the end of Ottoman suzerainty and control in Arabia.[58]

Ibn Saud avoided involvement in the Arab Revolt, and instead continued his struggle with the Al Rashid. Following the latter's final defeat, he took the title Sultan of Nejd in 1921. With the help of the Ikhwan, the Hejaz was conquered in 1924–25 and on 10 January 1926, Ibn Saud declared himself King of the Hejaz.[59] A year later, he added the title of King of Nejd. For the next five years, he administered the two parts of his dual kingdom as separate units.[43]

After the conquest of the Hejaz, the Ikhwan leadership's objective switched to expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of Transjordan, Iraq and Kuwait, and began raiding those territories. This met with Ibn Saud's opposition, as he recognized the danger of a direct conflict with the British. At the same time, the Ikhwan became disenchanted with Ibn Saud's domestic policies which appeared to favor modernization and the increase in the number of non-Muslim foreigners in the country. As a result, they turned against Ibn Saud and, after a two-year struggle, were defeated in 1930 at the Battle of Sabilla, where their leaders were massacred.[60] In 1932 the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Nejd were united as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[43]

Post-unification

Saudi Arabia political map
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after unification in 1932

The new kingdom was one of the poorest countries in the world, reliant on limited agriculture and pilgrimage revenues.[61] However, in 1938, vast reserves of oil were discovered in the Al-Ahsa region along the coast of the Persian Gulf, and full-scale development of the oil fields began in 1941 under the US-controlled Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company). Oil provided Saudi Arabia with economic prosperity and substantial political leverage internationally. Cultural life rapidly developed, primarily in the Hejaz, which was the center for newspapers and radio. However, the large influx of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia in the oil industry increased the pre-existing propensity for xenophobia. At the same time, the government became increasingly wasteful and extravagant. By the 1950s this had led to large governmental deficits and excessive foreign borrowing.[43]

In 1953, Saud of Saudi Arabia succeeded as the king of Saudi Arabia, on his father's death, until 1964 when he was deposed in favor of his half brother Faisal of Saudi Arabia, after an intense rivalry, fueled by doubts in the royal family over Saud's competence. In 1972, Saudi Arabia gained a 20% control in Aramco, thereby decreasing US control over Saudi oil.

In 1973, Saudi Arabia led an oil boycott against the Western countries that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War against Egypt and Syria. Oil prices quadrupled.[43] In 1975, Faisal was assassinated by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid and was succeeded by his half-brother King Khalid.[62]

Saudi Arabian administrative regions and roadways map.

By 1976, Saudi Arabia had become the largest oil producer in the world.[63] Khalid's reign saw economic and social development progress at an extremely rapid rate, transforming the infrastructure and educational system of the country;[43] in foreign policy, close ties with the US were developed.[62] In 1979, two events occurred which greatly concerned the government,[64] and had a long-term influence on Saudi foreign and domestic policy. The first was the Iranian Islamic Revolution. It was feared that the country's Shi'ite minority in the Eastern Province (which is also the location of the oil fields) might rebel under the influence of their Iranian co-religionists. In fact, there were several anti-government uprisings in the region such as the 1979 Qatif Uprising. The second event was the Grand Mosque Seizure in Mecca by Islamist extremists. The militants involved were in part angered by what they considered to be the corruption and un-Islamic nature of the Saudi government.[65] The government regained control of the mosque after 10 days and those captured were executed. Part of the response of the royal family was to enforce a much stricter observance of traditional religious and social norms in the country (for example, the closure of cinemas) and to give the Ulema a greater role in government.[66] Neither entirely succeeded as Islamism continued to grow in strength.[67]

Dammam No. 7, the first commercial oil well in Saudi Arabia, struck oil on 4 March 1938

In 1980, Saudi Arabia bought out the American interests in Aramco.[68]

King Khalid died of a heart attack in June 1982, and was succeeded by his brother, King Fahd, who added the title "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" to his name in 1986 in response to considerable fundamentalist pressure to avoid use of "majesty" in association with anything except God. Fahd continued to develop close relations with the United States and increased the purchase of American and British military equipment.[43] The vast wealth generated by oil revenues was beginning to have an even greater impact on Saudi society. It led to rapid technological (but not cultural) modernisation, urbanization, mass public education and the creation of new media. This and the presence of increasingly large numbers of foreign workers greatly affected traditional Saudi norms and values. Although there was dramatic change in the social and economic life of the country, political power continued to be monopolized by the royal family[43] leading to discontent among many Saudis who began to look for wider participation in government.[69]

In the 1980s, Saudi Arabia spent $25 billion in support of Saddam Hussein in the Iran–Iraq War.[70] However, Saudi Arabia condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and asked the US to intervene.[43] King Fahd allowed American and coalition troops to be stationed in Saudi Arabia. He invited the Kuwaiti government and many of its citizens to stay in Saudi Arabia, but expelled citizens of Yemen and Jordan because of their governments' support of Iraq. In 1991, Saudi Arabian forces were involved both in bombing raids on Iraq and in the land invasion that helped to liberate Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia's relations with the West began to cause growing concern among some of the ulema and students of sharia law and was one of the issues that led to an increase in Islamic terrorism in Saudi Arabia, as well as Islamic terrorist attacks in Western countries by Saudi nationals. Osama bin Laden was a Saudi national (until stripped of his nationality in 1994). 15 of the 19 hijackers involved in 9/11 attacks on New York, Washington and Virginia were Saudi nationals.[71] Many Saudis who did not support the Islamist terrorists were nevertheless deeply unhappy with the government's policies.[72]

Oil and gas pipelines in the Middle-East

Islamism was not the only source of hostility to the government. Although now extremely wealthy, Saudi Arabia's economy was near stagnant. High taxes and a growth in unemployment have contributed to discontent, and has been reflected in a rise in civil unrest, and discontent with the royal family. In response, a number of limited "reforms" were initiated by King Fahd. In March 1992, he introduced the "Basic Law", which emphasised the duties and responsibilities of a ruler. In December 1993, the Consultative Council was inaugurated. It is composed of a chairman and 60 members—all chosen by the King. The King's intent was to respond to dissent while making as few actual changes in the status quo as possible. Fahd made it clear that he did not have democracy in mind: "A system based on elections is not consistent with our Islamic creed, which [approves of] government by consultation [shūrā]."[43]

In 1995, Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke, and the Crown Prince, Abdullah, assumed the role of de facto regent, taking on the day-to-day running of the country. However, his authority was hindered by conflict with Fahd's full brothers (known, with Fahd, as the "Sudairi Seven").[73] From the 1990s, signs of discontent continued and included, in 2003 and 2004, a series of bombings and armed violence in Riyadh, Jeddah, Yanbu and Khobar.[74] In February–April 2005, the first-ever nationwide municipal elections were held in Saudi Arabia. Women were not allowed to take part in the poll.[43]

In 2005, King Fahd died and was succeeded by Abdullah, who continued the policy of minimum reform and clamping down on protests. The king introduced a number of economic reforms aimed at reducing the country's reliance on oil revenue: limited deregulation, encouragement of foreign investment, and privatization. In February 2009, Abdullah announced a series of governmental changes to the judiciary, armed forces, and various ministries to modernize these institutions including the replacement of senior appointees in the judiciary and the Mutaween (religious police) with more moderate individuals and the appointment of the country's first female deputy minister.[43]

On 29 January 2011, hundreds of protesters gathered in the city of Jeddah in a rare display of criticism against the city's poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through the city, killing eleven people.[75] Police stopped the demonstration after about 15 minutes and arrested 30 to 50 people.[76]

Since 2011, Saudi Arabia has been affected by its own Arab Spring protests.[77] In response, King Abdullah announced on 22 February 2011 a series of benefits for citizens amounting to $36 billion, of which $10.7 billion was earmarked for housing.[78][79][80] No political reforms were announced as part of the package, though some prisoners indicted for financial crimes were pardoned.[81] On 18 March the same year, King Abdullah announced a package of $93 billion, which included 500,000 new homes to a cost of $67 billion, in addition to creating 60,000 new security jobs.[82][83]

Although male-only municipal elections were held on 29 September 2011,[84][85] Abdullah allowed women to vote and be elected in the 2015 municipal elections, and also to be nominated to the Shura Council.[86]

Politics

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy.[87] However, according to the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia adopted by royal decree in 1992, the king must comply with Sharia (Islamic law) and the Quran, while the Quran and the Sunnah (the traditions of Muhammad) are declared to be the country's constitution.[88] No political parties or national elections are permitted.[87] Critics regard it as a totalitarian dictatorship.[89][90][91]The Economist rates the Saudi government as the fifth most authoritarian government out of 167 rated in its 2012 Democracy Index,[23] and Freedom House gives it its lowest "Not Free" rating, 7.0 ("1=best, 7=worst") for 2013.[24]

In the absence of national elections and political parties,[87] politics in Saudi Arabia takes place in two distinct arenas: within the royal family, the Al Saud, and between the royal family and the rest of Saudi society.[92] Outside of the Al-Saud, participation in the political process is limited to a relatively small segment of the population and takes the form of the royal family consulting with the ulema, tribal sheikhs and members of important commercial families on major decisions.[93] This process is not reported by the Saudi media.[94]

By custom, all males of full age have a right to petition the king directly through the traditional tribal meeting known as the majlis.[95] In many ways the approach to government differs little from the traditional system of tribal rule. Tribal identity remains strong and, outside of the royal family, political influence is frequently determined by tribal affiliation, with tribal sheikhs maintaining a considerable degree of influence over local and national events.[93] As mentioned earlier, in recent years there have been limited steps to widen political participation such as the establishment of the Consultative Council in the early 1990s and the National Dialogue Forum in 2003.[96]

The rule of the Al Saud faces political opposition from four sources: Sunni Islamist activism; liberal critics; the Shi'ite minority—particularly in the Eastern Province; and long-standing tribal and regionalist particularistic opponents (for example in the Hejaz).[97] Of these, the Islamic activists have been the most prominent threat to the government and have in recent years perpetrated a number of violent or terrorist acts in the country.[74] However, open protest against the government, even if peaceful, is not tolerated.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving.[98] On 25 September 2011, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has announced that women will have the right to stand and vote in future local elections and join the advisory Shura council as full members.[99]

Monarchy and royal family

The king combines legislative, executive, and judicial functions[93] and royal decrees form the basis of the country's legislation.[100] The king is also the prime minister, and presides over the Council of Ministers (Majlis al-Wuzarāʾ), which comprises the first and second deputy prime ministers and other ministers.

The royal family dominates the political system. The family's vast numbers allow it to control most of the kingdom's important posts and to have an involvement and presence at all levels of government.[101] The number of princes is estimated to be at least 7,000, with most power and influence being wielded by the 200 or so male descendants of Ibn Saud.[102] The key ministries are generally reserved for the royal family,[87] as are the thirteen regional governorships.[103] Long term political and government appointments have resulted in the creation of "power fiefdoms" for senior princes,[104] such as those of King Abdullah, who had been Commander of the National Guard since 1963 (until 2010, when he appointed his son to replace him),[105] former Crown Prince Sultan, Minister of Defence and Aviation from 1962 to his death in 2011, former crown prince Prince Nayef who was the Minister of Interior from 1975 to his death in 2012, Prince Saud who had been Minister of Foreign Affairs since 1975[106] and current King Salman, who was Minister of Defense and Aviation before he was crown prince and Governor of the Riyadh Province from 1962 to 2011.[107] The current Minister of Defense is Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the son of King Salman and Deputy Crown Prince.[108]

The royal family is politically divided by factions based on clan loyalties, personal ambitions and ideological differences.[92] The most powerful clan faction is known as the 'Sudairi Seven', comprising the late King Fahd and his full brothers and their descendants.[109] Ideological divisions include issues over the speed and direction of reform,[110] and whether the role of the ulema should be increased or reduced. There were divisions within the family over who should succeed to the throne after the accession or earlier death of Prince Sultan.[109][111] When prince Sultan died before ascending to the throne on 21 October 2011, King Abdullah appointed Prince Nayef as crown prince.[112] The following year Prince Nayef also died before ascending to the throne.[113]

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud inherited power in 2015.

The Saudi government and the royal family have often, over many years, been accused of corruption.[114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122] In a country that is said to "belong" to the royal family and is named for them,[37] the lines between state assets and the personal wealth of senior princes are blurred.[102] The extent of corruption has been described as systemic[123] and endemic,[124] and its existence was acknowledged[125] and defended[126] by Prince Bandar bin Sultan (a senior member of the royal family[127]) in an interview in 2001.[128] Although corruption allegations have often been limited to broad undocumented accusations,[129] specific allegations were made in 2007, when it was claimed that the British defence contractor BAE Systems had paid Prince Bandar US$2 billion in bribes relating to the Al-Yamamah arms deal.[130][131] Prince Bandar denied the allegations.[132] Investigations by both US and UK authorities resulted, in 2010, in plea bargain agreements with the company, by which it paid $447 million in fines but did not admit to bribery.[133] Transparency International in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2010 gave Saudi Arabia a score of 4.7 (on a scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is "highly corrupt" and 10 is "highly clean").[134] Saudi Arabia has undergone a process of political and social reform, such as to increase public transparency and good governance. However, nepotism and patronage are widespread when doing business in the country. The enforcement of the anti-corruption laws is selective and public officials engage in corruption with impunity.

There has been mounting pressure to reform and modernize the royal family's rule, an agenda championed by King Abdullah both before and after his accession in 2005. The creation of the Consultative Council in the early 1990s did not satisfy demands for political participation, and, in 2003, an annual National Dialogue Forum was announced that would allow selected professionals and intellectuals to publicly debate current national issues, within certain prescribed parameters. In 2005, the first municipal elections were held. In 2007, the Allegiance Council was created to regulate the succession.[96] In 2009, the king made significant personnel changes to the government by appointing reformers to key positions and the first woman to a ministerial post.[135][136] However, the changes have been criticized as being too slow or merely cosmetic.[137]

Al ash-Sheikh and role of the ulema

Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh with Bogdan Borusewicz in the Polish Senate, 26 May 2014

Saudi Arabia is almost unique in giving the ulema (the body of Islamic religious leaders and jurists) a direct role in government,[138] the only other example being Iran.[139] The ulema have also been a key influence in major government decisions, for example the imposition of the oil embargo in 1973 and the invitation to foreign troops to Saudi Arabia in 1990.[140] In addition, they have had a major role in the judicial and education systems[141] and a monopoly of authority in the sphere of religious and social morals.[142]

By the 1970s, as a result of oil wealth and the modernization of the country initiated by King Faisal, important changes to Saudi society were under way and the power of the ulema was in decline.[143] However, this changed following the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979 by Islamist radicals.[144] The government's response to the crisis included strengthening the ulema's powers and increasing their financial support:[66] in particular, they were given greater control over the education system[144] and allowed to enforce stricter observance of Wahhabi rules of moral and social behaviour.[66] After his accession to the throne in 2005, King Abdullah took steps to reduce the powers of the ulema, for instance transferring control over girls' education to the Ministry of Education.[145]

The ulema have historically been led by the Al ash-Sheikh,[146] the country's leading religious family.[142] The Al ash-Sheikh are the descendants of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the 18th century founder of the Wahhabi form of Sunni Islam which is today dominant in Saudi Arabia.[147] The family is second in prestige only to the Al Saud (the royal family)[148] with whom they formed a "mutual support pact"[149] and power-sharing arrangement nearly 300 years ago.[140] The pact, which persists to this day,[149] is based on the Al Saud maintaining the Al ash-Sheikh's authority in religious matters and upholding and propagating Wahhabi doctrine. In return, the Al ash-Sheikh support the Al Saud's political authority[150] thereby using its religious-moral authority to legitimize the royal family's rule.[151] Although the Al ash-Sheikh's domination of the ulema has diminished in recent decades,[152] they still hold the most important religious posts and are closely linked to the Al Saud by a high degree of intermarriage.[142]

Legal system

Verses from the Quran. The Quran is the official constitution of the country and a primary source of law. Saudi Arabia is unique in enshrining a religious text as a political document[153]

The primary source of law is the Islamic Sharia derived from the teachings of the Qu'ran and the Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet).[100] Saudi Arabia is unique among modern Muslim states in that Sharia is not codified and there is no system of judicial precedent, giving judges the power to use independent legal reasoning to make a decision. Saudi judges tend to follow the principles of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence (or fiqh) found in pre-modern texts[154] and noted for its literalist interpretation of the Qu'ran and hadith.[155] Because the judge is empowered to disregard previous judgments (either his own or of other judges) and may apply his personal interpretation of Sharia to any particular case, divergent judgements arise even in apparently identical cases,[156] making predictability of legal interpretation difficult.[157] The Sharia court system constitutes the basic judiciary of Saudi Arabia and its judges (qadi) and lawyers form part of the ulema, the country's Islamic scholars.

Royal decrees are the other main source of law; but are referred to as regulations rather than laws because they are subordinate to the Sharia.[100] Royal decrees supplement Sharia in areas such as labor, commercial and corporate law. Additionally, traditional tribal law and custom remain significant.[158] Extra-Sharia government tribunals usually handle disputes relating to specific royal decrees.[159] Final appeal from both Sharia courts and government tribunals is to the King and all courts and tribunals follow Sharia rules of evidence and procedure.[160]

The Saudi system of justice has been criticized for its "ultra-puritanical judges", who are often harsh in their sentencing (with beheading for the crime of witchcraft), but also sometimes overly lenient (for cases of rape or wife-beating) and slow, for example leaving thousands of abandoned women unable to secure a divorce.[161][162] The system has also been criticized for being arcane,[163] lacking in some of the safeguards of justice, and unable to deal with the modern world.[164] In 2007, King Abdullah issued royal decrees reforming the judiciary and creating a new court system,[156] and, in 2009, the King made a number of significant changes to the judiciary's personnel at the most senior level by bringing in a younger generation.[163]

Deera Square, central Riyadh. Known locally as "Chop-chop square", it is the location of public beheadings.[165]

Capital and physical punishments imposed by Saudi courts, such as beheading, stoning (to death), amputation, crucifixion and lashing, as well as the sheer number of executions have been strongly criticized.[166] The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery and can be carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning or firing squad, followed by crucifixion.[167][168][169] The 345 reported executions between 2007 and 2010 were all carried out by public beheading. The last reported execution for sorcery took place in September 2014.[170]

Although repeated theft can be punishable by amputation of the right hand, only one instance of judicial amputation was reported between 2007 and 2010. Homosexual acts are punishable by flogging or death.[167][169][171][172][173][174] Atheism or "calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based" is considered a terrorist crime.[175] Lashings are a common form of punishment[176] and are often imposed for offences against religion and public morality such as drinking alcohol and neglect of prayer and fasting obligations.[167]

Retaliatory punishments, or Qisas, are practised: for instance, an eye can be surgically removed at the insistence of a victim who lost his own eye.[162] Families of someone unlawfully killed can choose between demanding the death penalty or granting clemency in return for a payment of diyya (blood money), by the perpetrator.[177]

Human rights

In 2014, Saudi Arabian writer Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes for insulting Islam.

Western-based organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemn both the Saudi criminal justice system and its severe punishments. There are no jury trials in Saudi Arabia and courts observe few formalities.[178] Human Rights Watch, in a 2008 report, noted that a criminal procedure code had been introduced for the first time in 2002, but it lacked some basic protections and, in any case, had been routinely ignored by judges. Those arrested are often not informed of the crime of which they are accused or given access to a lawyer and are subject to abusive treatment and torture if they do not confess. At trial, there is a presumption of guilt and the accused is often unable to examine witnesses and evidence or present a legal defense. Most trials are held in secret.[179][180] An example of sentencing is that UK pensioner and cancer victim Karl Andree, aged 74, faces 360 lashes for home brewing alcohol. His family fears the punishment could kill him.[181]

Saudi Arabia is widely accused of having one of the worst human rights records in the world. Human rights issues that have attracted strong criticism include the extremely disadvantaged position of women (see Women below), capital punishment for homosexuality,[182] religious discrimination, the lack of religious freedom and the activities of the religious police (see Religion below).[166] Between 1996 and 2000, Saudi Arabia acceded to four UN human rights conventions and, in 2004, the government approved the establishment of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), staffed by government employees, to monitor their implementation. To date, the activities of the NSHR have been limited and doubts remain over its neutrality and independence.[183] Saudi Arabia remains one of the very few countries in the world not to accept the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In response to the continuing criticism of its human rights record, the Saudi government points to the special Islamic character of the country, and asserts that this justifies a different social and political order.[184] The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom had unsuccessfully[185] urged President Barack Obama to raise human rights concerns with King Abdullah on his March 2014 visit to the Kingdom especially the imprisonments of Sultan Hamid Marzooq al-Enezi, Saud Falih Awad al-Enezi, and Raif Badawi.[186] Saudi Arabia also conducts dozens of executions each year, mainly for murder and drug smuggling, although there are people who have been executed for deserting Islam and crimes against the Faisal bin Musaid.[187] The method of execution is normally beheading in public.[188][189] For example, Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 when he was 17 years old for taking part in an anti-government protests in Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring.[190] In May 2014, Ali al-Nimr was sentenced to be publicly beheaded and crucified.[191]

In 2013, the government deported thousands of non-Saudis, many of them who were working illegally in the country or had overstayed their visas. Many reports abound, of foreigner workers being tortured either by employers or others.[192][193] This resulted in many basic services suffering from a lack of workers, as many Saudi Arabian citizens are not keen on working in blue collar jobs.[194][195][196]

Saudi Arabia has a "Counter-Radicalization Program" the purpose of which is to "combat the spread and appeal of extremist ideologies among the general populous" and to "instill the true values of the Islamic faith, such as tolerance and moderation."[197] This "tolerance and moderation" has been called into question by the Baltimore Sun, based on the reports from Amnesty International regarding Raif Badawi,[198] and in the case of a man from Hafr al-Batin sentenced to death for rejecting Islam.[199] In September 2015, Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, has been elected Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council panel that appoints independent experts.[200] In January 2016, Saudi Arabia executed the prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr who had called for pro-democracy demonstrations and for elections in Saudi Arabia.[201]

Foreign relations

U.S. President Barack Obama with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, July 2014

Saudi Arabia joined the UN in 1945[33][202] and is a founding member of the Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council, Muslim World League, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation).[203] It plays a prominent role in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and in 2005 joined the World Trade Organization.[33] Saudi Arabia supports the intended formation of the Arab Customs Union in 2015 and an Arab common market[204] by 2020, as announced at the 2009 Arab League summit.[205]

Since 1960, as a founding member of OPEC, its oil pricing policy has been generally to stabilize the world oil market and try to moderate sharp price movements so as to not jeopardise the Western economies.[33][206]

Between the mid-1970s and 2002 Saudi Arabia expended over $70 billion in "overseas development aid". However, there is evidence that the vast majority was, in fact, spent on propagating and extending the influence of Wahhabism at the expense of other forms of Islam.[207] There has been an intense debate over whether Saudi aid and Wahhabism has fomented extremism in recipient countries.[208] The two main allegations are that, by its nature, Wahhabism encourages intolerance and promotes terrorism.[209] Relations with the United States became strained following 9/11.[210] American politicians and media accused the Saudi government of supporting terrorism and tolerating a jihadist culture.[211] Indeed, Osama bin Laden and fifteen out of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia;[212] in ISIL-occupied Raqqa, in mid-2014, all 12 judges were Saudi.[213] According to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups... Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide."[214] Former CIA director James Woolsey described it as "the soil in which Al-Qaeda and its sister terrorist organizations are flourishing."[215] The Saudi government denies these claims or that it exports religious or cultural extremism.[216]

Faisal Mosque in Islamabad is named after a Saudi King. The Kingdom is a strong ally of Pakistan, WikiLeaks claimed that Saudis are "long accustomed to having a significant role in Pakistan's affairs"."[217]

In the Arab and Muslim worlds, Saudi Arabia is considered to be pro-Western and pro-American,[218] and it is certainly a long-term ally of the United States.[219] However, this[220] and Saudi Arabia's role in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, particularly the stationing of U.S. troops on Saudi soil from 1991, prompted the development of a hostile Islamist response internally.[221] As a result, Saudi Arabia has, to some extent, distanced itself from the U.S. and, for example, refused to support or to participate in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.[93]

The consequences of the 2003 invasion and the Arab Spring led to increasing alarm within the Saudi monarchy over the rise of Iran's influence in the region.[222] These fears were reflected in comments of King Abdullah,[145] who privately urged the United States to attack Iran and "cut off the head of the snake".[223] The tentative rapprochement between the US and Iran that began in secret in 2011[224] was said to be feared by the Saudis,[225] and, during the run up to the widely welcomed deal on Iran's nuclear programme that capped the first stage of US–Iranian détente, Robert Jordan, who was U.S. ambassador to Riyadh from 2001 to 2003, said "[t]he Saudis' worst nightmare would be the [Obama] administration striking a grand bargain with Iran."[226] A trip to Saudi by US President Barack Obama in 2014 included discussions of US–Iran relations, though these failed to resolve Riyadh's concerns.[227]

In order to protect the house of Khalifa, the monarchs of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia invaded Bahrain by sending military troops to quell the uprising of Bahraini people on 14 March 2011.[228] The Saudi government considered the two-month uprising as a "security threat" posed by the Shia who represent the majority of Bahrain population.[228]

According to the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in March 2014, Saudi Arabia along with Qatar provided political, financial and media support to terrorists against the Iraqi government.[229]

Saudi Arabian-led airstrikes in Yemen, June 2015. Saudi Arabia is operating without a UN mandate.

On March 25, 2015, Saudi Arabia, spearheading a coalition of Sunni Muslim states,[230] started a military intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was deposed in the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.[231]

As of 2015, together with Qatar and Turkey, Saudi Arabia is openly supporting the Army of Conquest,[232][233] an umbrella group of anti-government forces fighting in the Syrian Civil War that reportedly includes an al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front and another Salafi coalition known as Ahrar ash-Sham.[234]

Following a number of incidents during the Hajj season, the deadliest[235] of which killed at least 2,070 pilgrim[236] in 2015 Mina stampede, Saudi Arabia has been accused of mismanagement and focusing on increasing money revenues while neglecting pilgrims’ welfare.[237]

Saudi Arabia has been seen as a moderating influence in the Arab-Israeli conflict, periodically putting forward a peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians and condemning Hezbollah.[238] Following the Arab Spring Saudi Arabia offered asylum to deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and King Abdullah telephoned President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (prior to his deposition) to offer his support.[239] In early 2014 relations with Qatar became strained over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and Saudi Arabia's belief that Qatar was interfering in its affairs. In August 2014 both countries appeared to be exploring ways of ending the rift.[240]

Military

Saudi Arabia has one of the highest percentages of military expenditure in the world, spending more than 10% of its GDP in its military. The Saudi military consists of the Royal Saudi Land Forces, the Royal Saudi Air Force, the Royal Saudi Navy, the Royal Saudi Air Defense, the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG, an independent military force), and paramilitary forces, totaling nearly 200,000 active-duty personnel. In 2005 the armed forces had the following personnel: the army, 75,000; the air force, 18,000; air defense, 16,000; the navy, 15,500 (including 3,000 marines); and the SANG had 75,000 active soldiers and 25,000 tribal levies. [241] In addition, there is an Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah military intelligence service.

The kingdom has a long-standing military relationship with Pakistan, it has long been speculated that Saudi Arabia secretly funded Pakistan's atomic bomb programme and seeks to purchase atomic weapons from Pakistan, in near future.[242][243] The SANG is not a reserve but a fully operational front-line force, and originated out of Ibn Saud's tribal military-religious force, the Ikhwan. Its modern existence, however, is attributable to it being effectively Abdullah's private army since the 1960s and, unlike the rest of the armed forces, is independent of the Ministry of Defense and Aviation. The SANG has been a counterbalance to the Sudairi faction in the royal family: Prince Sultan, the Minister of Defense and Aviation, is one of the so-called 'Sudairi Seven' and controls the remainder of the armed forces.[244]

Saudi and U.S. troops train in December 2014

Spending on defense and security has increased significantly since the mid-1990s and was about US$25.4 billion in 2005. Saudi Arabia ranks among the top 10 in the world in government spending for its military, representing about 7% of gross domestic product in 2005. Its modern high-technology arsenal makes Saudi Arabia among the world's most densely armed nations, with its military equipment being supplied primarily by the US, France and Britain.[241] The United States sold more than $80 billion in military hardware between 1951 and 2006 to the Saudi military.[245] On 20 October 2010, the U.S. State Department notified Congress of its intention to make the biggest arms sale in American history—an estimated $60.5 billion purchase by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The package represents a considerable improvement in the offensive capability of the Saudi armed forces.[246] 2013 saw Saudi military spending climb to $67bn, overtaking that of the UK, France and Japan to place fourth globally.[247]

The United Kingdom has also been a major supplier of military equipment to Saudi Arabia since 1965.[248] Since 1985, the UK has supplied military aircraft—notably the Tornado and Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft—and other equipment as part of the long-term Al-Yamamah arms deal estimated to have been worth £43 billion by 2006 and thought to be worth a further £40 billion.[249] In May 2012, British defence giant BAE signed a £1.9bn ($3bn) deal to supply Hawk trainer jets to Saudi Arabia.[250]

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, in 2010–14 Saudi Arabia became the world’s second largest arms importer, receiving four times more major arms than in 2005–2009. Major imports in 2010–14 included 45 combat aircraft from the UK, 38 combat helicopters from the USA, 4 tanker aircraft from Spain and over 600 armoured vehicles from Canada. Saudi Arabia has a long list of outstanding orders for arms, including 27 more combat aircraft from the UK, 154 combat aircraft from the USA and a large number of armoured vehicles from Canada.[27] Saudi Arabia received 41 per cent of UK arms exports in 2010–14.[251]

Geography

Saudi Arabia topography (Altitude color coded)
Saudi Arabia physical features

Saudi Arabia occupies about 80% of the Arabian Peninsula (the world's largest peninsula),[252] 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 marked, the exact size of the country is undefined.[252] The CIA World Factbook estimates 2,149,690 km2 (830,000 sq mi) and lists Saudi Arabia as the world's 13th largest state.[253]

Saudi Arabia's geography is dominated by the Arabian Desert and associated semi-desert and shrubland (see satellite image). It is, in fact, a number of linked deserts and includes the 647,500 km2 (250,001 sq mi) Rub' al Khali ("Empty Quarter") in the southern part of the country, the world's largest contiguous sand desert.[93][254] There are virtually no rivers or lakes in the country, but wadis are numerous. The few fertile areas are to be found in the alluvial deposits in wadis, basins, and oases.[93] The main topographical feature is the central plateau which rises abruptly from the Red Sea and gradually descends into the Nejd and toward the Persian Gulf. On the Red Sea coast, there is a narrow coastal plain, known as the Tihamah parallel to which runs an imposing escarpment. The southwest province of Asir is mountainous, and contains the 3,133 m (10,279 ft) Mount Sawda, which is the highest point in the country.[93]

Saudi Arabia satellite image-Ecoregions as delineated by the WWF. The yellow line encloses the ecoregions - Arabian Desert, East Sahero-Arabian xeric shrublands and two other smaller desert areas.[255]
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Except for the southwestern province of Asir, Saudi Arabia has a desert climate with extremely high day-time temperatures and a sharp temperature drop at night. Average summer temperatures are around 113 °F (45 °C), but can be as high as 129 °F (54 °C). In the winter the temperature rarely drops below 32 °F (0 °C). In the spring and autumn the heat is temperate, temperatures average around 84 °F (29 °C). Annual rainfall is extremely low. The Asir region differs in that it is influenced by the Indian Ocean monsoons, usually occurring between October and March. An average of 300 mm (12 in) of rainfall occurs during this period, that is about 60% of the annual precipitation.[256]

Animal life includes wolves, hyenas, mongooses, baboons, hares, sand rats, and jerboas. Larger animals such as gazelles, oryx, and leopards were relatively numerous until the 1950s, when hunting from motor vehicles reduced these animals almost to extinction. Birds include falcons (which are caught and trained for hunting), eagles, hawks, vultures, sand grouse and bulbuls. There are several species of snakes, many of which are venomous, and numerous types of lizards. There is a wide variety of marine life in the Persian Gulf. Domesticated animals include camels, sheep, goats, donkeys, and chickens. Reflecting the country's desert conditions, Saudi Arabia's plant life mostly consists of small herbs and shrubs requiring little water. There are a few small areas of grass and trees in southern Asir. The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is widespread.[93]

Administrative divisions

Saudi Arabia is divided into 13 regions[257] (Arabic: مناطق إدارية‎; manatiq idāriyya, sing. منطقة إدارية; mintaqah idariyya). The regions are further divided into 118 governorates (Arabic: محافظات‎; muhafazat, sing. محافظة; muhafazah). This number includes the 13 regional capitals, which have a different status as municipalities (Arabic: أمانة‎; amanah) headed by mayors (Arabic: أمين‎; amin). The governorates are further sudivided into sub-governorates (Arabic: مراكز‎; marakiz, sing. مركز; markaz).

No. Region Capital
Provinces of Saudi Arabia
1 Al Jawf (or Jouf) Sakaka
2 Northern Borders Arar
3 Tabuk Tabuk
4 Ha'il Ha'il
5 Al Madinah Medina
6 Al Qasim Buraidah
7 Makkah Mecca
8 Al Riyadh Riyadh
9 Eastern Province Dammam
10 Al Bahah (or Baha) Al Bahah
11 Asir Abha
12 Jizan Jizan
13 Najran Najran

Economy

King Fahd Road in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia's command economy is petroleum-based; roughly 75% of budget revenues and 90% of export earnings come from the oil industry. It is strongly dependent on foreign workers with about 80% of those employed in the private sector being non-Saudi.[258][259] Among the challenges to Saudi economy include halting or reversing the decline in per capita income, improving education to prepare youth for the workforce and providing them with employment, diversifying the economy, stimulating the private sector and housing construction, diminishing corruption and inequality.

The oil industry comprises about 45% of Saudi Arabia's nominal gross domestic product, compared with 40% from the private sector (see below). Saudi Arabia officially has about 260 billion barrels (4.1×1010 m3) of oil reserves, comprising about one-fifth of the world's proven total petroleum reserves.[260]

In the 1990s, Saudi Arabia experienced a significant contraction of oil revenues combined with a high rate of population growth. Per capita income fell from a high of $11,700 at the height of the oil boom in 1981 to $6,300 in 1998.[261] Taking into account the impact of the real oil price changes on the Kingdom's real gross domestic income, the real command-basis GDP was computed to be 330.381 billion 1999 USD in 2010.[262] Increases in oil prices in the aughts helped boost per capita GDP to $17,000 in 2007 dollars (about $7,400 adjusted for inflation),[263] but have declined since oil price drop in mid-2014.[264]

Office of Saudi Aramco, world's most valuable company and main source of revenue for the state.

OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) limits its members' oil production based on their "proven reserves." Saudi Arabia's published reserves have shown little change since 1980, with the main exception being an increase of about 100 billion barrels (1.6×1010 m3) between 1987 and 1988.[265] Matthew Simmons has suggested that Saudi Arabia is greatly exaggerating its reserves and may soon show production declines (see peak oil).[266]

Al-Rajhi Bank is world's largest Islamic bank.
Kingdom Holding Company has investments in Apple, Euro Disney S.C.A., Twitter and Citigroup
Saudi Telecom Company is world's 15th largest mobile network operator.

From 2003–2013 "several key services" were privatized—municipal water supply, electricity, telecommunications—and parts of education and health care, traffic control and car accident reporting were also privatized. According to Arab News columnist Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg, "in almost every one of these areas, consumers have raised serious concerns about the performance of these privatized entities."[267] The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Saudi stock exchange peaked at 16,712.64 in 2005, and closed at 8,535.60, at the end of 2013.[268] In November 2005, Saudi Arabia was approved as a member of the World Trade Organization. Negotiations to join had focused on the degree to which Saudi Arabia is willing to increase market access to foreign goods and in 2000, the government established the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority to encourage foreign direct investment in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia maintains a list of sectors in which foreign investment is prohibited, but the government plans to open some closed sectors such as telecommunications, insurance, and power transmission/distribution over time.

The government has also made an attempt at "Saudizing" the economy, replacing foreign workers with Saudi nationals with limited success.[269]

Saudi Arabia has had five-year "Development Plans" since 1970. Among its plans were to launch "economic cities" (e.g. King Abdullah Economic City) to be completed by 2020, in an effort to diversify the economy and provide jobs. As of 2013 four cities were planned.[270] The King has announced that the per capita income is forecast to rise from $15,000 in 2006 to $33,500 in 2020.[271] The cities will be spread around Saudi Arabia to promote diversification for each region and their economy, and the cities are projected to contribute $150 billion to the GDP.

In addition to petroleum and gas, Saudi also has a small gold mining sector in the Mahd adh Dhahab region[272] and other mineral industries, an agricultural sector (especially in the southwest) based on dates and livestock, and large number of temporary jobs created by the roughly two million annual hajj pilgrims.[273]

Statistics on poverty in the kingdom are not available through the UN resources because the Saudi government does not issue any.[274] The Saudi state discourages calling attention to or complaining about poverty. In December 2011, the Saudi interior ministry arrested three reporters and held them for almost two weeks for questioning after they uploaded a video on the topic to YouTube.[275][276][277] Authors of the video claim that 22% of Saudis may be considered poor (2009).[278] Observers researching the issue prefer to stay anonymous[279] because of the risk of being arrested.

Agriculture

The Nejd landscape: desert and the Tuwaiq Escarpment near Riyadh

Saudi Arabia encouraged desert agriculture by providing substantial subsidies as well as consuming 300 billion cubic meter of mostly non-renewable water reserves free of charge to grow alfalfa, cereals, meat and milk in the Arabian Desert.[280] Consuming non-renewable groundwater resulted in the loss of an estimated four fifths of the total groundwater reserves by 2012.[281]

Water supply and sanitation

Water supply and sanitation in Saudi Arabia is characterized by significant investments in seawater desalination, water distribution, sewerage and wastewater treatment leading to a substantial increase in access to drinking water and sanitation over the past decades. About 50% of drinking water comes from desalination, 40% from the mining of non-renewable groundwater and 10% from surface water, especially in the mountainous South-West of the country. The capital Riyadh, located in the heart of the country, is supplied with desalinated water pumped from the Persian Gulf over a distance of 467 km. Given the substantial oil wealth, water is provided almost for free. Despite improvements service quality remains poor. For example, in Riyadh water was available only once every 2.5 days in 2011, while in Jeddah it is available only every 9 days.[282] Institutional capacity and governance in the sector are weak, reflecting general characteristics of the public sector in Saudi Arabia. Since 2000, the government has increasingly relied on the private sector to operate water and sanitation infrastructure, beginning with desalination and wastewater treatment plants. Since 2008, the operation of urban water distribution systems is being gradually delegated to private companies as well.

Demographics

Saudi Arabia population density (people per km2)

The population of Saudi Arabia as of July 2013 is estimated to be 26.9 million, including between 5.5 million[5] and 10 million non-nationalized immigrants,[259][283] though the Saudi population has long proved difficult to accurately estimate due to Saudi leaders' historical tendency to artificially inflate census results.[284] Saudi population has grown rapidly since 1950 when it was estimated to be 3 million,[285] and for many years had one of the highest birthrates in the world at around 3% a year.[286]

The ethnic composition of Saudi citizens is 90% Arab and 10% Afro-Asian.[287] Most Saudis live in Hejaz (35%), Najd (28%), and the Eastern Province (15%).[288] Hejaz is the most populated region in Saudi Arabia.[289]

As late as 1970, most Saudis lived a subsistence life in the rural provinces, but in the last half of the 20th century the kingdom has urbanized rapidly. As of 2012 about 80% of Saudis live in urban metropolitan areas—specifically Riyadh, Jeddah, or Dammam. [290][291]

Its population is also quite young with over half the population under 25 years old.[292] A large fraction are foreign nationals. (The CIA Factbook estimated that as of 2013 foreign nationals living in Saudi Arabia made up about 21% of the population.[5] Other estimates are 30%[293] or 33%[294])

As recently as the early 1960s, Saudi Arabia's slave population was estimated at 300,000.[295] Slavery was officially abolished in 1962.[296][297]

Languages

The official language of Saudi Arabia is Arabic. The three main regional variants spoken by Saudis are Hejazi Arabic (about 6 million speakers[298]), Najdi Arabic (about 8 million speakers[299]), and Gulf Arabic (about 0.2 million speakers[300]). Saudi Sign Language is the principal language of the deaf community. The large expatriate communities also speak their own languages, the most numerous of which are Tagalog (700,000), Rohingya (400,000), Urdu (380,000), and Egyptian Arabic (300,000).[301]

An open-air mosque near Jeddah

Religions

Virtually all Saudi citizens are Muslim[302] (officially – all), and almost all Saudi residents are Muslim.[303][303][304] Estimates of the Sunni population of Saudi Arabia are somewhere between 75–90%, with the remaining 10–25% being Shia Muslim.[15][305][306][307][308] In January 2016, Saudi Arabia executed leading Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr.[201] The official and dominant form of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia is commonly known as Wahhabism, (proponents prefer the name Salafism, considering Wahhabi derogatory[309]) and is often described as 'puritanical', 'intolerant', or 'ultra-conservative' by observers, and as "true" Islam by its adherents. It was founded in the Arabian Peninsula by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the eighteenth century.

According to estimates there are about 1.5 million Christians in Saudi Arabia, almost all foreign workers.[310] Saudi Arabia allows Christians to enter the country as foreign workers for temporary work, but does not allow them to practice their faith openly. The percentage of Saudi Arabian citizens who are Christians is officially zero,[311] as Saudi Arabia forbids religious conversion from Islam (Apostasy) and punishes it by death.[312][313] In spite of this, a 2015 study estimates 60,000 Muslims converted to Christianity in Saudi Arabia.[314] According to Pew Research Center there are 390,000 Hindu in Saudi Arabia, almost all foreign workers.[315]

Foreigners

Saudi Arabia's Central Department of Statistics & Information estimated the foreign population at the end of 2014 at 33% (10.1 million).[316] The CIA Factbook estimated that as of 2013 foreign nationals living in Saudi Arabia made up about 21% of the population.[5] Other sources report differing estimates.[294] Indian: 1.3 million, Pakistani: 1.5 million,[317] Egyptian: 900,000, Yemeni: 800,000, Bangladeshi: 500,000, Filipino: 500,000, Jordanian/Palestinian: 260,000, Indonesian: 250,000, Sri Lankan: 350,000, Sudanese: 250,000, Syrian: 100,000 and Turkish: 100,000.[318] There are around 100,000 Westerners in Saudi Arabia, most of whom live in compounds or gated communities.

Foreign Muslims[319] who have resided in the kingdom for ten years may apply for Saudi citizenship. (Priority is given to holders of degrees in various scientific fields,[320] and exception made for Palestinians who are excluded unless married to a Saudi national, because of Arab League instructions barring the Arab states from granting them citizenship.) Saudi Arabia is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.[321]

As Saudi population grows and oil export revenues stagnate, pressure for "Saudization" (the replacement of foreign workers with Saudis) has grown, and the Saudi government hopes to decrease the number of foreign nationals in the country.[322] Saudi Arabia expelled 800,000 Yemenis in 1990 and 1991[323] and has built a Saudi–Yemen barrier against an influx of illegal immigrants and against the smuggling of drugs and weapons.[324] In November 2013, Saudi Arabia expelled thousands of illegal Ethiopian residents from the Kingdom. Various Human Rights entities have criticised Saudi Arabia's handling of the issue.[325] Over 500,000 undocumented migrant workers — mostly from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen — have been detained and deported since 2013.[326]

Largest cities

 
Largest cities or towns in Saudi Arabia
Central Department of Statistics & Information
Rank Name Regions Pop. Rank Name Regions Pop.

Riyadh

Jeddah		 1 Riyadh Riyadh 5,328,228 11 Tabuk Tabuk 569,797
Mecca

Medina
2 Jeddah Makkah 3,456,259 12 Ha'il Ha'il 412,758
3 Mecca Makkah 1,675,368 13 Hafar Al-Batin Eastern 389,993
4 Medina Al Madinah 1,180,770 14 Jubail Eastern 378,949
5 Hofuf Eastern 1,063,112 15 Al-Kharj Riyadh 376,325
6 Ta'if Makkah 987,914 16 Qatif Eastern 371,182
7 Dammam Eastern 903,597 17 Abha 'Asir 366,551
8 Khamis Mushait 'Asir 630,000 18 Najran Najran 329,112
9 Buraidah Al-Qassim 614,093 19 Yanbu Al Madinah 298,675
10 Khobar Eastern 578,500 20 Al Qunfudhah Makkah 272,424

Monarchs (1932–present)

Crown Princes (1933–present)

Second Deputy Prime Minister/Second-in-line (1965–2011)

Deputy Crown Prince/Second-in-line (2014–present)

Culture

Supplicating Pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram, Mecca

Saudi Arabia has centuries-old attitudes and traditions, often derived from Arab civilization. This culture has been heavily influenced by the austerely puritanical Wahhabi form of Islam, which arose in the eighteenth century and now predominates in the country. Wahhabi Islam has been called "the predominant feature of Saudi culture."[11]

Religion in society

Stoning of the Devil at Mina during the Hajj pilgrimage, following in the tradition of Ibrahim and Ismail

Saudi Arabia differs from other modern Muslim countries in being the only state "to have been created by jihad, the only one to claim the Quran as its constitution", and one of only four Muslim countries "to have escaped European imperialism."[327] Its Hejaz region and its cities Mecca and Medina are the cradle of Islam, the destination of the hajj pilgrimage, the two holiest sites of Islam.[328]

Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia and its law requires that all citizens be Muslims.[329] Neither Saudi citizens nor guest workers have the right of freedom of religion.[329] The official and dominant form of Islam in the kingdom – Wahhabism—arose in the central region of Najd, the eighteenth century. Proponents call the movement "Salafism",[309] and believe that its teachings purify the practice of Islam of innovations or practices that deviate from the seventh-century teachings of Muhammad and his companions.[330] The Saudi government has often been viewed as an active oppressor of Shia Muslims because of the funding of the Wahabbi ideology which denounces the Shia faith.[331] Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi ambassador to the United States, stated: "The time is not far off in the Middle East when it will be literally 'God help the Shia'. More than a billion Sunnis have simply had enough of them."[332]

Saudi is one of the few countries that have "religious police" (known as Haia or Mutaween), who patrol the streets "enjoining good and forbidding wrong" by enforcing dress codes, strict separation of men and women, attendance at prayer (salat) five times each day, the ban on alcohol, and other aspects of Sharia (Islamic law). (In the privacy of the home behavior can be far looser, and reports from the Daily Mail and WikiLeaks indicate that the ruling Saudi Royal family applies a different moral code to itself, indulging in parties, drugs and sex.[333])

The kingdom uses the lunar Islamic calendar, not the international Gregorian calendar.[334] Daily life is dominated by Islamic observance. Businesses are closed three or four times a day[335] for 30 to 45 minutes during business hours while employees and customers are sent off to pray.[336] The weekend is Friday-Saturday, not Saturday-Sunday, because Friday is the holiest day for Muslims.[93][337][338] For many years only two religious holidays were publicly recognized – ʿĪd al-Fiṭr and ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā. (ʿĪd al-Fiṭr is "the biggest" holiday, a three-day period of "feasting, gift-giving and general letting go".[339])

As of 2004 approximately half of the broadcast airtime of Saudi state television was devoted to religious issues.[340] 90% of books published in the kingdom were on religious subjects, and most of the doctorates awarded by its universities were in Islamic studies.[341] In the state school system, about half of the material taught is religious. In contrast, assigned readings over twelve years of primary and secondary schooling devoted to covering the history, literature, and cultures of the non-Muslim world comes to a total of about 40 pages.[340]

Non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the holy city of Mecca.

"Fierce religious resistance" had to be overcome to permit such innovations as paper money (in 1951), female education (1964), and television (1965) and the abolition of slavery (1962).[342] Public support for the traditional political/religious structure of the kingdom is so strong that one researcher interviewing Saudis found virtually no support for reforms to secularize the state.[343]

Because of religious restrictions, Saudi culture lacks any diversity of religious expression, buildings, annual festivals and public events.[344][345] Celebration of other (non-Wahhabi) Islamic holidays, such as the Muhammad's birthday and the Day of Ashura, (an important holiday for the 10–25% of the population [15][305][306][307] that is Shīʿa Muslim), are tolerated only when celebrated locally and on a small scale.[346] Shia also face systematic discrimination in employment, education, the justice system according to Human Rights Watch.[347][348][349] Non-Muslim festivals like Christmas and Easter are not tolerated at all,[350] although there are nearly a million Christians as well as Hindus and Buddhists among the foreign workers.[6][350] No churches, temples or other non-Muslim houses of worship are permitted in the country. Proselytizing by non-Muslims and conversion by Muslims to another religion is illegal,[6] and as of 2014 the distribution of "publications that have prejudice to any other religious belief other than Islam" (such as Bibles), was reportedly punishable by death.[351][352] In legal compensation court cases (Diyya) non-Muslim are awarded less than Muslims.[350] Atheists are legally designated as terrorists.[353] Saudis or foreign residents who call "into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based" may be subject to as much as 20 years in prison.[354] And at least one religious minority, the Ahmadiyya Muslims, had its adherents deported,[355] as they are legally banned from entering the country.[356]

Islamic heritage sites

The Mosque of the Prophet in Medina containing the tomb of Muhammad.

Saudi Wahhabism is hostile to any reverence given to historical or religious places of significance for fear that it may give rise to 'shirk' (idolatry), and the most significant historic Muslim sites (in Mecca and Medina) are located in the western Saudi region of Hejaz.[328] As a consequence, under Saudi rule, an estimated 95% of Mecca's historic buildings, most over a thousand years old, have been demolished for religious reasons.[357] Critics claim that over the last 50 years, 300 historic sites linked to Muhammad, his family or companions have been lost,[358] leaving fewer than 20 structures remaining in Mecca that date back to the time of Muhammad.[359] Demolished structures include the mosque originally built by Muhammad's daughter Fatima, and other mosques founded by Abu Bakr (Muhammad's father-in-law and the first Caliph), Umar (the second Caliph), Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law and the fourth Caliph), and Salman al-Farsi (another of Muhammad's companions).[360][361]

Dress

Saudi Arabian dress strictly follows the principles of hijab (the Islamic principle of modesty, especially in dress). The predominantly loose and flowing, but covering, garments are suited to Saudi Arabia's desert climate. Traditionally, men usually wear a white ankle length garment woven from wool or cotton (known as a thawb), with a keffiyeh (a large checkered square of cotton held in place by an agal) or a ghutra (a plain white square made of finer cotton, also held in place by an agal) worn on the head. For rare chilly days, Saudi men wear a camel-hair cloak (bisht) over the top. In public women are required to wear a black abaya or other black clothing that covers everything under the neck with the exception of their hands and feet, although most women cover their head in respect for their religion. This requirement applies to non-Muslim women too and failure to abide can result in police action, particularly in more conservative areas of the country. Women's clothes are often decorated with tribal motifs, coins, sequins, metallic thread, and appliques.

Arts and entertainment

King Abdullah practising falconry, a traditional pursuit in Saudi Arabia

During the 1970s, cinemas were numerous in the Kingdom although they were seen as contrary to Wahhabi norms.[363] During the Islamic revival movement in the 1980s, and as a political response to an increase in Islamist activism including the 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the government closed all cinemas and theaters. However, with King Abdullah's reforms from 2005, some cinemas have re-opened,[362] including one in KAUST.

From the 18th century onward, Wahhabi fundamentalism discouraged artistic development inconsistent with its teaching. In addition, Sunni Islamic prohibition of creating representations of people have limited the visual arts, which tend to be dominated by geometric, floral, and abstract designs and by calligraphy. With the advent of oil-wealth in the 20th century came exposure to outside influences, such as Western housing styles, furnishings, and clothes. Music and dance have always been part of Saudi life. Traditional music is generally associated with poetry and is sung collectively. Instruments include the rabābah, an instrument not unlike a three-string fiddle, and various types of percussion instruments, such as the ṭabl (drum) and the ṭār (tambourine). Of the native dances, the most popular is a martial line dance known as the ʿarḍah, which includes lines of men, frequently armed with swords or rifles, dancing to the beat of drums and tambourines. Bedouin poetry, known as nabaṭī, is still very popular.[93]

Censorship has limited the development of Saudi literature, although several Saudi novelists and poets have achieved critical and popular acclaim in the Arab world—albeit generating official hostility in their home country. These include Ghazi Algosaibi, Abdelrahman Munif, Turki al-Hamad and Rajaa al-Sanea.[364][365][366]

Sport

Main article: Sport in Saudi Arabia

Football (soccer) is the national sport in Saudi Arabia. Scuba diving, windsurfing, sailing and basketball are also popular, played by both men and women, with the Saudi Arabian national basketball team winning bronze at the 1999 Asian Championship.[367][368][369] More traditional sports such as camel racing became more popular in the 1970s. A stadium in Riyadh holds races in the winter. The annual King's Camel Race, begun in 1974, is one of the sport's most important contests and attracts animals and riders from throughout the region. Falconry, another traditional pursuit, is still practiced.[93]

Cuisine

Main article: Saudi Arabian cuisine

Saudi Arabian cuisine is similar to that of the surrounding countries in the Arabian Peninsula, and has been influenced by Turkish, Indian, Persian, and African food. Islamic dietary laws are enforced: pork is not allowed and other animals are slaughtered in accordance with halal. A dish consisting of a stuffed lamb, known as khūzī, is the traditional national dish. Kebabs are popular, as is shāwarmā (shawarma), a marinated grilled meat dish of lamb, mutton, or chicken. As in other Arab countries of the Arabian Peninsula, machbūs (kabsa), a rice dish with fish or shrimp, is popular. Flat, unleavened bread is a staple of virtually every meal, as are dates and fresh fruit. Coffee, served in the Turkish style, is the traditional beverage.[93]

Social problems

Saudi society's objective of being a religious Islamic country, coupled with economic difficulties, has created a number of issues and tensions. A rare independent opinion poll published in 2010 indicated that Saudis' main social concerns were unemployment (at 10% in 2010[370]), corruption and religious extremism.[371][372]

Crime has not been a significant problem.[241] On the other hand, juvenile delinquency in practices such as Tafheet (illegal racing), drug-use and excessive use of alcohol are getting worse. High unemployment and a generation of young males filled with contempt toward the Royal Family is a significant threat to Saudi social stability. Some Saudis feel they are entitled to well-paid government jobs, and the failure of the government to satisfy this sense of entitlement has led to considerable dissatisfaction.[373][374][375]

Child abuse

According to a study conducted by Dr. Nura Al-Suwaiyan, director of the family safety program at the National Guard Hospital, one in four children are abused in Saudi Arabia.[376] The National Society for Human Rights reports that almost 45% of the country's children are facing some sort of abuse and domestic violence.[377] In 2013, the government passed a law criminalizing domestic violence against children.[378]

Human trafficking

It has been claimed that trafficking of women is a particular problem in Saudi Arabia as the country's large number of female foreign domestic workers, and loopholes in the system cause many to fall victim to abuse and torture.[379]

Youth alienation

Like many Muslim countries of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has a high population growth rate and a high percentage of its population under 30 years of age,[380] and significant change to Saudi culture is foreseen as this generation becomes older. A number of factors suggest that the lives and level of satisfaction of youth will be different from the generation before them:

In a 2011 survey, 31% of Saudi youth agreed with the statement `traditional values are outdated and ... I am keen to embrace modern values and beliefs`—the highest percentage in the ten Arab countries surveyed.[388][389][390] The number who had confidence about the direction of their country dropped from 98% (in 2010) to 62%.[381][391] While in most societies these numbers might seem unremarkable, in Saudi Arabia any rebellion stands out against "the unquestioning acceptance ... of previous generations".[392]

Inbreeding

Marriage between first or second cousins in Saudi Arabia is among the highest rate in the world. Traditionally considered a means of "securing relationships between tribes and preserving family wealth",[393] The practice has been cited as a factor in higher rates of severe genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis or thalassemia, a blood disorder, Type 2 diabetes, (which affects about 32% of adult Saudis), hypertension, (which affects 33%),[394] thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, spinal muscular atrophy, deafness and muteness.[395][396] Neal Asbury wrote on a website named To the Point, “This has lead recently to Wahhabi clerics gingerly counseling young men to ‘choose a wife carefully with an eye to health.’"[397]

Poverty

Estimates of the number of Saudis below the poverty line range from between 12.7%[398] and 25%[399] Press reports and private estimates as of 2013 "suggest that between 2 million and 4 million" of the country's native Saudis live on "less than about $530 a month" – about $17 a day – considered the poverty line in Saudi Arabia. In contrast, Forbes magazine estimates King Abdullah's personal fortune at $18 billion.[399]

Women

Women do not have equal rights to men in the kingdom. The US State Department considers Saudi government's discrimination against women a "significant problem" in Saudi Arabia and notes that women have few political rights due to the government's discriminatory policies.[400] The World Economic Forum 2010 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Saudi Arabia 129th out of 134 countries for gender parity.[401] Other sources had complained of an absence of laws criminalizing violence against women.[400]

In August 2013, a law was passed that criminalized domestic violence against women. The ban includes penalties of a 12-month jail sentence and fines of up to 50,000 riyals ($13,000).[378][402][403]

A woman wearing a niqāb. Under Saudi law, women are required to wear Hijab but niqab is optional.

Under Saudi law, every adult female must have a male relative as her "guardian",[400] whose permission she is required to have in order to travel, study, or work.[400][404][404][405]

According to a leading Saudi feminist and journalist, Wajeha al-Huwaider, "Saudi women are weak, no matter how high their status, even the 'pampered' ones among them, because they have no law to protect them from attack by anyone."[406]

Women face discrimination in the courts, where the testimony of one man equals that of two women in family and inheritance law.[400] Polygamy is permitted for men,[407] and men have a unilateral right to divorce their wives (talaq) without needing any legal justification.[408] A woman can only obtain a divorce with the consent of her husband or judicially if her husband has harmed her.[409] In practice, it is very difficult for a Saudi woman to obtain a judicial divorce.[409] With regard to the law of inheritance, the Quran specifies that fixed portions of the deceased's estate must be left to the Qu'ranic heirs[410] and generally, female heirs receive half the portion of male heirs.[410]

The average age at first marriage among Saudi females is 25 years in Saudi Arabia,[411][412][413] with child marriage no longer common.[414][415] As of 2015, Saudi women constitute 13% of the country's native workforce despite being 51% of all university graduates.[416] Female literacy is estimated to be 81%, lower than male literacy.[5][417]

Obesity is a problem among middle and upper class Saudis who have domestic servants to do traditional work but are forbidden to drive and so are limited in their ability to leave their home.[418] As of April 2014, Saudi authorities in the education ministry have been asked by the Shoura Council to consider lifting a state school ban on sports for girls with the proviso that any sports conform to Sharia rules on dress and gender segregation, according to the official SPA news agency.[259]

The religious police, known as the mutawa, impose many restrictions on women in public in Saudi Arabia.[400][419] The restrictions include forcing women to sit in separate specially designated family sections in restaurants, to wear an abaya and to cover their hair.[400] Women are also forbidden to drive.[420]

Although Saudi Arabia imposes a strict dress code on women throughout the country by using religious police, female anchors working for Al-Arabia news network which is partly owned by Prince Abdulaziz, the son of the late King Fahad, are prohibited from wearing a veil and are encouraged to adopt a Western dress code.[421][422]

However, a number of Saudi women have risen to the top of some professions or otherwise achieved prominence; for example, Dr. Ghada Al-Mutairi heads a medical research center in California[423] and Dr. Salwa Al-Hazzaa is head of the ophthalmology department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh and was the late King Fahad's personal ophthalmologist.[424] On 25 September 2011, King Abdullah announced that Saudi women would gain the right to vote (and to be candidates) in municipal elections, following the next round of these elections. However, a male guardian's permission is required in order to vote.[425][426]

Some women also have considerable informal power in the home, often deciding "where their children would go to school, when and whom they would marry, whether their husbands would accept new jobs, with whom the family socialized, and where the family would live and spend vacations." Women networks "promoted their friends' husbands, sons and relatives to key jobs".[427]

Education

Laboratory buildings at KAUST

Education is free at all levels. The school system is composed of elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools. A large part of the curriculum at all levels is devoted to Islam, and, at the secondary level, students are able to follow either a religious or a technical track. The rate of literacy is 90.4% among males and is about 81.3% among females.[5] Classes are segregated by sex. Higher education has expanded rapidly, with large numbers of Universities and colleges being founded particularly since 2000. Institutions of higher education include the country's first university, King Saud University founded in 1957, the Islamic University at Medina founded in 1961, and the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah founded in 1967. Other colleges and universities emphasize curricula in sciences and technology, military studies, religion, and medicine. Institutes devoted to Islamic studies, in particular, abound. Women typically receive college instruction in segregated institutions.[93]

According to critics, Saudi curriculum is not just dominated by Islam but suffers from Wahhabi dogma that propagates hatred towards non-Muslim and non-Wahhabis[428] and lacks technical and other education useful for productive employment.[5][429]

Memorization by rote of large parts of the Qu'ran, its interpretation and understanding (Tafsir) and the application of Islamic tradition to everyday life is at the core of the curriculum. Religion taught in this manner is also a compulsory subject for all University students.[430] As a consequence, Saudi youth "generally lacks the education and technical skills the private sector needs" according to the CIA.[5] Similarly, The Chronicle of Higher Education wrote in 2010 that "the country needs educated young Saudis with marketable skills and a capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship. That's not generally what Saudi Arabia's educational system delivers, steeped as it is in rote learning and religious instruction."[429]

The religious sector of the Saudi national curriculum was examined in a 2006 report by Freedom House which concluded that "the Saudi public school religious curriculum continues to propagate an ideology of hate toward the 'unbeliever', that is, Christians, Jews, Shiites, Sufis, Sunni Muslims who do not follow Wahhabi doctrine, Hindus, atheists and others".[431][432] The Saudi religious studies curriculum is taught outside the Kingdom via Saudi-linked madrasah, schools, and clubs throughout the world.[433] Critics have described the education system as "medieval" and that its primary goal "is to maintain the rule of absolute monarchy by casting it as the ordained protector of the faith, and that Islam is at war with other faiths and cultures".[434]

Saudi Arabia sponsors and promotes the teaching of Wahhabism ideology which is adopted by Sunni Jihadist groups such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda and the Nusra Front. This radical teaching takes place in Saudi funded mosques and madrasas across the Islamic world from Morocco to Pakistan to Indonesia.[435]

ISIS edition of Tawhid reprinted from Saudi school textbook.

To impose Wahhabism on Iraqi children in the city of Mosul, ISIS banned schools from teaching the Iraqi curriculum and decided to use Saudi school textbooks. In particular, ISIS reprinted and distributed large quantities of an old edition of Tawhid textbook which was authored by Mohammed bin Abdulwahab, the founder of Wahhabism.[436] This book is taught to all children in the intermediate level (7-9 grade) in Saudi Arabia schools.[437]

According to the educational plan for secondary (high school) education 1435-1438 Hijri, students enrolling in the “natural sciences“ path are required to take five religion subjects which are: Tawhid, Fiqh, Tafseer, Hadith and Islamic Education and Quran. In addition, students are required to take six science subjects which are Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology and Computer.[438]

The approach taken in the Saudi education system has been accused of encouraging Islamic terrorism, leading to reform efforts.[439][440] Following the 9/11 attacks, the government aimed to tackle the twin problems of encouraging extremism and the inadequacy of the country's university education for a modern economy, by slowly modernise the education system through the "Tatweer" reform program.[439] The Tatweer program is reported to have a budget of approximately US$2 billion and focuses on moving teaching away from the traditional Saudi methods of memorization and rote learning towards encouraging students to analyze and problem-solve. It also aims to create an education system which will provide a more secular and vocationally based training.[429][441]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The shahada (statement of faith) is sometimes translated into English as "There is no god but Allah", using the romanization of the Arabic word "Allah" instead of its translation. The Arabic word "Allah" literally translates as the God, as the prefix "Al-" is the definite article.[2][3][4]
  2. ↑ The Consultative Assembly is an advisory body to the monarch. De facto legislature is the council of ministers, which answers to and is chaired by the King of Saudi Arabia.
  3. ↑ Arabic: السعودية‎ as-Su‘ūdiyyah or as-Sa‘ūdiyyah
  4. ↑ Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية‎ al-Mamlakah al-‘Arabiyyah as-Su‘ūdiyyah,  Arabic pronunciation 

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  338. ↑ Prior to 29 June 2013, the weekend was Thursday-Friday, but was shifted to better serve the Saudi economy and its international commitments. (source: "Weekend shift: A welcome change", SaudiGazette.com.sa, 24 June 2013 http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130624171030 )
  339. ↑ Tripp, Culture Shock, 2009: p.35
  340. 1 2 Rodenbeck, Max (October 21, 2004). "Unloved in Arabia (Book Review)". The New York Review of Books 51 (16). Almost half of Saudi state television's airtime is devoted to religious issues, as is about half the material taught in state schools" (source: By the estimate of an elementary schoolteacher in Riyadh, Islamic studies make up 30 percent of the actual curriculum. But another 20 percent creeps into textbooks on history, science, Arabic, and so forth. In contrast, by one unofficial count the entire syllabus for twelve years of Saudi schooling contains a total of just thirty-eight pages covering the history, literature, and cultures of the non-Muslim world.)
  341. ↑ Rodenbeck, Max (October 21, 2004). "Unloved in Arabia (Book Review)". The New York Review of Books 51 (16). Nine out of ten titles published in the kingdom are on religious subjects, and most of the doctorates its universities awards are in Islamic studies.
  342. ↑ Review. "Unloved in Arabia" By Max Rodenbeck. The New York Review of Books, Volume 51, Number 16 · October 21, 2004
  343. ↑ from p.195 of a review by Joshua Teitelbum, Middle East Studies, Vol. 38, No. 4, Oct., 2002, of Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia by anthropologist Mai Yamani, quoting p.116 |quote=Saudis of all stripes interviewed expressed a desire for the kingdom to remain a Muslim society ruled by an overtly Muslim state. Secularist are simply not to be found. [Both traditional and somewhat westernized Saudis she talked to mediate their concerns] though the certainties of religion.
  344. ↑ "Saudi Arabia". U.S. Department of State.
  345. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: International Religious Freedom Report 2013". U.S. State Department. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  346. ↑ "Saudi Arabia – Culture". Country Stats. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  347. ↑ Human Rights Watch (2009). Denied dignity: systematic discrimination and hostility toward Saudi Shia citizens. p. 1. ISBN 1-56432-535-0.
  348. ↑ Human Rights Watch (2009). Denied dignity: systematic discrimination and hostility toward Saudi Shia citizens. pp. 2, 8–10. ISBN 1-56432-535-0.
  349. ↑ Islamic Political Culture, Democracy, and Human Rights: A Comparative Study, p 93 Daniel E. Price – 1999
  350. 1 2 3 Owen, Richard (17 March 2008). "Saudi Arabia extends hand of friendship to Pope". The Times (London). Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  351. ↑ Samuel Smith (18 December 2014) "Saudi Arabia's New Law Imposes Death Sentence for Bible Smugglers?". Christian Post.
  352. ↑ "SAUDI ARABIA IMPOSES DEATH SENTENCE FOR BIBLE SMUGGLING". handsoffcain.info. 28 November 2014
  353. ↑ Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissidents, The Independent, 04 March 2014
  354. ↑ Saudi Arabia declares atheists terrorists under new laws targeting citizens who 'call for secular thought in any form', Main Online, 01 April 2014
  355. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: 2 Years Behind Bars on Apostasy Accusation". Human Rights Watch. May 15, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  356. ↑ Maria Grazia Martino. The State as an Actor in Religion Policy: Policy Cycle and Governance. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  357. ↑ 'The destruction of Mecca: Saudi hardliners are wiping out their own heritage', The Independent, 6 August 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2011
  358. ↑ ‘Islamic heritage lost as Makkah modernises’ Center for Islamic Pluralism
  359. ↑ ‘Shame of the House of Saud: Shadows over Mecca’, The Independent, 19 April 2006
  360. ↑ Destruction of Islamic Architectural Heritage in Saudi Arabia: A Wake-up Call, The American Muslim. Retrieved 17 January 2011
  361. ↑ Other historic buildings that have been destroyed include the house of Khadijah, the wife of Muhammad, the house of Abu Bakr, now the site of the local Hilton hotel; the house of Ali-Oraid, the grandson of Muhammad, and the Mosque of abu-Qubais, now the location of the King's palace in Mecca. (source: ‘Shame of the House of Saud: Shadows over Mecca’, The Independent, 19 April 2006
  362. 1 2 "Traditional dress of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia". 29 September 2015.
  363. ↑ World Focus. 5 January 2009
  364. ↑ Trevor Mostyn (24 August 2010). "Ghazi al-Gosaibi obituary". The Guardian (London).
  365. ↑ "Triumphant Trilogy", by Malu Halasa, Time, 17 January 2005
  366. ↑ "Sex and the Saudi Girl". The Times. 8 July 2007
  367. ↑ "Saudi Arabian Slam Dunk, Fall 1997, Winter 1998, Volume 14, Number 4, Saudi Arabia". Saudiembassy.net.
  368. ↑ Joud Al. "Saudi women show greater interest in sports and games". Arab News. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012.
  369. ↑ Todor Krastev (21 September 2011). "Men Basketball Asia Championship 1999 Fukuoka (JPN)- 28.08–05.09 Winner China". Todor66.com.
  370. ↑ Saudi unemployment at 10% at the Wayback Machine (archived February 9, 2011). The Associated Press via Bloomberg, 26 January 2011
  371. ↑ ‘Saudi Public Opinion: A rare look’ 27 January 2010, Pechter Polls. Retrieved 6 February 2011
  372. ↑ ‘Saudi Arabia by numbers’ 12 February 2010, Pechter Polls. Retrieved 6 February 2011
  373. 1 2 'Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979' by Thomas Hegghammer, 2010, Cambridge Middle East Studies ISBN 978-0-521-73236-9
  374. ↑ ‘Saudi Arabia, a kingdom divided’ The Nation, 22 May 2006. Retrieved 6 February 2011,
  375. ↑ “Saudis confront gap between expectation and reality”, Financial Times, 21 February 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2011
  376. ↑ Khalaf al-Harbi (9 July 2010). "Child abuse: We and the Americans". Arab News. Archived from the original on 2010-07-15.
  377. ↑ Abdul Rahman Shaheen (24 December 2008). "Report alleges rise in child abuse in Saudi Arabia". Gulf News. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  378. 1 2 Usher, Sebastian (28 August 2013). "Saudi Arabia cabinet approves domestic abuse ban". BBC News. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  379. ↑ Zawawi, Suzan (24 January 2006). "Abuse of Female Domestic Workers Biggest Problem". The Saudi Gazette. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  380. ↑ Estimates of the young population of Saudi Arabia vary.
    • Carlye Murphy gives the figure of 51% of the population being under the age of 25 (as of Feb 2012, source: Murphy, Caryle. "Saudi Arabia’s Youth and the Kingdom’s Future". February 7, 2012. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Environmental Change and Security Program. Retrieved 13 May 2014.);
    • The Economist magazine estimates 60% of the Saudi population to be under the age of 21, (dated March 3, 2012, source: "Out of the comfort zone". The Economist. March 3, 2012.)
    • The "United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision" estimates only 28% of the population is under 14 years of age (source: "The demographic profile of Saudi Arabia" (PDF). p. 6.)
  381. 1 2 House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia : Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 222.
  382. ↑ 1 August 1935 and 31 December 1945
  383. ↑ "Out of the comfort zone". The Economist. March 3, 2012.
  384. ↑ House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia : Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 221.
  385. ↑ House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia : Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 103.
  386. ↑ What is happening to Saudi society? Arab News | 12/26/01 | Raid Qusti |quote=There was once a time when we Saudis feared God and understood that we would be held accountable by God on the Day of Judgment for our children’s upbringing — after all, they are our responsibility. Now it seems, maids are bringing up our children. How much respect do they receive? Fathers used to set an example to their children and mothers used to be a source of inspiration.
  387. ↑ Bradley, John R. (2005). Saudi Arabia Exposed : Inside a Kingdom in Crisis. Palgrave. p. 92. Their numbers mushroomed during the oil-boom years, and their influence has led to a distancing of parents and children, since the servants were expected to act as surrogate parents. Most of the domestic servants were non-Muslims and non-Arabs, meaning the results have been doubly negative: They lack the authority – and presumably ... the inclination – to discipline those in their care, while being unable to pass down by example the core Islamic values and traditions that have always formed the bedrock of Saudi society. (p.92)
  388. ↑ House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia : Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 266.
  389. ↑ ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller, Arab Youth Survey, March 2011, p.24 http://www.Arabyouthsurvey.com
  390. ↑ By 2014 the percentage was no longer the highest of Arab countries surveyed, but had grown to 45% ASDA'A Burston-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey 2014, p.9
  391. ↑ ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller, Arab Youth Survey, March 2011, p.18 http://www.Arabyouthsurvey.com
  392. ↑ House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia : Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 105.
  393. ↑ "Cousin marriages: tradition versus taboo". Al Jazeera. June 18, 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  394. ↑ McKay, Betsy (February 4, 2014). "Saudis Push Gene-Sequencing Research". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  395. ↑ Schneider, Howard (16 January 2000) Evidence of Inbreeding Depression: Saudi Arabia at the Wayback Machine (archived December 11, 2003). Washington Post. Page A01
  396. ↑ Saudi Arabia Awakes to the Perils of Inbreeding. New York Times. 1 May 2003
  397. ↑ "Saudi Arabia's cousin-marriage epidemic". WND. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  398. ↑ "Saudi Arabia has tenth lowest poverty rate worldwide, says World Bank". al-Arabiyya. Saudi Gazette. 3 November 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  399. 1 2 Sullivan, Kevin (1 January 2013). "Saudi Arabia's riches conceal a growing problem of poverty". The Guardian. Washington Post. Retrieved 2 October 2014. In a country with vast oil wealth and lavish royalty, an estimated quarter of Saudis live below the poverty line
  400. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "2010 Human Rights Report: Saudi Arabia". U.S. State Department. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  401. ↑ World Economic Forum (2010). The Global Gender Gap Report 2010 (PDF). p. 9. ISBN 978-92-95044-89-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2010.
  402. ↑ "Saudi Arabia passes law criminalizing domestic abuse". Al Jazeera America. Al Jazeera Media Network. August 30, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  403. ↑ Heather Saul (August 29, 2013). "Saudi Arabia cabinet passes ban on domestic violence". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  404. 1 2 Human Rights Watch (2008). Perpetual Minors: human rights abuses from male guardianship and sex segregation in Saudi Arabia. p. 2.
  405. ↑ Human Rights Watch (2008). Perpetual Minors: human rights abuses from male guardianship and sex segregation in Saudi Arabia. p. 3.
  406. ↑ "Saudi Writer and Journalist Wajeha Al-Huwaider Fights for Women's Rights". MEMRI.
  407. ↑ Long, p. 66
  408. ↑ Otto, p. 164
  409. 1 2 Otto, p. 163
  410. 1 2 Otto, p. 165
  411. ↑ Saudi women no longer confined to their conventional roles Arab News, Retrieved 3 July 2013
  412. ↑ Age at First Marriage, Female – All Countries Quandl, Retrieved 3 July 2013
  413. ↑ "Saudi Youth: Unveiling the Force for Change" (PDF).
  414. ↑ 'Top Saudi cleric: OK for young girls to wed' CNN, 17 January 2009; Retrieved 18 January 2011
  415. ↑ 'Saudi Human Rights Commission Tackles Child Marriages' at the Wayback Machine (archived May 1, 2011) Asharq Alawsat, 13 January 2009.
  416. ↑ "Women constitute 13% of Saudi workforce: stats agency". Al Arabiya. 10 February 2015.
  417. ↑ "Statistics 2012". unicef.org. UNICEF. Retrieved 18 October 2014. *Youth (15–24 years) literacy rate (%) 2008–2012*, male 99
    • Youth (15–24 years) literacy rate (%) 2008–2012*, female 97 line feed character in |quote= at position 60 (help)
  418. ↑ Al-Eisa, Einas S.; Al-Sobayel, Hana I. (2012). "Physical Activity and Health Beliefs among Saudi Women". Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle-related obesity has been escalating among Saudi females
  419. ↑ Dammer,, Harry R.; Albanese, Jay S. (2010). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-495-80989-0.
  420. ↑ Alsharif, Asma (24 May 2011). "Saudi should free woman driver-rights group". Reuters. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  421. ↑ Khalil, Joe; Kraidy, Marwan M. (2009-11-12). Arab Television Industries. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781844575763.
  422. ↑ "IDEOLOGICAL AND OWNERSHIP TRENDS IN THE SAUDI MEDIA". Wikileaks. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  423. ↑ "Saudi women rise up after years of absence". Alarabiya.net. 21 November 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  424. ↑ "Saudi Doctor Named Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins University". Archive.arabnews.com. 11 January 2004. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  425. ↑ "Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections". BBC News.
  426. ↑ "CAMERA Snapshots: Media in the Service of King Abdullah". Blog.camera.org. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  427. ↑ Miller, Judith (1996). God Has Ninety-Nine Names: Reporting from a Militant Middle East. Simon & Schuster. pp. 108–9. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  428. ↑ Shea, Nona; et al. (2006). Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerence (PDF). Center for Religious Freedom, Freedom House. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2008.
  429. 1 2 3 "Saudi Arabia's Education Reforms Emphasize Training for Jobs" The Chronicle of Higher Education, 3 October 2010.
  430. ↑ Robert Sedgwick (November 1, 2001) Education in Saudi Arabia. World Education News and Reviews.
  431. ↑ Nona Shea; et al. (2006). Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerence (PDF). Center for Religious Freedom, Freedom House. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2008.
  432. ↑ Revised Saudi Government Textbooks Still Demonize Christians, Jews, Non-Wahhabi Muslims and Other. Freedom House. 23 May 2006.
  433. ↑ "Saudi school lessons in UK concern government". 22 November 2010. BBC News.
  434. ↑ "This medieval Saudi education system must be reformed", The Guardian, 26 November 2010.
  435. ↑ Friedman, Thomas L. (2015-09-02). "Our Radical Islamic BFF, Saudi Arabia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  436. ↑ "Whatsupic - ISIS will Use Saudi School Books for Students Who Study in Territories it Occupies in Syria and Iraq". whatsupic.com. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  437. ↑ "المناهج الدراسية | وزارة التعليم". www.ebook.sa. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  438. ↑ "Secondary School Studies Plan 1438 Hijri" (PDF). Saudi Ministry of Education Official Website. Saudi Ministry of Education. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 September 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  439. 1 2 Reforming Saudi Education Slate 7 September. 2009.
  440. ↑ Eli Lake (25 March 2014). "U.S. Keeps Saudi Arabia's Worst Secret". The Daily Beast.
  441. ↑ Al-Kinani, Mohammed SR9 billion Tatweer project set to transform education. The Saudi Gazette.

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