OFFICIAL NAME: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Considerably more than half the area of Saudi Arabia is desert
Rub‘ al Khali, known in English as the Great Sandy Desert
and as the Empty Quarter, extends over much of the southeast
and beyond the southern frontier
Geography:
Area: 1,960,582 million sq. km. (1,176,349 mi.)
Saudi Arabia, monarchy in southwestern Asia
occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula
Saudi Arabia is bounded
On the north by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait
On the east by the Persian Gulf and Qatar
On the southeast by the United Arab Emirates and Oman
On the south by the Republic of Yemen
On the west by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba
The country's border with the United Arab Emirates
is not precisely defined. Saudi Arabia has an area of
about 2,240,000 sq km (about 864,900 sq mi).
Cities:
The capital and largest city is Riyadh
Other cities
Jeddah
Makkah
Dammam/Khobar/Dhahran
Al Jubayl,
Yanbu
Climate:
Extreme heat and aridity are characteristic of most of Saudi Arabia
Nationality: Saudi's or Saudi
Population : 20 million
Annual growth rate: 3.8%.
Ethnic groups:
Arab (90% of native pop.)
Afro-Asian (10% of native pop.)
Religion: Muslim
Languages:
Arabic (official)
English
and others
Literacy--male 73%, female 48%
Economy:
GDP : $146.0 billion
Annual growth rate : 7.1%
Per capita GDP: $7,200.
Natural Resources:
Hydrocarbons
Gold
Uranium
Bauxite
Coal
Iron
Phosphate
Tungsten
Zinc
Silver
Copper
Agriculture Products:
Dates
Grains
Livestock
Vegetables
Trade
Exports Is $54.3 billion
$47.3 billion, petroleum and petroleum products
$7 billion, non-oil exports
Imports Is $26.9 billion
Major Import Products are
Manufactured goods
Transportation equipment
Construction materials
Processed food products
Major trading partners
U.S.
Japan
Western Europe