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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; and 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).
The capital and largest city is Riyadh. Land and Resources 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. Partially unexplored, Rub' al Khali has an estimated area of about 650, 000 sq km (about 250, 000 sq mi). An extension of the Syrian Desert projects into northern Saudi Arabia, and extending southeast from this region is An Nafd, an upland desert of red sand covering an area of about 57, 000 sq km (about 22, 000 sq mi). Ad Dhan', a narrow extension of this desert, links An Nafd and Rub' al Khali.
A central plateau region, broken in the east by a series of uplifts, extends south from An Nafd. Several wadis (watercourses), dry except in the rainy season, traverse the plateau region. Its western limits are delineated by a mountain range extending generally northwest and southeast along the eastern edge of the regions of Al &# 7720; in (Hejaz) and 'Asr. The highest point in Saudi Arabia, Jabal Said' (3, 207 m/ 10, 522 ft), is located in the southwestern portion of the country. Between the range, which has an average elevation of about 1, 200 m (about 4, 000 ft), and the Red Sea is a narrow coastal plain.
In the east, along the Persian Gulf, is a low-lying region known as Al A&# 7721; s'. It is underlain by great petroleum deposits. Climate Extreme heat and aridity are characteristic of most of Saudi Arabia. The average temperature range in January is 8 to 20 C (47 to 68 F) in Riyadh and 19 to 29 C (66 to 83 F) in Jiddah.
The average range in July is 27 to 43 C (81 to 109 F) in Riyadh and 27 to 38 C (80 to 100 F) in Jiddah. The Arabian Peninsula is one of the few places in the world where summer temperatures above 48 C (120 F) are common, while in winter frost or snow can occur in the interior and the higher mountains. Precipitation is sparse throughout the country. Annual rainfall in Riyadh averages 100 mm (4 in) and falls almost exclusively between January and May; the average in Jiddah is 54 mm (2. 1 in) and occurs between November and January.
Because of the general aridity, Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers or lakes. B Natural Resources Fertile oases, many of which are the sites of towns and villages, are scattered through the Saudi Arabian deserts north of Rub' al Khali, and larger tracts of pasturage are in Ad Dhan' and the plateau region. The great Saudi Arabian oil fields are located in the coastal area adjoining the Persian Gulf. Because of the general aridity the vegetation is not extensive.
Various fruit trees, notably the date palm, and a wide variety of grains and vegetables thrive in the oases and in other areas where water is available. The indigenous wildlife includes the antelope, bustard, fox, gazelle, hyena, ibex, ostrich, panther, pigeon, quail, wildcat, wild cow, and wolf. C Environmental Issues Environmental protection is an ancient tradition in Arabia, and special reserves were known long before the advent of Islam. Today Saudi Arabia has an extensive system of protected areas, including one national park, a number of nature reserves, and several classes of special-use areas. Some protection has been extended to sensitive marine habitats off the coasts.
Saudi Arabia is mostly desert. Only 0. 1 percent (1995) is forested, although the government conducts a reforestation program. Livestock grazing represents the largest environmental threat to the sparse natural vegetation. A high population growth rate has put extreme pressure on the delicate arid environments of the interior and created concern over the management of scarce resources, especially water. Underground aquifers are overrated, and the government has spent huge sums on desalinization plants to provide artificially processed fresh water.
Saudi Arabia is one the world's largest producers of petroleum products and suffers a number of related problems, including oil spills on land and off its coasts. Marshes and other sensitive marine habitats, especially in the Persian Gulf, have been in decline for decades because of oil pollution. They are important not only as rare habitat but as key elements in the ecology of commercially harvested fish and shrimp. The 1991 Persian Gulf War caused catastrophic damage to some of these areas. For a country largely composed of desert, Saudi Arabia has fairly rich biodiversity.
Eighteen percent of its invertebrate animals, seven of its nine amphibians, and all of its indigenous freshwater fish are found nowhere else. There are an estimated 3, 500 species of plants and 59 terrestrial mammals, 19 of which are endangered, vulnerable, or rare. Government-sponsored wildlife teams are working to increase populations of threatened hobart bustards and Arabian oryx. In addition, there are 413 recorded species of birds, 11 of which are rare or endangered.
Saudi Arabia participates in international environmental agreements pertaining to climate change, hazardous wastes, and ozone layer protection. Regionally, the country has committed itself to the cooperative protection of shared marine environments in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. The resident population of Saudi Arabia is composed mainly (82 percent) of Arabs whose ancestors have lived in the area for many centuries. A substantial minority (13 percent) consists of Yemenis and other Arabs who came to Saudi Arabia after the 1950 s because of the economic opportunities the country afforded.
Nomads, known as Bedouins, make up a declining proportion of the population, and the number of settled residents has also decreased. In the early 1990 s, 27 percent of the people in the country were nonresident foreign workers, primarily from Asia and Africa. By 2000 an estimated 86 percent of the population was urban. The national language is Arabic. Virtually all Saudis are Muslims. The great majority are of the Sunni sect, although some Shia Muslims live in the east (Sunni Islam; Shia Islam).
The Wahhabi sect, comprised of reformers who settled in Arabia during the 18 th century and who have sought to purify and simplify the practice of Islam, has g...
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