Saudi Arabia: Background & Geography

Introduction Saudi Arabia
Background:
 In 1902, ABD AL-AZIZ bin Abd al-Rahman Al Saud captured Riyadh and set out on a 30-year campaign to unify the Arabian Peninsula. Today, the monarchy is ruled by a son of ABD AL-AZIZ, and the country's Basic Law stipulates that the throne shall remain in the hands of the aging sons and grandsons of the kingdom's founder. Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia accepted the Kuwaiti royal family and 400,000 refugees while allowing Western and Arab troops to deploy on its soil for the liberation of Kuwait the following year. The continuing presence of foreign troops on Saudi soil after Operation Desert Storm remained a source of tension between the royal family and the public until the US military's near-complete withdrawal to neighboring Qatar in 2003. The first major terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia in several years, which occurred in May and November 2003, prompted renewed efforts on the part of the Saudi government to counter domestic terrorism and extremism, which also coincided with a slight upsurge in media freedom and announcement of government plans to phase in partial political representation. A burgeoning population, aquifer depletion, and an economy largely dependent on petroleum output and prices are all ongoing governmental concerns.
Geography Saudi Arabia
Location:
 Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen
Geographic coordinates:
 25 00 N, 45 00 E
Map references:
 Middle East
Area:
 total: 1,960,582 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 1,960,582 sq km
Area - comparative:
 slightly more than one-fifth the size of the US
Land boundaries:
 total: 4,431 km
border countries: Iraq 814 km, Jordan 744 km, Kuwait 222 km, Oman 676 km, Qatar 60 km, UAE 457 km, Yemen 1,458 km
Coastline:
 2,640 km
Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
 territorial sea: 12 NM
contiguous zone: 18 NM
continental shelf: not specified
Climate:
 harsh, dry desert with great temperature extremes
Terrain:
 mostly uninhabited, sandy desert
Elevation extremes:
 lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Jabal Sawda' 3,133 m
Natural resources:
 petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper
Land use:
 arable land: 1.72%
permanent crops: 0.06%
other: 98.22% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
 16,200 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
 frequent sand and dust storms
Environment - current issues:
 desertification; depletion of underground water resources; the lack of perennial rivers or permanent water bodies has prompted the development of extensive seawater desalination facilities; coastal pollution from oil spills
Environment - international agreements:
 party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
 extensive coastlines on Persian Gulf and Red Sea provide great leverage on shipping (especially crude oil) through Persian Gulf and Suez Canal

See Also: