Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and home to Islam’s two holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina. The king’s official title is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The modern Saudi state was founded in 1932 by ABD AL-AZIZ bin Abd al-Rahman AL SAUD (Ibn Saud) after a 30-year campaign to unify most of the Arabian Peninsula. One of his male descendants rules the country today, as required by the country’s 1992 Basic Law.
The country remains a leading producer of oil and natural gas and holds about 17% of the world’s proven oil reserves as of 2020. The government continues to pursue economic reform and diversification, particularly since Saudi Arabia’s accession to the WTO in 2005.
Saudi Arabia’s geography is diverse, with forests, grasslands, mountain ranges and deserts. The climate varies from region to region. Temperatures can reach over 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the desert in the summer, while in the winter temperatures in the north and central parts of the country can drop below freezing. Saudi Arabia gets very little rain, only about four inches a year on average.
This area of the website offers facts and physical information about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Here you can read about early Saudi Arabian history, which as part of the Middle East was the birthplace of civilization, and how the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came into being in 1932.(More On Saudi Arabia)
Geogrphy: Because of its large area, the Kingdom has a diverse topography. The Tihama coastal plain which lies along the Red Sea, is 1,100 kilometers long, 60 kilometers wide in the south and gradually narrows to the north until it reaches the Aqaba Gulf. To the east of this plain, lies a chain of mountains called Sarawat. These mountains rise to 9,000 feet in the south and gradually fall to 3,000 feet in the north. Several large valleys slope eastward and westward from these mountains. They include Jazan valley, Najran valley, Tathleeth valley, Bisha valley, Himdh valley, Rumah valley, Yanbu valley and Fatima Valley. To the east of the chain stands the Najd Plateau which extends eastward to Samman Desert, Dahnaa Dunes and southward to Dwaser valley. This region is parallel to the Empty Quarter Desert and stretches northward to Najd plains, passing through Hail until it connects with the Great Nefud Desert, then to the borders of Iraq and Jordan. There are also some mountains in this plateau such as Twwaig, Al-Aridh, Aja and Salmah mountains.
The Empty Quarter in the south-eastern part of the Kingdom occupies an estimated area of 640,000 square kilometers composed of sand hills and lava fields.
The eastern coastal plain is 610 kilometers long and consists of large sand areas and Salinas.
The Saudi Authority deliberately promotes the natural sites attractions located at different parts of the country. This is with a view to improving the economy of the country. See (Saudi Arabia 10 best Tourist Attractions)
