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Saudi Arabia

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Background :

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. A male descendent of Ibn Saud, his son ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz, rules the country today as required by the country's 1992 Basic Law. 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 the liberation of Kuwait became a source of tension between the royal family and the public until all operational US troops left the country in 2003. Major terrorist attacks in May and November 2003 spurred a strong on-going campaign against domestic terrorism and extremism. King ABDALLAH has continued the cautious reform program begun when he was crown prince. To promote increased political participation, the government held elections nationwide from February through April 2005 for half the members of 179 municipal councils. In December 2005, King ABDALLAH completed the process by appointing the remaining members of the advisory municipal councils. The king instituted an Inter-Faith Dialogue initiative in 2008 to encourage religious tolerance on a global level; in February 2009, he reshuffled the cabinet, which led to more moderates holding ministerial and judicial positions, and appointed the first female to the cabinet. The country remains a leading producer of oil and natural gas and holds more than 20% of the world's proven oil reserves. The government continues to pursue economic reform and diversification, particularly since Saudi Arabia's accession to the WTO in December 2005, and promotes foreign investment in the kingdom. A burgeoning population, aquifer depletion, and an economy largely dependent on petroleum output and prices are all ongoing governmental concerns. 

Location :

Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen 

Geographic Coordinates Center :

25 00 N, 45 00 E  (Latitude, Longtitude)

Geographic Coordinates Rectangle :

West 34.50
North 32.16
East 55.67
South 15.61

Map references :

Middle East 

Area :

total 2 149 690 square km
land 2 149 690 square km
water 0 square km

Land boundaries :

total 4 431 km
Iraq (iq) 814 km
Jordan (jo) 744 km
Kuwait (kw) 222 km
Oman (om) 676 km
Qatar (qa) 60 km
UAE 457 km
Yemen (ye) 1 458 km

Coastline :

2640.00 km

Climate :

harsh, dry desert with great temperature extremes 

Terrain :

mostly uninhabited, sandy desert 

Elevation extremes :

lowest point 0 metres
highest point 3 133 metres

Natural resources :

copper gold
iron ore natural gas
petroleum

Land use :

arable land 1.67 %
permanent crops 0.09 %
other 98.24 %

Irrigated land :

16 200 square km

Natural hazards :

dust storms

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 

international agreements :

Biodiversity Climate Change
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Desertification
Endangered Species Hazardous Wastes
Law of the Sea Marine Dumping
Ozone Layer Protection Ship Pollution

Population :

28 686 633 

Indicators :

Growth rate 1.85 %
Birth rate 28.55 births/1,000 population
Total fertility rate 3.83 children born/woman
Death rate 2.47 deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate -7.60 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Age structure :

0-14 years 38.00 %
15-64 years 59.50 %
65 years and over 2.50 %

Median age :

total 21.60 years
male 22.90 years
female 19.90 years

Sex ratio :

at birth 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1.29 male(s)/female
65 years and over 1.06 male(s)/female
total population 1.18 male(s)/female

Health :

Infant mortality rate 11.57 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth - total population 76.30 years
Life expectancy at birth - male 74.23 years
Life expectancy at birth - female 78.48 years
HIV-AIDS adult prevalence rate 0.01 %

Religions :

Muslim 100.00 %

Languages :

Arabic  

Literacy :

total population 78.80 %
male 84.70 %
female 70.80 %

Country name :

conventional long form Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
conventional short form Saudi Arabia
local long form Al Mamlakah al Arabiyah as Suudiyah
local short form Al Arabiyah as Suudiyah

Country Codes :

ISO 3166 SA
ISO Numeric 682
ISO3 SAU
FIPS SA
ccTLD sa
English Saudi Arabia

Administrative divisions :

13 provinces (mintaqat, singular - mintaqah); Al Bahah, Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah (Northern Border), Al Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Ar Riyad (Riyadh), Ash Sharqiyah (Eastern), 'Asir, Ha'il, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, Tabuk 

Capital :

name Riyadh
geographic coordinates 24 38 N, 46 43 E
time difference 3.00

International organization participation :

ABEDA AFESD
AMF AfDB (nonregional member)
BIS FAO
G-20 G-77
GCC IAEA
IBRD ICAO
ICC ICRM
IDB IFAD
IFC IFRCS
IHO ILO
IMF IMO
IMSO IOC
IOM (observer) IPU
ISO ITSO
ITU Interpol
LAS MIGA
NAM OAPEC
OAS (observer) OIC
OPCW OPEC
PCA UN
UNCTAD UNESCO
UNIDO UNRWA
UNWTO UPU
WCO WFTU
WHO WIPO
WMO WTO

Independence :

1932-09-23 

National holiday :

Unification Day

1932-09-23

Executive branch :

King ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud

GDP - Gross Domestic product :

PPP - Purchasing Power Parity 581 300 000 000 $
Official Exchange Rate 379 500 000 000
RGR - Real Growth rate -0.60 %
PPP - per capita 20 300 $

GDP Composition by sector :

agriculture 3.20 %
industry 60.40 %
services 36.40 %

Labor force - by occupation :

agriculture 6.70 %
industry 21.40 %
services 71.90 %

Other Indicators :

Labor force 6 922 000 people
Unemployment rate 11.60 %
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 5.00 %
Investment (gross fixed) 24.20 % of GDP
Current account balance 24 560 000 000 $
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 39 980 000 000 $
Debt external 72 450 000 000 $
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad 20 570 000 000 $
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home 149 300 000 000 $
Market value of publicly traded shares 246 300 000 000 $
Military expenditures 10.00 % of GDP
Public debt 20.30 % of GDP

Budget :

revenues 167 700 000 000 $
expenditures 164 300 000 000 $

Agriculture - products :

barley citrus
dates eggs
melons milk
mutton poultry
tomatoes wheat

Industries :

ammonia basic petrochemicals
caustic soda cement
commercial aircraft repair commercial ship repair
construction crude oil production
fertilizer industrial gases
metals petroleum refining
plastics soda ash

Energy :

Electricity Production 179 100 000 000 kWh
Electricity Consumption 165 100 000 000 kWh
Oil Production 10 780 000 bbl/day
Oil Consumption 2 380 000 bbl/day
Oil Exports 8 728 000 bbl/day
Oil Imports 79 250 bbl/day
Oil Proved reserves 266 700 000 000 bbl
Natural gas Production 80 440 000 000 cubic metres
Natural gas Consumption 80 440 000 000 cubic metres
Electricity Exports 7 319 000 000 000 cubic metres

Value :

180 500 000 000 $

Partners :

United States (us) 17.20 %
Japan (jp) 15.30 %
South Korea 10.20 %
China (cn) 9.40 %
India (in) 5.90 %
Tawian 4.60 %
Singapore (sg) 4.40 %

Commodities :

petroleum and petroleum products

Value :

86 610 000 000 $

Partners :

United States (us) 12.00 %
China (cn) 10.40 %
Japan (jp) 7.60 %
Germany (de) 7.30 %
South Korea 5.10 %
Italy (it) 4.70 %
India (in) 4.50 %
United Kingdom (gb) 4.00 %

Commodities :

chemicals foodstuffs
machinery and equipment motor vehicles
textiles

Currency-name :

Saudi riyal 

Communications :

Telephons Main lines in use 4 099 999
Telephons Mobile, Cellular 36 000 000
FM Radio broadcast stations 31
Television broadcast stations 117
Internet Country code (ccTLD) sa
Internet Hosts 471 217
Internet Users 7 700 000

Transportation :

Airports with paved runways 80
Heliports 9
Pipelines - gas 1 880 km
Pipelines - oil 4 241 km
Pipelines - condensate 212 km
Pipelines - refined products 1 148 km
Pipelines - liquid petroleum gas 1 183 km
Roadways - total 221 372 km
Roadways - expressways 3 891 km
Roadways - paved 47 529 km
Roadways - unpaved 173 843 km
Railways 1 392 km

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