Saudi Arabia — sovereign kingdom of the Arabian Peninsula

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia, covering approximately 2,250,000 square kilometres and home to a total resident population of 35,300,280 as recorded in the 2024 census. The modern state was formally constituted on September 23, 1932, when Abdulaziz ibn Saud issued a royal decree unifying the dual kingdoms of Hejaz and Najd under Al Saud rule. The country carries exceptional weight in global energy markets and in the Muslim world alike. A sweeping economic reform agenda introduced in 2016 is reshaping the country’s sectoral priorities through Vision 2030.

Key facts

  • Capital: Riyadh
  • Continent: Asia
  • Population: 33,000,000
  • Area: 2,250,000 km²
  • Official language: Arabic
  • Currency: Saudi riyal
  • Head of state: Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
  • ISO code: SA
  • Founded: 1727

Land and geography

Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers or lakes of significant size. Deserts and rocky plateaus account for approximately 90 percent of the country’s total area, leaving only a narrow coastal fringe and isolated mountain ranges as exceptions to an otherwise arid interior. The terrain is shaped primarily by its extreme aridity rather than by flowing water.

Dominating the southern third of the country is the Rub’ al Khali, the largest continuous sand desert in the world. Covering approximately 650,000 square kilometres, it extends across Saudi Arabia into the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. Average annual rainfall across the Rub’ al Khali is less than 35 millimetres, and parts of the desert receive close to none at all.

History

The Al Saud family traces its political authority to 1727, the date recorded as the founding of the state. The ancestral seat of that authority was Diriyah, a settlement near what is now Riyadh, where the At-Turaif District served as both the political and religious centre from which Wahhabi reform spread across the Arabian Peninsula during the 18th and 19th centuries. UNESCO designated At-Turaif a World Heritage Site in recognition of its role in that history.

The modern unified kingdom dates to September 23, 1932, when a royal decree merged the kingdoms of Hejaz and Najd into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Four decades later, the country’s oil wealth became a direct instrument of foreign policy. In October 1973, King Faisal led Arab members of OPEC in imposing an oil embargo on the United States and other nations that had supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Between that October and March 1974, the price of oil quadrupled from approximately three dollars to nearly twelve dollars per barrel, reshaping energy economics globally.

Government and politics

Saudi Arabia is governed as an absolute monarchy. The King holds the offices of both head of state and head of government. The Basic Law of Government, issued in 1992, functions as a de facto constitution and establishes that governance rests on Islamic Sharia. Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud holds the position of King and head of state.

The national advisory body is the Consultative Assembly, also known as the Shura Council. It has 150 members and a chairman, all appointed by the King for four-year terms. No elected legislature exists at the national level. Since September 27, 2022, Mohammed bin Salman has served as Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

Municipal elections were first held in 2005. Women gained the right to vote and to stand as candidates in those local elections in 2015, a decade after the first such polls took place.

Society and religion

The 2024 census recorded a total resident population of 35,300,280. Of that figure, approximately 19.6 million were Saudi citizens and approximately 15.7 million were non-Saudi residents, meaning non-Saudis accounted for 44.4 percent of all residents.

Roughly 90 percent of Saudi citizens are Sunni Muslims, predominantly following the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence. An estimated 10 percent are Shia Muslims. Arabic is the sole official language.

Economy and Vision 2030

The Saudi economy has long been anchored in hydrocarbons, and the state oil company Saudi Aramco gives concrete scale to that dependence. As of 2022, Aramco’s oil and gas reserves were estimated at around 259 billion barrels of oil equivalent, a figure approximately 15 times greater than those of its nearest competitor among publicly listed companies, and exceeding the combined proven reserves of ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, Shell, BP, and Eni.

Vision 2030, introduced in 2016 under the oversight of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is the government’s plan to reduce economic reliance on hydrocarbons by building out technology, tourism, and entertainment sectors. The programme has drawn measurable foreign interest: in 2024, Saudi Arabia recorded SAR 119 billion, equivalent to approximately $31.7 billion, in foreign direct investment inflows. That figure represented a 24 percent increase over 2023 and stands among the highest levels in the country’s recent history.

Archaeology and heritage

Before the modern state, the Arabian Peninsula sustained layered civilisations whose physical traces remain visible. The Hegra archaeological site, also known as Madain Salih, lies in the AlUla region and contains 111 monumental rock-cut tombs along with inscriptions in at least four ancient languages: Thamudic, Lihyanite, Latin, and Nabataean. Hegra is the largest conserved Nabataean site south of Petra in Jordan.

At the other end of the country’s historical record, the At-Turaif District in Diriyah preserves the mudbrick architecture of the Al Saud’s 18th-century capital. Its UNESCO designation acknowledges both its architectural integrity and its function as the launch point for the religious and political movement that shaped the kingdom.

Did you know

  • The Rub’ al Khali covers about 650,000 square kilometres, an area larger than the combined territories of Holland, Belgium, and France, yet its average annual rainfall is less than 35 millimetres, with some sections receiving close to zero. (desertio.com)
  • Saudi Aramco’s oil and gas reserves, estimated at around 259 billion barrels of oil equivalent as of 2022, are approximately 15 times greater than those of its nearest competitor among listed companies, surpassing the combined proven reserves of ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, Shell, BP, and Eni. (economymiddleeast.com)
  • The first municipal elections in Saudi Arabia were held in 2005. It was not until 2015 that women were permitted to vote and to stand as candidates in those local elections. (lloydsbanktrade.com)
  • The Hegra archaeological site (Madain Salih) in AlUla holds 111 monumental Nabataean rock-cut tombs and inscriptions in at least four ancient languages: Thamudic, Lihyanite, Latin, and Nabataean. It is the largest conserved Nabataean site south of Petra in Jordan. (worldheritagesites.net)

Data sources

Data updated: 2026-10-29