Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's 2008 population was estimated to be about 28 million,
including about 5.6 million resident foreigners. Until the 1960s,
most of the population was nomadic or seminomadic; due to rapid
economic and urban growth, more than 95% of the population now is
settled. Some cities and oases have densities of more than 1,000
people per square kilometer (2,600 per sq. mi).
Saudi Arabia is known as the birthplace of Islam, which in the
century following the Prophet Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. spread
west to Spain and east to India. Islam obliges all Muslims to make
the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Makkah, at least once during their
lifetime if they are able to do so. The cultural environment in
Saudi Arabia is highly conservative; the country officially adheres
to the strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islamic religious law (Shari'a).
Cultural presentations must conform to narrowly defined standards of
ethics. Men and women are not permitted to attend public events
together and are segregated in the work place.
Most Saudis are ethnically Arab. Some are of mixed ethnic origin and
are descended from Turks, Iranians, Indonesians, Indians, Africans,
and others, most of whom immigrated as pilgrims and reside in the
Hijaz region along the Red Sea coast. Many Arabs from nearby
countries are employed in the kingdom. There also are significant
numbers of Asian expatriates mostly from India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Westerners in Saudi
Arabia number under 100,000. |
|
Except for a few major cities and oases, the harsh climate
historically prevented much settlement of the Arabian Peninsula.
People of various cultures have lived in the peninsula over a span
of more than 5,000 years. The Dilmun culture, along the Gulf coast,
was contemporaneous with the Sumerians and ancient Egyptians, and
most of the empires of the ancient world traded with the states that
existed on the peninsula, which lay along important trade routes.
The Saudi state began in central Arabia in about 1750. A local
ruler, Muhammad bin Saud, joined forces with an Islamic reformer,
Muhammad Abd Al-Wahhab, to create a new political entity. Over the
next 150 years, the fortunes of the Saud family rose and fell
several times as Saudi rulers contended with Egypt, the Ottoman
Empire, and other Arabian families for control on the peninsula. The
modern Saudi kingdom was founded by the late King Abdul Aziz Al Saud
(known internationally as Ibn Saud, or "Son of Saud"). In 1902,
Abdul Aziz recaptured Riyadh, the Al Saud dynasty's ancestral
capital, from the rival Al-Rashid family. Continuing his conquests,
Abdul Aziz subdued Al-Hasa in the east, the rest of the central Nejd
region, and the Hijaz along the Red Sea coast between 1913 and 1926.
In 1932, Abdul Aziz declared these regions unified as the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia.
Boundaries with Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait were established by a
series of treaties negotiated in the 1920s, with two "neutral
zones"--one with Iraq and the other with Kuwait--created. The
Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone was administratively partitioned in 1971,
with each state continuing to share the petroleum resources of the
former zone equally. Tentative agreement on the partition of the
Saudi-Iraqi neutral zone was reached in 1981, and partition was
finalized by 1983. The country's southern boundary with Yemen was
partially defined by the 1934 Treaty of Taif, which ended a brief
border war between the two states. A June 2000 treaty further
delineated portions of the boundary with Yemen. The location and
status of Saudi Arabia's boundary with the United Arab Emirates is
not final; a de facto boundary reflects a 1974 agreement. The border
between Saudi Arabia and Qatar was resolved in March 2001. The
border with Oman also is not demarcated.
King Abdul Aziz died in 1953 and was succeeded by his eldest son,
Saud, who reigned for 11 years. In 1964, Saud abdicated in favor of
his half-brother, Faisal, who had served as Foreign Minister.
Because of fiscal difficulties, King Saud had been persuaded in 1958
to delegate direct conduct of Saudi Government affairs to Faisal as
Prime Minister; Saud briefly regained control of the government in
1960-62. In October 1962, Faisal outlined a broad reform program,
stressing economic development. Proclaimed King in 1964 by senior
royal family members and religious leaders, Faisal also continued to
serve as Prime Minister. This practice has been followed by
subsequent kings.
The mid-1960s saw external pressures generated by Saudi-Egyptian
differences over Yemen. When civil war broke out in 1962 between
Yemeni royalists and republicans, Egyptian forces entered Yemen to
support the new republican government, while Saudi Arabia backed the
royalists. Tensions subsided only after 1967, when Egypt withdrew
its troops from Yemen.
Saudi forces did not participate in the Six-Day (Arab-Israeli) War
of June 1967, but the government later provided annual subsidies to
Egypt, Jordan, and Syria to support their economies. During the 1973
Arab-Israeli war, Saudi Arabia participated in the Arab oil boycott
of the United States and Netherlands. A founding member of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Saudi Arabia
had joined other member countries in moderate oil price increases
beginning in 1971. After the 1973 war, the price of oil rose
substantially, dramatically increasing Saudi Arabia's wealth and
political influence.
In 1975, King Faisal was assassinated by a nephew, who was executed
after an extensive investigation concluded that he acted alone.
Faisal was succeeded by his half-brother Khalid as King and Prime
Minister; their half-brother Prince Fahd was named Crown Prince and
First Deputy Prime Minister. King Khalid empowered Crown Prince Fahd
to oversee many aspects of the government's international and
domestic affairs. Economic development continued rapidly under King
Khalid, and the kingdom assumed a more influential role in regional
politics and international economic and financial matters.
In June 1982, King Khalid died, and Fahd became King and Prime
Minister in a smooth transition. Another half-brother, Prince
Abdallah, Commander of the Saudi National Guard, was named Crown
Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister. King Fahd's full brother,
Prince Sultan, the Minister of Defense and Aviation, became Second
Deputy Prime Minister. Under King Fahd, the Saudi economy adjusted
to sharply lower oil revenues resulting from declining global oil
prices. Saudi Arabia supported neutral shipping in the Gulf during
periods of the Iran-Iraq war and aided Iraq's war-strained economy.
King Fahd played a major part in bringing about the August 1988
cease-fire between Iraq and Iran and in organizing and strengthening
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a group of six Arabian Gulf
states dedicated to fostering regional economic cooperation and
peaceful development.
In 1990-91, King Fahd played a key role before and during the Gulf
war, helping consolidate the coalition of forces against Iraq and
define the tone of the operation as a multilateral effort to
reestablish the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kuwait.
Acting as a rallying point and personal spokesman for the coalition,
King Fahd helped bring together his nation's GCC, Western, and Arab
allies, as well as nonaligned nations from Africa and the emerging
democracies of Eastern Europe. He used his influence as Custodian of
the Two Holy Mosques to persuade other Arab and Islamic nations to
join the coalition.
King Fahd suffered a stroke in November 1995. From 1997, Crown
Prince Abdallah took on much of the day-to-day responsibilities of
running the government. Upon King Fahd's death on August 1, 2005,
Abdallah assumed the throne as King. Prince Sultan, Minister of
Defense and Aviation, became Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime
Minister. Since ascending to the throne, King Abdallah has continued
to pursue an incremental program of social, economic, and political
reforms. |
|
