KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Official name: Al Mamlakah al-Arabiyah as-Saudiyah (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). The actual name of the country is Arabia. The Saudis are its ruling family. People from the country should thus be called Arabians rather than Saudis.
Location: Middle East
International organisations: Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation of Islamic Conference, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, United Nations
Borders: Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
Coastline: Persian Gulf, Red Sea
Land area: 1,900,000 Km2
Population: 26,900,000
Ethnicity: About 90% of the population are Arabs, although this includes many guests workers from other Arab countries. There is a long-resident minority of Black Africans, descendents of slaves. Minorities of workers from the Indian subcontinent and the Philippines are increasing.
Languages: Arabic is the official language and is universally used.
Religion: Islam is the state religion and the royal family take seriously their role as guardians of the Islamic foundational sites of Mecca and Medina. Other religions are barely tolerated among guest workers but not among Saudi Arabian nationals.
Form of government: Absolute monarchy. Saudi Arabia is divided into 13 provinces.
Capital: Riyadh
Constitution: The Basic Law of Government, a quasi-constitutional document, was issued by the King in 1993. This document states that "God's Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, God's prayers and peace be upon him, are [the country's] constitution."
Head of state: King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud succeeded to the throne on 1 August 2005.
Head of government: The King, who appoints all ministers. In practice, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abd-al-Aziz al-Saud heads the government.
Legislature: None
Electoral authority: None
Freedom House 2009 rating: Political Rights 7, Civil Liberties 6

Political history

Before the First World War the Arabian peninsula consisted of a group of emirates owing nominal alliegance to the Ottoman Sultan but in practice independent. The most important of these was Hejaz on the Red Sea coast, which controlled the religious and commercial centres of Mecca and Medina. The Emir of Hejaz, Hussein al-Hashemi, was Britain's main ally in the area and led the Arab revolt against Ottoman rule.

In the conflicts which followed the war and the departure of the Ottomans, however, Hussein was defeated by Abd-al-Aziz al-Saud (generally known as Ibn Saud), head of the al-Saud family and Emir of Nejd, a desert emirate in the centre of the peninsula. Abd-al-Aziz declared himself King of Nejd and Hejaz in 1926, and in 1932 he united the two kingdoms and became King of Saudi Arabia.

The discovery of the world's largest reserves of oil transformed Saudi Arabia from a poor desert kingdom into one of the world's greatest economic powers, and led to a rapid growth of population, including millions of imported workers. But the al-Sauds refused to allow any change in the country's political system, and it has remained an absolute monarchy. As followers of the Wahhabi sect, the al-Sauds also enforced rigid Islamic orthodoxy.

Since Abd-al-Aziz's death in 1953 the Kingdom has been ruled by five of his many sons in succession. King Abdullah succeeded in 2005 and in theory exercises absolute civil and religious authority. He may take advice from an appointed Majlis. His heir and de facto prime minister is his half-brother, Prince Sultan.

The al-Sauds are now a priviliged clan with thousands of members, monopolising political and economic power. The rule that the succession must pass to one of the remaining sons of Abd-al-Aziz (he had 44 sons), excluding younger members of the enormous royal family, is a source of great tension. As the remaining sons of Abd-al-Aziz grow elderly, the monarchy has become increasingly feeble and unpopular.

Since the 1980s Saudi Arabia's population has doubled but its oil revenues have fallen sharply in real terms, leading to a burgeoning economic and social crisis, since oil wealth has always provided a cushion against political dissent. The close alignment of the royal family with the United States has also fuelled opposition.

Freedom House's 2009 report on Saudi Arabia says: "Saudi Arabia is not an electoral democracy... The monarchy has a tradition of consulting with select members of Saudi society, but this process is not equally open to all citizens. Criticism of the political system, the royal family, and demands for reform remain off-limits... Corruption is a significant problem, with foreign companies reporting that they often pay bribes to middlemen and government officials to secure business deals. Saudi Arabia was ranked 80 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index... The government tightly controls content in domestic media and dominates regional print and satellite television coverage. Members of the royal family own major shares in news outlets across the region... Religious freedom does not exist in Saudi Arabia. Islam is the official religion, and all Saudis are required by law to be Muslims... Saudis do not enjoy freedoms of association and assembly. The government frequently arrests and detains political activists who stage demonstrations or engage in other civic advocacy... The Committee to Prevent Vice and Promote Virtue, a semi-autonomous religious police force commonly known as the mutawa’een, enforces a strict policy of segregation between men and women and often harasses women, using physical punishment to ensure that women meet conservative standards of dress in public."

Updated January 2010