Saudi Arabia

Airports

total: 215 usable: 195 with permanent-surface runways: 71 with runways over 3,659 m: 14 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 38 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 105

Highways

total: 74,000 km paved: 35,000 km unpaved: gravel, improved earth 39,000 km

Merchant marine

74 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 865,343 GRT/1,240,874 DWT, bulk 1, cargo 11, chemical tanker 4, container 3, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 5, oil tanker 23, passenger 1, refrigerated cargo 6, roll-on/roll-off cargo 11, short-sea passenger 7, specialized tanker 1

Pipelines

crude oil 6,400 km; petroleum products 150 km; natural gas 2,200 km (includes natural gas liquids 1,600 km)

Ports

Jiddah, Ad Dammam, Ras Tanura, Jizan, Al Jubayl, Yanbu' al Bahr, Yanbu' al Sinaiyah

Railroads

1390 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 448 km are double tracked

Telecommunications

modern system with extensive microwave and coaxial and fiber optic cable systems; 1,624,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 43 AM, 13 FM, 80 TV; microwave radio relay to Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Yemen, and Sudan; coaxial cable to Kuwait and Jordan; submarine cable to Djibouti, Egypt and Bahrain; earth stations - 3 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 ARABSAT, 1 INMARSAT

Branches

Land Force (Army), Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force, National Guard, Coast Guard, Frontier Forces, Special Security Force, Public Security Force

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $16.5 billion, 13% of GDP (1993 budget)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 5,682,036; fit for military service 3,140,464; reach military age (17) annually 147,420 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for about 10% of GDP, 16% of labor force; subsidized by government; products - wheat, barley, tomatoes, melons, dates, citrus fruit, mutton, chickens, eggs, milk; approaching self-sufficiency in food

Budget

revenues: $39 billion expenditures: $50 billion, including capital expenditures of $7.5 billion (1993 est.)

Currency

1 Saudi riyal (SR) = 100 halalah

Economic aid

donor: pledged bilateral aid (1979-89), $64.7 billion; pledged $100 million in 1993 to fund reconstruction of Lebanon

Electricity

capacity: 28,554,000 kW production: 63 billion kWh consumption per capita: 3,690 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

Saudi riyals (SR) per US$1 - 3.7450 (fixed rate since late 1986), 3.7033 (1986)

Exports

$42.3 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: petroleum and petroleum products 92% partners: US 21%, Japan 18%, Singapore 6%, France 6%, Korea 5%

External debt

$18.9 billion (December 1989 est., includes short-term trade credits)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

death penalty for traffickers; increasing consumption of heroin and cocaine

Imports

$26 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, motor vehicles, textiles partners: US 18%, UK 12%, Japan 10%, Germany 5%, France 5%

Industrial production

growth rate 20% (1991 est.); accounts for 46% of GDP, including petroleum

Industries

crude oil production, petroleum refining, basic petrochemicals, cement, two small steel-rolling mills, construction, fertilizer, plastics

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

1% (1993 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $194 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$11,000 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

1% (1993 est.)

Overview

The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 75% of budget revenues, 35% of GDP, and almost all export earnings. Saudi Arabia has the largest reserves of petroleum in the world, ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC. For the 1990s the government intends to bring its budget, which has been in deficit since 1983, back into balance, and to encourage private economic activity. Roughly four million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, for example, in the oil and banking sectors. For about a decade, Saudi Arabia's domestic and international outlays have outstripped its income, and the government has cut its foreign assistance and is beginning to rein in domestic programs.

Unemployment rate

6.5% (1992 est.)

Area

total area: 1,960,582 sq km land area: 1,960,582 sq km comparative area: slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US

Climate

harsh, dry desert with great extremes of temperature

Coastline

2,640 km

Environment

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 natural hazards: frequent sand and dust storms international agreements: party to - Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Law of the Sea

International disputes

large section of boundary with Yemen not defined; status of boundary with UAE not final; Kuwaiti ownership of Qaruh and Umm al Maradim islands is disputed by Saudi Arabia

Irrigated land

4,350 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 4,415 km, Iraq 814 km, Jordan 728 km, Kuwait 222 km, Oman 676 km, Qatar 60 km, UAE 457 km, Yemen 1,458 km

Land use

arable land: 1% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 39% forest and woodland: 1% other: 59%

Location

Middle East, between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf

Map references

Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

contiguous zone: 18 nm continental shelf: not specified territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper

Note

extensive coastlines on Persian Gulf and Red Sea provide great leverage on shipping (especially crude oil) through Persian Gulf and Suez Canal

Terrain

mostly uninhabited, sandy desert

Administrative divisions

14 emirates (imarat, singular - imarah); Al Bahah, Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah, Al Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Al Qurayyat, Ar Riyad, Ash Sharqiyah, Asir, Hail, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, Tabuk

Capital

Riyadh

Constitution

none; governed according to Shari'a (Islamic law)

Digraph

SA

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador BANDAR bin Sultan Abd al-Aziz Al Saud chancery: 601 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: (202) 342-3800 consulate(s) general: Houston, Los Angeles, and New York

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: King and Prime Minister FAHD bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (since 13 June 1982); Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (half-brother to the King, appointed heir to the throne 13 June 1982) cabinet: Council of Ministers; mostly made up of the royal family appointed by the king

FAX

[966] (1) 482-4364 consulate(s) general: Dhahran, Jiddah (Jeddah)

Flag

green with large white Arabic script (that may be translated as There is no God but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God) above a white horizontal saber (the tip points to the hoist side); green is the traditional color of Islam

Independence

23 September 1932 (unification)

Judicial branch

Supreme Council of Justice

Legal system

based on Islamic law, several secular codes have been introduced; commercial disputes handled by special committees; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

a consultative council comprised of 60 members and a chairman who are appointed by the King for a term of four years

Member of

ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-19, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OIC, OPEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOSOM, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Names

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

National holiday

Unification of the Kingdom, 23 September (1932)

Political parties and leaders

none allowed

Suffrage

none

Type

monarchy

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires C. David Welch embassy: Collector Road M, Diplomatic Quarter, Riyadh mailing address: American Embassy, Unit 61307, Riyadh; International Mail: P. O. Box 94309, Riyadh 11693; or APO AE 09803-1307 telephone: [966] (1) 488-3800

Birth rate

38.25 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

5.83 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%

Infant mortality rate

52.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

5 million-6 million by occupation: government 34%, industry and oil 28%, services 22%, agriculture 16%

Languages

Arabic

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 67.91 years male: 66.25 years female: 69.65 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 62% male: 73% female: 48%

Nationality

noun: Saudi(s) adjective: Saudi or Saudi Arabian

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

18,196,783 (July 1994 est.) note: the population figure is consistent with a 3.24% growth rate; a 1992 census gives the number of Saudi citizens as 12,304,835 and the number of residents who are not citizens as 4,624,459

Population growth rate

3.24% (1994 est.)

Religions

Muslim 100%

Total fertility rate

6.67 children born/woman (1994 est.)