Saudi Arabia

Airports

211 total, 191 usable; 70 with permanent-surface runways; 14 with runways over 3,659 m; 37 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 105 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

104 major transport aircraft available

Highways

74,000 km total; 35,000 km paved, 39,000 km gravel and improved earth

Merchant marine

8l ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 884,470 GRT/1,254,882 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 7 short-sea passenger, 11 cargo, 14 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 container, 6 refrigerated cargo, 5 livestock carrier, 24 petroleum tanker, 7 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 1 specialized tanker, 1 bulk

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

886 km 1.435-meter standard gauge

Telecommunications

good system with extensive microwave and coaxial and fiber optic cable systems; 1,624,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 43 AM, 13 FM, 80 TV; 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 - $14.5 billion, 13% of GDP (1992 budget)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 5,619,147; 3,118,261 fit for military service; 133,314 reach military age (17) annually

Agriculture

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

Budget

revenues $40.3 billion; expenditures $48.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)

Currency

Saudi riyal (plural - riyals); 1 Saudi riyal (SR) = 100 halalas

Economic aid

donor - pledged $64.7 billion in bilateral aid (1979-89)

Electricity

30,000,000 kW capacity; 60,000 million kWh produced, 3,300 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates

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

Exports

$44.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: petroleum and petroleum products 85% partners: US 22%, Japan 22%, Singapore 7%, France 6%

External debt

$18.9 billion (December 1989 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

exchange rate conversion - $104 billion, per capita $5,800; real growth rate 1.5% (1991 est.)

Imports

$21.5 billion (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: manufactured goods, transportation equipment, construction materials, processed food products partners: US 16%, UK 14%, Japan 14%, FRG 7%

Industrial production

growth rate -1.1% (1989 est.); accounts for 37% of GDP, including petroleum

Industries

crude oil production, petroleum refining, basic petrochemicals, cement, small steel-rolling mill, construction, fertilizer, plastic

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

3% (1991 est.)

Overview

The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 70% of budget revenues, 37% 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 encourage private economic activity and to foster the gradual process of turning Saudi Arabia into a modern industrial state that retains traditional Islamic values.

Unemployment rate

0% (1989 est.)

Climate

harsh, dry desert with great extremes of temperature

Coastline

2,510 km

Comparative area

slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US

Disputes

no defined boundaries with Yemen; location and status of Saudi Arabia's boundaries with Qatar and UAE are unresolved; Kuwaiti ownership of Qaruh and Umm al Maradim Islands is disputed by Saudi Arabia

Environment

no perennial rivers or permanent water bodies; developing extensive coastal seawater desalination facilities; desertification

Land area

1,945,000 km2

Land boundaries

4,532 km total; Iraq 808 km, Jordan 742 km, Kuwait 222 km, Oman 676 km, Qatar 40 km, UAE 586 km, Yemen 1,458 km

Land use

arable land 1%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 39%; forest and woodland 1%; other 59%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Maritime claims

Contiguous zone: 18 nm Continental shelf: not specific Territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

crude oil, 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

Total area

1,945,000 km2

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, Ha'il, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, Tabuk

Capital

Riyadh

Constitution

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

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador BANDAR Bin Sultan; Chancery at 601 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037; telephone (202) 342-3800; there are Saudi Arabian Consulates General in Houston, Los Angeles, and New York US: Ambassador Charles W. FREEMAN, Jr.; Embassy at Collector Road M, Diplomatic Quarter, Riyadh (mailing address is American Embassy, Unit 61307, Riyadh; International Mail: P. O. Box 94309, Riyadh 11693; or APO AE 09803-1307); telephone [966] (1) 488-3800; Telex 406866; there are US Consulates General in Dhahran and Jiddah (Jeddah)

Elections

none

Executive branch

monarch and prime minister, crown prince and deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers

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

Leaders

Chief of State and Head of Government: King and Prime Minister FAHD bin `Abd al-`Aziz Al Sa`ud (since 13 June 1982); Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister `ABDALLAH bin `Abd al-`Aziz Al Sa`ud (half-brother to the King, appointed heir to the throne 13 June 1982)

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

none

Long-form name

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

National holiday

Unification of the Kingdom, 23 September (1932)

Suffrage

none

Type

monarchy

Birth rate

39 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

6 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic divisions

Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%

Infant mortality rate

59 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

5,000,000; about 60% are foreign workers; government 34%, industry and oil 28%, services 22%, and agriculture 16%

Languages

Arabic

Life expectancy at birth

65 years male, 68 years female (1992)

Literacy

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

Nationality

noun - Saudi(s); adjective - Saudi or Saudi Arabian

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

trade unions are illegal

Population

17,050,934 (July 1992), growth rate 3.3% (1992); note - the population figure is based on growth since the last official Saudi census of 1974 that reported a total of 7 million persons and included foreign workers; estimates from other sources may be 15-30% lower

Religions

Muslim 100%

Total fertility rate

6.7 children born/woman (1992)