Saudi Arabia

C

Plants and Animals

Because of the general aridity the vegetation is not extensive. Various fruit trees, notably the date palm, and a wide variety of grains and vegetables thrive in the oases and in other areas where water is available. Indigenous wildlife includes the hyena, fox, wildcat, panther, wolf, gazelle, antelope, wild cow, ibex, ostrich, bustard, quail, and pigeon.

D

Environmental Concerns

Environmental protection is an ancient tradition in the Arabian Peninsula, and special reserves were known long before the advent of Islam. Respect for nature is prescribed in the Koran. In the 6th century, the prophet Muhammad set aside a special nature reserve, or hema, for public enjoyment, which became the foundation for modern nature preservation. Today Saudi Arabia has an extensive system of protected areas, including one national park, traditional hemas, and several classes of special-use areas, which together make up about 2.3 per cent (1997) of the country’s land. Significant protected areas also exist in the military security zones at the Jordanian border and in the eastern Rub‘ al Khali. Some protection has been extended to sensitive marine habitats off the coasts.

Saudi Arabia is mostly desert. Less than 0.1 per cent (1995) is forested, although the government conducts a reforestation programme. Livestock grazing represents the largest environmental threat to the sparse natural vegetation. A high population growth rate has put extreme pressure on the delicate arid environments of the interior and created concern over the management of scarce resources, especially water. Underground aquifers are overdrawn, and the government has spent huge sums on desalinization plants to provide artificially processed fresh water.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest producers of petroleum products and suffers a number of related problems, including oil spills on land and off its coasts. Marshes and other sensitive marine habitats, especially in the Persian Gulf, have been in decline for decades because of oil pollution. They are important not only as rare habitat but as key elements in the ecology of commercially harvested fish and shrimp. The Gulf War caused catastrophic damage to some of these areas. For a country largely composed of desert, Saudi Arabia has fairly rich biodiversity. Eighteen per cent of its invertebrate animals, seven of its nine amphibians, and all of its indigenous freshwater fish are found nowhere else. There are an estimated 3,500 species of plants and 59 terrestrial mammals, 19 of which are endangered, vulnerable, or rare. Government-sponsored wildlife teams are working to increase populations of threatened houbara bustards and Arabian oryx. In addition, there are 413 (1996) recorded species of birds, 11 (1996) of which are rare or endangered. Saudi Arabia ratified the World Heritage Convention but as yet has no designated sites. The country participates in international environmental agreements on climate change, hazardous wastes, and the ozone layer. Regionally, the country has committed itself to the cooperative protection of shared marine environments in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.

III

Population

The population of Saudi Arabia is mainly composed (90 per cent) of native Arabs. A substantial minority consists of Yemenis and other Arabs, Africans, and Asians who have come to Saudi Arabia since the 1950s because of the economic opportunities the country offers. Nomads, known as Bedouin, make up a declining proportion (27 per cent) of the population, and the number of settled cultivators has also decreased. By the early 1990s, 77 per cent of the population was urban. The figure is now 88 per cent.

A

Religion

Virtually all Saudis are Muslims; the great majority are Sunnis, although around 15 per cent are Shiites who live in the east. The Wahhabi sect, reformers who began in Arabia during the 18th century and who have sought to purify and simplify the practice of Islam, has greatly influenced the Sunnis of Saudi Arabia.

B

Language

The official language is Standard Arabic (a Semitic language), a second language that is learnt in schools and used in official domains. Classical Arabic, a dialect of Standard Arabic that has archaic vocabulary, is used in religious contexts. Najdi Spoken Arabic and Hijazi Spoken Arabic are mother tongues for the majority of the population; Standard Arabic is only widely known by the well-educated. Gulf Spoken Arabic is used by a minority.