I.

Introduction

Saudi Arabia, monarchy of the Middle East, occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula, and bordered on the north by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait; on the east by the Persian Gulf and Qatar; on the south-east by the United Arab Emirates and Oman; on the south by the Republic of Yemen and on the west by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. Boundaries in the south-east are not precisely defined. Saudi Arabia has an area of about 2,240,000 sq km (864,900 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Riyadh.

II.

Land and Resources

Considerably more than half the area of Saudi Arabia is desert. Rub‘ al Khali, known in English as the Great Sandy Desert and as the 'Empty Quarter', extends over much of the south-east and beyond the southern frontier. Largely unexplored, Rub‘ al Khali has an estimated area of about 777,000 sq km (300,000 sq mi). An extension of the Syrian Desert projects into northern Saudi Arabia, and extending south-east from this region is An Nafūd, an upland desert of red sand covering an area of about 56,980 sq km (22,000 sq mi). Ad Dahnā’, a narrow extension of this desert, links An Nafūd and Rub‘ al Khali. A central plateau region, broken in the east by a series of uplifts, extends south from An Nafūd. Several wadis (watercourses), dry except in the rainy season, traverse the plateau region. The western limits of the latter are delineated by a mountain range extending generally north-west and south-east along the eastern edge of Al Ḩijāz and Asir regions.

The highest point in Saudi Arabia, Jabal Sawdā’ 3,133 m (10,279 ft), is located in the south-western portion of the country. Between the range, which has an average elevation of about 1,220 m (4,000 ft), and the Red Sea is a narrow coastal plain. In the east, along the Persian Gulf, is a low-lying region known as Al Hasa. It is underlain by great petroleum deposits.

A.

Climate

Extreme heat and aridity are characteristic of most of Saudi Arabia. The average temperatures for the months of January and July in Riyadh are 14.4° C (58° F) and 42° C (108° F). The average temperatures in Jiddah for the same months are 22.8° C (73° F) and 30.6° C (87° F). Average annual precipitation in Riyadh and Jiddah is 81 mm (3 in) and 61 mm (2 in), respectively. Because of the overall aridity, Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers or lakes.

B.

Natural Resources

Fertile oases, many of which are the sites of towns and villages, are scattered through the Saudi Arabian deserts north of Rub‘ al Khali, and larger tracts of pasturage are in Ad Dahnā’ and the plateau region. The great Saudi Arabian oilfields are located in the coastal area adjoining the Persian Gulf.

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.

C.

Population Characteristics

Saudi Arabia has a population of 28,686,633 (2009 estimate). The average density is about 13 people per sq km (34 per sq mi). Life expectancy at birth in 2009 was 74 years for men and 79 years for women.

D.

Principal Cities

The capital of Saudi Arabia is Riyadh, which has a population of 5,126,000 (2003 estimate). Other important cities, with their populations, include Jiddah (2,801,481, 2004 estimate), a port city on the Red Sea; Mecca (1,294,168, 2004 estimate), one of the great Muslim pilgrimage centres; Medina (918,889, 2004 estimate), a holy city and cultural centre of Islam; and Ad Dammām (482,300, 1992), an oil centre on the Persian Gulf. In the 1980s, two large new industrial centres, Al Jubayl, on the Persian Gulf, and Yanbu al-Bahr, on the Red Sea, were built at an estimated cost of more than US$45 billion.

E.

Education

Education in Saudi Arabia is free but not compulsory. In 1994 the country had 11,506 primary schools with a total annual enrolment of 2,308,460 pupils and over 6,300 intermediate and secondary schools with 1,914,465 students. In recent decades, teacher-training institutes have been established with the aim of reducing the country’s great dependence on other Arab countries for teachers.

King Saud University was founded as the University of Riyadh in 1957; the Islamic University, in Medina, in 1961; King Abdul Aziz University, in Jiddah, in 1967; King Faisal University, in Ad Dammām, in 1975; and Umm al-Qura University, in Mecca, in 1979. Founded in Riyadh in 1953, the Islamic University of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud attained university status in 1974. Three other institutions of advanced learning are the Technical Institute (1964), at Riyadh, the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (1963), at Dhahran, and a college of Islamic studies, founded in 1933, at Mecca.

Additional institutes for religious training are located in Riyadh and other cities and towns. Instruction at the higher levels is frequently in English, which, after Arabic, is the principal language. Altogether, some 636,445 students were enrolled in 2006 in institutions of higher education in Saudi Arabia. Every year many qualified young Saudis enrol for advanced study in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere. In 2005, 6.8 per cent of the country’s gross national product (GNP) was spent on education. The adult literacy rate is 85 per cent.

F.

Culture

Some of the largest libraries of Saudi Arabia are situated in Riyadh; the King Saud University libraries contain more than 1 million volumes. Collections of religious materials are housed in libraries in Mecca and in Medina. The Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, which was founded in Riyadh in 1978, features displays and exhibits on a wide variety of topics.

IV.

Economy

Agriculture and stock-raising have historically been the basic economic activities of Saudi Arabia, but since the development of the oil industry, the government has sought to diversify its industrial base and improve its basic economic structure, developing roads, airports, seaports, and the power industry. The main problem has been the lack of trained or skilled labour.

With the tremendous increase of world oil prices beginning in 1973, however, the government set about transforming its economy at an accelerated rate almost without precedent in modern history. Saudi Arabia has the largest reserves of petroleum (26 per cent) in the world. It ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The petroleum sector of this highly prosperous economy accounts for roughly 75 per cent of budget revenues, 35 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), and 97 per cent of export earnings. Roughly four million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, for example, in the oil and banking sectors. Around 9 per cent of GDP is on military spending. Saudi Arabia’s GNP (World Bank figure) in 2004 was US$242,939 million or US$15,470 per capita.

The annual budget for 1994 included revenue of about US$35,100 million and expenditure of about US$40,000 million. Agriculture and fishing employed 10 per cent of the workforce in 1995; government and services, 65 per cent; and industry, construction, and oil, 25 per cent.

A.

Petroleum

The Saudi oil industry was founded in 1938 by the Arabian-American Oil Company (Aramco) when a productive field was found at Ad Dammām. Aramco was originally owned by four American oil companies, but in 1974 controlling interest was gained by the Saudi government. The country’s vast reserves and high level of oil production have made Saudi Arabia a leading producer and a strong voice in OPEC, which has much influence over international oil pricing.

Saudi Arabia’s proven reserves of petroleum exceed 250 billion barrels. Production in 2004 was some 3.23 billion barrels of oil; output rose sharply after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Only the Soviet Union and the United States produced more petroleum. Most oil is produced in the eastern part of the country; offshore drilling takes place in the Persian Gulf.

To facilitate the movement of crude petroleum to major markets, the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, known as Tapline, was completed in 1950. It carries crude oil to Şaydā (Sidon) in Lebanon, on the Mediterranean Sea. Another pipeline, linking the eastern oilfields around Buqayq with the Red Sea port of Yanbu al Bahr, was completed in the early 1980s. Most oil, however, continued to be exported from Persian Gulf ports, especially Cape Tannurah and Ad Dammām. Saudi Arabia also produces considerable quantities of natural gas; the annual output in 2003 was 60.1 billion cu m (2,121 billion cu ft).

In 1995 private-sector activity increased by around 7 per cent and a rise in international petroleum prices resulted in reduced state spending and enhanced revenues. Further privatization, and “Saudiization” of the workforce is envisaged.

B.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

Because Saudi Arabia has long been a food importer, agriculture is a key area of development. The lack of water has made less than 1 per cent of the land area useful for farming. Irrigated lands near oases have been virtually the only sites of cultivation. Many foreign workers and technicians are engaged in agricultural projects.

Saudi Arabia’s leading crops in 2007 (with annual output in tonnes) were wheat (2.70 million) and barley (47,000). Other major crops are dates, tomatoes, watermelons, sorghum, dairy products, onions, grapes, and citrus fruit. Livestock included 7 million sheep, 2.20 million goats, 260,000 camels, and 372,000 cattle.

Shrimp, the only significant fish harvest, are taken from the Persian Gulf.

C.

Mining

Apart from petroleum and petroleum-related products, the only significant minerals mined in Saudi Arabia are limestone, gypsum, marble, clay, salt, and gold.

D.

Manufacturing

Saudi Arabia’s manufacturing sector has been diversified since the 1970s. Saudi Arabia’s oil-associated industries are among the world’s most advanced. Major products include refined petroleum, petrochemicals, plastics, processed food, clothing, fertilizer, and cement.

E.

Energy

In 2006 the country generated about 169 billion kWh of electricity, all produced by thermal installations.

F.

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit of Saudi Arabia is the riyal of 100 halalah (3.76 riyal equalled US$1; early 2009). In October 2002, half a dozen Arab Gulf states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) announced plans to push ahead towards monetary union, a scheme thought to be based on the European model.

G.

Commerce and Trade

Because of Saudi Arabia’s reliance on foreign sales of petroleum, its yearly exports rose rapidly in the 1970s but declined almost as sharply in the 1980s; the nation’s exports dropped from US$111,000 million in 1981 to US$48,500 million in 1991, while imports remained around US$30,000 million. In 2007 exports earned US$230,607 million and imports cost US$89,153 million.

Leading imports include machinery, metal and metal products, transport equipment, foodstuffs, and textiles and clothing. Among the principal trade partners of Saudi Arabia are the United States, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, South Korea, and the Netherlands.

Saudi Arabia does not encourage tourism. However, large numbers of Muslim pilgrims visit Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and Medina, the site of his tomb. There were more than 2 million pilgrims in 1996. Some US$2,000 million was spent annually in the early 1990s.

H.

Transport

Saudi Arabia has an expanding transport network. In 2000 the country had about 152,044 km (94,476 mi) of roads, of which 30 per cent were paved. In 1997 there were 90 passenger cars per 1,000 people. Saudi Arabia is served by some 1,412 km (877 mi) of operated railway track, with the main line connecting Riyadh and Ad Dammām. The ports of Jiddah and Yanbu al Bahr are on the Red Sea, and Al Jubayl, Ad Dammām, and Cape Tannurah are major oil-exporting ports on the Persian Gulf. Government-run Saudi Arabia Airlines provides domestic and international flights. Major airports are at Dhahran (Dhahran International and King Fahd International), Jiddah (King Abdul Aziz), and Riyadh (King Khalid).

I.

Communications

Saudi Arabia has 12 daily newspapers, three of which are published in English. There is total government censorship. The government operates radio and television broadcasting services, and in 1997 about 6 million radios and 6 million television receivers were in use, as well as 95 telephones per 1,000 people, and a well-developed system of telecommunications.

V.

Government

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. The government is based on the sacred Shari’ah law of Islam, which is interpreted according to the strict Hanbali rite by the learned religious elders, or ulama. Saudi Arabia had no written constitution until March 1992, when a series of royal decrees established a bill of rights, increased the powers of provincial governments, and provided for a 60-member Consultative Council, to be appointed by the king.

A.

Executive and Legislature

The chief government and religious official of Saudi Arabia is a king. Succession to the office is not hereditary, and the crown prince, who succeeds the king, is chosen from among the Saud royal family by the family in consultation with religious and government leaders. The king usually also serves as Saudi Arabia’s prime minister. The royal family and a few other prominent families provide most higher government officials. The king’s power in practice is determined in part by his personality and on how he interacts with the leading families and religious officials of the country.

Saudi Arabia has no separate legislature or political parties. Laws are issued by the king and his ministers. In 1992 King Fahd established the Shura Council, a body of 60 ministers selected by the king as advisers; the council was enlarged to 90 members by a decree of July 1997 and to 120 members in 2001. The council, however, has no legislative powers. In January 1996 King Fahd was replaced by his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, after he suffered a stroke. Abdullah succeeded Fahd on the latter’s death in August 2005; Prince Sultan was named the new crown prince.

In June 2000 Crown Prince Abdullah created the Royal Family Council. It comprises 18 senior members of the ruling Saud family and is not expected to work in the field of politics. The crown prince himself chaired the first meeting, in Jiddah.

B.

Judiciary

The judicial system of Saudi Arabia is based on the Shari’ah, which is derived from the Koran (the holy book of Islam) and Hadith (traditions) of the prophet Muhammad. The principal tribunals of the country are the supreme council of justice, the court of cassation, general courts, and summary courts.

C.

Local Government

Following an administrative reform in 1993, Saudi Arabia is divided into 13 administrative districts, with appointed governors and assemblies of local notables. Large cities elect their own municipal governments. Towns and villages are governed by councils of elders.

D.

Health and Welfare

Saudi Arabia has several modern, Western-style hospitals, but primary medical care is still basic. In 1995 there were 612 people per doctor; 4.7 per cent of the country’s GDP was spent on health care. The infant mortality rate was 12 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2009.

E.

Defence

Since the mid-1960s military expenditure has increased dramatically and is around 9 per cent of GDP annually. The country maintains two separate armies. The first is the national guard, or White Guard, which is a conglomeration of tribal levies organized along traditional lines and has about 77,000 active members. The regular armed forces include an army of 75,000 personnel, an elite air force of 18,000, and a navy of 15,500. These forces, trained and armed in part with foreign assistance, are equipped with modern weapons, including Patriot missiles and advanced radars, and advanced aircraft purchased from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, such as Tornado combat and interceptor aircraft.

F.

International Organizations

Saudi Arabia is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Arab League, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

VI.

History

Arabia was probably the original home of the Semites, from where, beginning in the 4th millennium bc, they moved into Mesopotamia and Palestine, later to be identified as Assyro-Babylonians, Canaanites, and Amorites.

A.

Ancient Times

In the 1st millennium bc the Minaean kingdom was well established in Asir and the south of Al Ḩijāz (Hejaz) along the Red Sea coast; its capital was at Karna, or Qarnah (present-day Sadah, Yemen). The Minaeans were nomads and herders, who eventually became the chief traders of incense through northern Al Ḩijāz. After the Minaeans withdrew from their trading post at Dedān (now Al ‘Ulā) in the 1st century bc, the Nabataeans founded a commercial centre at Madā’in Şāliḩ, just to the north.

In the eastern part of the country was Dilmun, apparently a politico-cultural federation centred on the Persian Gulf shore. It has sometimes been identified with the island of Bahrain, although it certainly included parts of the mainland and traded with the inland sections of what is now Saudi Arabia.

Alexander the Great of Macedonia had plans to conquer Arabia before his untimely death in 323 bc, and the Ptolemies of Egypt later gained a toehold at Yenbo but were thwarted by the Nabataeans. The country was later subject to Ethiopian and Persian struggles for hegemony. By the 5th century ad Mecca had superseded the Nabataean city of Petra in importance.

B.

Coming of Islam

Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, was born in Mecca in 570. His teachings angered local residents and Muhammad left for Medina. In 630 he returned with his followers and conquered Mecca, setting into motion the rapid expansion of Islam across the Middle East. The prophet Muhammad profoundly changed the history of the country with his founding of Islam in the 7th century. His successors went on to conquer and convert the entire Middle East, and as the caliphate was established, first in Damascus in 660, and then in Baghdad, Muhammad’s homeland itself became less important within the Islamic empire. After 1269 most of Al Ḩijāz was under the nominal suzerainty of the Egyptian Mamelukes. The Ottoman Empire gained control of it when they conquered Egypt in 1517, but they were unable to extend their authority into the interior. During the 15th century the Saud dynasty was founded near modern-day Riyadh by Muhammad ibn Saud.

C.

Wahhabi Ascendancy

In the mid-18th century the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab formed his fundamentalist sect, and, supported by Saudi armies, the movement soon established a nationalist Arab state in the Najd. In 1802 the Wahhabi captured Mecca, and although they were later expelled from there (1812), they were not defeated. The Wahhabi and Saudis retreated to Riyadh, where they founded their capital in 1818. From there the Saudis reconquered most of the land they had lost.

After 1865 the dynasty fell into civil war and the kingdom was divided among various clans and the Ottomans. Defeated, the Saudi family fled into exile in Kuwait. In 1902 Abdul Aziz ibn Saud retook Riyadh and by 1906 his forces controlled the Najd region. He captured the Hasa region in 1913, the Jebel Shammar in 1921, Mecca in 1924, Medina in 1925, and Asir in 1926. He then proclaimed himself King of Al Ḩijāz. In 1932 after unifying the conquered territories, he renamed his vast realm Saudi Arabia.

D.

Abdul Aziz’s Reign

Before 1938, when large-scale exploitation of Saudi Arabian oil resources began, socio-economic conditions in the country differed little from those prevailing in antiquity. As royalties from the oil industry increased, King Abdul Aziz developed an extensive modernization programme, particularly in such areas as water supply, agriculture, manufacturing, and public health. Concurrently he strengthened relations with other states of the Middle East and adopted a friendly policy towards the United States and Great Britain. A supporter of the Allied cause in World War II, he permitted construction of a US air base in Dhahran but remained officially neutral until March 1945, when he declared war on Germany and Japan.

In 1945 Saudi Arabia joined the UN and the Arab League. It opposed the creation of Israel but took only a minor active part in the league’s war of 1948-1949 against the Jewish state. In June 1951 Saudi Arabia agreed to US use of the Dhahran air base for another five years in return for US technical aid and permission to purchase arms under the Mutual Defense Assistance Act. In December a new agreement with the Arabian-American Oil Company (Aramco) provided that 50 per cent of the company’s net earnings should be paid to Saudi Arabia.

E.

The Post-War Period

King Abdul Aziz died on November 9, 1953. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Saud. Advocating Arab neutrality in the East-West Cold War, Saudi Arabia opposed the Middle Eastern Treaty Organization (METO), formed in 1955 by Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. Representatives from Saudi Arabia attended the Bandung Conference held in April 1955, in Bandung, Indonesia. In October 1955 it signed a mutual-defence pact with Egypt. In the same month British-led forces from the sultanate of Muscat and Oman recaptured an oasis in a disputed area that had been occupied in 1952 by Saudi Arabian police. Saudi Arabia appealed in vain to the UN for support against the British.

In November King Saud agreed to lend Syria US$10 million for economic and military purposes. A loan of US$10 million was made to Egypt in August 1956, when Egypt’s funds in foreign banks were frozen following the nationalization of the Suez Canal on July 26. After the joint Israeli, British, and French attack on Egypt in October and November, Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom and France and cut off oil supplies to their tankers.

King Saud visited the United States in January 1957; shortly afterwards it was announced that the United States would sell arms and supply other aid to Saudi Arabia in exchange for extension of authority to use the Dhahran air base. Saudi Arabia, in April, declared the Gulf of Aqaba to be territorial waters and announced that Israeli ships would be denied passage through the gulf. Despite the declaration, no attempts were made to interfere with the passage of Israeli ships. In February 1958 Saudi Arabian territorial waters were extended to 19 km (12 mi).

In March 1958 King Saud transferred legislative and executive powers, formerly included among his own absolute powers, to the prime minister, his brother Crown Prince Faisal, while retaining the right of veto. In May a royal decree established a Cabinet system.

F.

Relations with Other Middle Eastern States

At a conference held in Baghdad in September 1960, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, and Kuwait founded OPEC to coordinate their policies and help sustain oil prices. On December 21 Saud reassumed control of the government from Faisal and made himself the prime minister.

In October 1962 King Saud again relinquished the premiership to Faisal. Meanwhile, Saudi relations with Egypt had been deteriorating. Serious tension developed after the September 1962 revolution in Yemen; Egypt supported the new republican government, while Saudi Arabia gave refuge to the overthrown Yemeni imam and pledged to support his efforts to regain his throne. After royalist attacks against Yemen from Saudi Arabia, Egyptian planes bombed Saudi towns in November, and Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Egypt and mobilized its armed forces in January 1963.

Prince Faisal, who had been consolidating his power and introducing major social and economic reforms, replaced Saud as king on November 2, 1964. He designated his half-brother, Prince Khalid ibn Abdul, as his successor.

G.

Arab-Israeli Conflicts

By 1967, as the Arab-Israeli conflict intensified prior to the Six-Day War, King Faisal expressed full support for the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and dispatched 20,000 troops to Jordan to face Israel. On June 6 all Saudi Arabian oil exports to the United Kingdom and the United States were suspended, but diplomatic ties were not broken; the oil trade was resumed after the Arab defeat. An Arab summit conference later in the year resulted in Egyptian withdrawal from Yemen, and the Saudis extended large-scale aid to Egypt to compensate for the loss of revenue caused by the closing of the Suez Canal in the war.

King Faisal continued to call for pan-Islamic action against Israel and, under internal pressures, criticized alleged US complicity with Israel. He remained unwilling, however, to articulate a militant anti-Western position, and in 1971 Saudi Arabia and five other Persian Gulf states concluded a 5-year pact with 23 Western oil companies, including 17 US firms. In July 1970 Saudi Arabia formally recognized the republican government of Yemen after seven years of intermittent border fighting.

Saudi Arabia sent a small number of troops and weapons (notably aircraft) to aid the Arab states during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In the aftermath of that conflict the government played a leading role in organizing a short oil boycott against countries that had supported Israel and in quadrupling the international price of petroleum. The latter development, and Saudi Arabia’s 1974 takeover of controlling interest in the huge Aramco, greatly increased government revenue, thus providing funds for a massive economic development plan.

H.

Financial Strength and Military Preparedness

In March 1975 King Faisal was assassinated by a nephew and was succeeded by Prince Khalid. Khalid, however, was in poor health and his half-brother, Crown Prince Fahd, became the power behind the throne. The country remained conservative, and its influence kept OPEC from raising its prices as much as most member countries wanted. In 1980 it was announced that the government had taken full control of Aramco’s assets retroactively from January 1976. Many of the petrodollars that poured into the country were reinvested in the West or spent on arms, but domestic inflation and a barely manageable pace of development were continuing problems.

Saudi Arabia, still considered a moderating force in the Arab-Israeli conflict, took a dim view of the conciliatory overtures by Egypt’s President Anwar al-Sadat to Israel in 1977, and after the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries in 1979, Saudi Arabia cut off financial aid to Egypt and severed diplomatic relations.

The Iranian revolution that year and the subsequent seizure by fundamentalist Muslim guerrillas of the Grand Mosque in Mecca jolted the Saudi government, which afterwards placed an increased emphasis on military preparedness and security. To ensure such security, the United States in 1981 agreed to sell several airborne warning and control system (AWACS) planes to the Saudis, an arrangement that engendered heavy opposition from Israel and its US friends, who feared an upset of the military balance in the Middle East.

King Khalid died in June 1982 and was succeeded by Crown Prince Fahd. In July 1987 at least 400 people were killed in Mecca when Iranian Shiite pilgrims clashed with Saudi police. More than 1,400 pilgrims died in July 1990 after a bridge and tunnel accident.

I.

The Gulf War and Beyond

Iraq’s takeover of Kuwait in August 1990 had significant military, political, and economic consequences for Saudi Arabia. To counter the Iraqi military threat, the government allowed the temporary deployment on Saudi territory of hundreds of thousands of US and allied troops, and Saudi forces fought as part of the anti-Iraq coalition in the Gulf War. Meanwhile, to compensate for the loss of petroleum supplies from Iraq and Kuwait, Saudi Arabia greatly increased its own oil output.

Political reforms decreed by King Fahd in 1992 established a consultative council, provided for a bill of rights, and changed the succession rules. Economic problems became evident in 1993. The United States had insisted that Saudi Arabia pay for the Gulf War, costing the country US$51 billion. In addition the Saudi economy had operated with a budget deficit from 1983 to 1993. War payments and the decline of oil prices in the 1980s forced the Saudi government to cut social and defence spending and to take out loans from international banks.

Despite its economic problems, Saudi Arabia helped defeat a plan by Iran to raise the price of oil artificially in March 1994. The consultative council established by King Fahd in 1992, called the Shura Council, met for the first time in December 1993. Saudi Arabia continued to struggle with reactionary religious groups in 1994, stripping a wealthy Saudi businessman, Osama bin Laden, of his citizenship because he had supported terrorist groups.

The deaths of some 270 pilgrims in an accidental stampede at Mecca on May 23, 1994, led to criticism by some Muslims anxious to question Saudi Arabia’s title to guardianship of the holy places of Islam. A car-bomb explosion at a US installation in November 1995 and an oil-tanker explosion in June 1996 were attributed to Islamic militant groups and killed 26 people, including Saudis, Bangladeshis, and Americans, and injured hundreds more. The oil-tanker explosion, which blew out windows over a kilometre away, was believed to be in retaliation for state beheadings of Saudis involved in the 1995 bomb attack on the US Riyadh installation. A London-based Saudi dissident, Muhammed al-Masaari, was implicated but denied involvement. Although the official government line was to condemn the attack, many notable Saudis and religious groups stated their opposition to the US military presence in Saudi Arabia. In November 1996 40 Saudis who had been in custody for some months were accused of complicity in the bombing. In December further security measures to protect US installations were approved by the government.

In April 1997 more than 340 Muslim pilgrims, mostly from the Indian sub-continent, were killed when a fire broke out in their camp near Mecca. In March 2001 a further 35 Muslims died in a crush on the first day of the Haj in Mina.

J.

Murder of an Australian Nurse

In May 1997 two British nurses working in Saudi Arabia faced possible severe penalties for the murder of an Australian nurse in a Saudi hospital: 500 lashes and eight years in jail for the first (Lucille McLaughlin) and beheading for the other (Deborah Parry), unless the victim’s family in Australia granted mercy in exchange for money (in Saudi law, diya). Several months were spent following their arrest in December deciding whether the brother of the murdered woman had the right to insist on the death penalty or exercise clemency if the two nurses are found guilty. That right is established under Saudi Shari’ah law.

The nurses’ trial opened on May 19 before an Islamic religious court in Khobar. The court upheld the right of the victim’s brother, Frank Gilford, to decide whether to call for the death sentence for Deborah Parry. On November 16 Gilford agreed to accept the diya and thus effected the waiving of the death penalty for Parry. On May 18, 1998, both nurses were granted a pardon by King Fahd and their sentences were commuted.

K.

New Code of Investment

A new foreign investment code was approved by the Cabinet in April 2000. Its aim was to improve the flow of foreign investment into all sectors of the country’s economy by relaxing ownership rules. There was speculation that this would increase Saudi Arabia’s chances of joining the World Trade Organization.

L.

Settlement with Yemen

A 65-year-old border dispute with Yemen over land and sea boundaries was brought to an end in June 2000, when a “final and permanent” border agreement was signed by the Saudi foreign minister and the Yemeni deputy prime minister.

M.

War Against Terrorism

Saudi Arabia ended its recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan following the start of diplomatic efforts to force the Taliban to hand over the Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, who was believed to have masterminded the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. In December, King Fahd issued a statement calling for an end to terrorism worldwide; the government, meanwhile, introduced identity cards for women in Saudi Arabia.

N.

Pressure for Reform

Saudi Arabia saw increased pressure for reform in the 21st century. In May 2002 a revised criminal justice system was instituted. The following year there were small-scale demonstrations calling for reform that were broken up by the police. In October 2003 it was announced that there would be municipal elections held within the year. These were tentatively scheduled for October 2004 and represent the first democratic elections in the country's history. There was even conjecture that women would be able to both vote and stand as candidates. King Fahd also gave wider powers to the Majlis as-Shura (the consultative assembly). The municipal elections were delayed until February 2005. Women were not allowed to vote, but the authorities described the exclusion as one based on administrative problems rather than policy. Fahd died in August 2005 and was succeeded by Abdullah; the 81-year-old Prince Sultan in turn replaced Abdullah as crown prince.