Saudi Arabia

Home of Mecca and Medina, the holy cities of Muslims

Saudi Arabia is a desert country: 95% is sand and rock, and it has no rivers at all! But beneath the ground lie the world's largest oil reserves. Here is Mecca — the holy city where the Kaaba stands, the qibla (direction of prayer) for Muslims; every year 2 million people make the Hajj pilgrimage, including from Uzbekistan. The Rub' al Khali is the world's largest sand desert, with dunes 250 m high. The camel and the date palm are symbols of desert life.

Capital: Riyadh. Language: Arabic.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers 2.15 million km² (80% of the Arabian Peninsula) with 36 million people (40% foreigners). Nature: the Rub' al Khali (650,000 km², the 'Empty Quarter'), the Nafud, the Hijaz mountains, no permanent rivers — the world's largest seawater desalination industry. History: the Nabataeans (Hegra — Petra's 'sister', UNESCO), the birth of Islam (Mecca 610, Medina 622), the Ottomans, unification of the kingdom by Abdulaziz ibn Saud in 1932, oil discovered in 1938. Islam's two holiest mosques: Masjid al-Haram (the Kaaba, capacity 4 million) and the Prophet's Mosque (Masjid an-Nabawi, honouring Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in Medina); the Hajj (2 million a year) and Umrah. Economy: oil (2nd in reserves; Aramco is among the world's most valuable companies), 'Vision 2030' — NEOM (The Line city), tourism, sport. With Uzbekistan: the Hajj route, the legacy of Imam al-Bukhari (hadith) linking Bukhara and Mecca, investment projects (ACWA Power).

Fun facts

• Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers — the largest such country in the world.
• The Rub' al Khali desert is bigger than France, with dunes 250 m high.
• Every year 2 million people make the Hajj to Mecca.