Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية‎) is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula. more...

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It borders Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south, with the Persian Gulf to its northeast and the Red Sea to its west. It is called "the land of the two holy mosques", a reference to Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest places. In English, it is most commonly referred to as Saudi Arabia (pronounced /ˈsɒdɪ/ or /ˈsaudɪ əˈɹeɪ̯bɪə/), often as just Saudi by many English-speaking expatriates in the kingdom, or, less commonly (as in international football events or in its national press) as KSA. (Arabia is sometimes also used to refer to the nation, but the term can also refer to the entire Peninsula and its varied nations and is thus ambiguous.)

History

The emergence of a Saudi state began in central Arabia in about 1750. A regional ruler, Muhammad bin Saud, joined forces with an Islamic cleric and reformer, Muhammad Abd Al-Wahhab, to create a new political entity. Over the next one hundred and fifty years, the fortunes of the Saud family rose and fell several times as Saudi rulers contended with Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and other Arabian families for control on the peninsula. The Saudi state was founded by the late King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (known internationally as Abdul Aziz bin Saud).

In 1902, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud captured Riyadh, the Al-Saud dynasty's ancestral capital, from the rival Al-Rashid family. Continuing his conquests, Abdul Aziz subdued Al-Ahsa, Al-Qatif, the rest of Najd, and the Hejaz between 1913 and 1926. On 8 January 1926 Abdul Aziz bin Saud became the King of Hejaz. On 29 January 1927 he took the title King of Najd (his previous Najdi title was Sultan). By the Treaty of Jedda, signed on May 20, 1927, the United Kingdom recognized the independence of Abdul Aziz's realm, then known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd. In 1932, these regions were unified as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The discovery of oil in March 1938 transformed the country economically, and has given the kingdom great prosperity.

Politics

The central institution of Saudi Arabian Government is the Saudi monarchy. The Basic Law adopted in 1992 declared that Saudi Arabia is a monarchy ruled by the sons and grandsons of the first king, Abd Al Aziz Al Saud, and that the Qur'an is the constitution of the country, which is governed on the basis of Islamic law (Shari'a). It is interesting to note that Shari'a Law actually prohibits monarchy of any kind.

Read more at Wikipedia.org