Submitted to:

Mr. Arnold Abad Tenorio

Submitted by:
Ronald John D. Espiritu
Wendell O. Fernandez Jr.

Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: ‫)المملكة العربية السعودية‬, commonly known as
Saudi Arabia is, in land area, the third largest Arab country and the largest country in
the Middle East. It is bordered by Jordan and Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait,
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen
on the south. It is also connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway. The Persian
Gulf lies to the northeast and the Red Sea to its west. It has an estimated population of
25.7 million of which 5.5 million are non-Saudis, [2] and its size is approximately
2,149,690 square kilometres (830,000 sq mi).

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded by Abdul-Aziz bin Saud (sometimes known
as Ibn Saud) in 1932, although the conquests which eventually led to the creation of the
Kingdom began in 1902 when he captured Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the
Al Saud. Saudi Arabia's government takes the form of an Islamic absolute monarchy.
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have
repeatedly expressed concern about the state of human rights in Saudi Arabia. The
kingdom is sometimes called "The Land of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to
Mecca and Medina, the two holiest places in Islam. The two mosques are Masjid al-
Haram (in Mecca) and Masjid Al-Nabawi (in Medina).

History
In pre-Islamic Arabia, apart from a small number of urban trading settlements, such as Mecca
and Medina, located in the Hejaz in the west of the peninsula, most of what was to become Saudi
Arabia was populated by nomadic tribal societies or uninhabitable desert.[10] The Prophet of
Islam, Muhammad, was born in Mecca in about 570. In the early 7th century, Muhammad united
the Arab tribes and created a single Islamic religious polity in the Arabian peninsula. Following
his death in 632, the Arabs rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule outside of Arabia,
conquering huge swathes of territory (from the Iberian Peninsula to India) in a matter of decades.
In so doing, Arabia soon became a politically peripheral region of the Islamic world as the focus
shifted to the more developed conquered lands.[11][12] From the 10th century to the early 20th
century Mecca and Medina were under the control of a local Arab ruler known as the Sharif of
Mecca, but at most times the Sharif owed allegiance to the ruler of one of the major Islamic
empires based in Baghdad, Cairo or Istanbul. Most of the remainder of what became Saudi
Arabia reverted to traditional tribal rule

In the 16th century, the Ottomans added the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coasts (the Hejaz, Asir
and Al Hasa) to their Empire and claimed suzerainty over the interior. The degree of control over
these lands varied over the next four centuries with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the
Empire's central authority.[15] The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family,
known as the Al Saud, began in Nejd in central Arabia in 1744, when Muhammad ibn Saud,
founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab,
[16]
the founder of the Wahhabi movement (a radical form of Islam).[17] This alliance formed in
the 18th century provided the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion and remains the basis of
Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today.[13][18] The first 'Saudi State' established in 1744 in the area
around Riyadh, rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of
Saudi Arabia,[19] but was destroyed by 1818 by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Ali
Pasha.[13][18] A much smaller second ‘Saudi state’, located mainly in Nejd, was established in
1824. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the Al Saud contested control of the interior of
what was to become Saudi Arabia with another Arabian ruling family, the Al Rashid. By 1891,
the Al Rashid were victorious and the Al Saud were driven into exile.[13][13][18][20]

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire continued to control or have
suzerainty (albeit nominal) over most of the peninsula. Subject to this suzerainty, Arabia was
ruled by a patchwork of tribal rulers (including the Al Saud who had returned from exile in
1902) with the Sharif of Mecca having pre-eminence and ruling the Hejaz.[13][15][21] In 1916, with
the encouragement and support of Britain (which was fighting the Ottomans in the First World
War), the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, led a pan-Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire to
create a united Arab state.[13][22] Although the Arab Revolt of 1916 to 1918 failed in its objective,
Arabia was freed from Ottoman suzerainty and control by the latter's defeat in the First World
War.[22]
Government
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, although, according to the Basic Law of
Government adopted by royal decree in 1992, the king must comply with Sharia (that is,
Islamic law) and the Qur'an. No political parties or national elections are permitted and
according to The Economist's 2010 Democracy Index, the Saudi government is the
seventh most authoritarian regime from among the 167 countries rated. [

The Basic Law specifies that the king must be chosen from among the sons and
grandsons of the first king, Abdul Aziz Al Saud and the succession to the throne is
determined by the royal family, with the subsequent approval of religious leaders (the
ulema). In 2007, an "Allegiance Commission", comprising Abdul Aziz's surviving sons
plus grandsons or great-grandsons representing each branch of his descendants, was
established as the representive body of the royal family to choose the heir apparent (the
Crown Prince).[9]

The king combines legislative, executive, and judicial functions and royal decrees form
the basis of the country's legislation. The king is also the prime minister, and presides
over the Council of Ministers (Majlis al-Wuzarāʾ), which comprises the first and second
deputy prime ministers (usually the first and second in line to the throne respectively)
and 22 ministers with portfolio and seven ministers of state, two of whom have special
responsibilities. The king makes appointments to and dismissals from the Council,
which is responsible for such executive and administrative matters as foreign and
domestic policy, defense, finance, health, and education, administered through
numerous separate agencies. A 150-member Consultative Assembly, appointed by the
King, although not a legislature can propose legislation to the King. [9][31][32][33]

Economy
Saudi Arabia's command economy is petroleum-based; roughly 75% of budget
revenues and 90% of export earnings come from the oil industry. The oil industry
comprises about 45% of Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product, compared with 40%
from the private sector (see below). Saudi Arabia officially has about 260 billion barrels
(4.1×1010 m3) of oil reserves, comprising about one-fifth of the world's proven total
petroleum reserves.[122]

The government is attempting to promote growth in the private sector by privatizing

industries such as power and telecommunications. Saudi Arabia announced plans to
begin privatizing the electricity companies in 1999, which followed the ongoing
privatization of the telecommunications company. Shortages of water and rapid
population growth may constrain government efforts to increase self-sufficiency in
agricultural products.
Culture

Saudi Arabia is a very conservative country where centuries old attitudes to a wide
variety of social and cultural issues derived from Arab tribal culture persists. This
inherently conservative tendency has been bolstered by the austerly puritannical
Wahhabi form of Islam which arose in the 18th century and now predominates in the
country. There are many limitations on behaviour and dress which are strictly enforced
both legally and socially. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited, for example, and there is
no theatre or public exhibition of films. Public expression of opinion about domestic
political or social matters is discouraged. There are no organizations such as political
parties or labour unions to provide public forums. Daily life is dominated by Islamic
observance. Five times every day, Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of
mosques which are scattered around the country. The weekend begins on Thursday
due to Friday being the holiest day for Muslims.[9][180] In accordance with Wahhabi
doctrine only two religious holidays are publicly recognized, ʿĪd al-Fiṭr and ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā.
The celebration of other Islamic holidays, such as the Prophet’s birthday and ʿĀshūrāʾ—
an important holiday to Shīʿites—are tolerated only when celebrated on a small scale at
the local level. Public observance of non-Islamic religious holidays is prohibited, with the
exception of 23 September, which celebrates the unification of the kingdom. [9]