Saudi Arabia

Efforts to unify the Arabian Peninsula began in 1902 under the ancestors of the current ruling family of Saudi Arabia. Eventually covering 80 percent of the peninsula, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formally established in 1932. The population of Saudi Arabia rapidly expanded in 1990 when 400,000 Kuwaitis sought refuge after the Iraqi invasion of their homeland. The following year, Saudi Arabia proved the strongest ally when Western troops liberated Kuwait. By 2003, virtually all American forces had relocated to Qatar, easing tensions between the royal family and the Saudi people. The current population figure of 26,417,599 includes approximately 5,576,076 non-nationals.

Bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, the Saudi coastline runs for 1,637 miles (2,640 kilometers). Saudi Arabia shares borders with seven other Middle Eastern nations: Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The 1,960,582 square miles (756,981 square kilometers) that make up Saudi Arabia are mostly uninhabited desert, with mountains in the west and broad plains in the east. Because of the extensive desert, Saudi Arabia experiences harsh temperature extremes with frequent dust and sand storms. Elevations range from sea level at the Persian Gulf to 10,279 feet (3,133 meters) at Jabal Sawda in the southwestern corner of the country.

The 212,355-square-mile (550,000-square-kilometer) Rub'-al Khali is the world's largest quartzsand desert, and the smaller Great Nafud continues to defy explanation; no one can find the reason for its unique horseshoe shape.

With a fourth of the world's petroleum reserves, Saudi Arabia is the largest petroleum exporter in the world and the major force in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Petroleum and natural gas provide around three-fourths of Saudi budget revenues and 90 percent of export earnings, contributing 45 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Saudi Arabia also has deposits of iron ore, gold, and copper. Even though Saudi Arabia has a per capita income of $12,900 and is the 74th-richest nation in the world, women do not lead economically or politically viable lives. The fertility rate remains high at more than four children per female, and over a fourth of adult females are illiterate. Women are denied basic political and social rights. Officially, the unemployment rate for Saudi males is 13 percent, but it may be as high as 25 percent.

The major environmental problem for the Saudi government is a lack of freshwater resources since there are no rivers or navigable waters within the country. In order to deal with this problem, a wide network of desalination facilities has been erected. Climatic conditions have contributed to extensive desertification. Saudi Arabia is also still in the process of recovering from damage caused by Iraqi forces during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, when approximately eight million barrels of oil were dumped directly into the Gulf. Scientists have identified oil residues as high as 7 percent in sediments along the Saudi coast, the normal feeding grounds for birds and breeding grounds for fish.

Because the war-related damage has affected the entire shallow-water ecosystem, the economic consequences have been substantial. For instance, pollution at the industrial facilities of Al Jubayl endangered essential supplies of potable water. Northward, damage was even more extensive, killing off wildlife that included cormorants, grebes, and auks. To promote biodiversity, the Saudi government has protected over 38 percent of the land area. Of 77 endemic mammal species, eight are endangered, as are 15 of 125 endemic bird species.

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