E book on saudi arabia its culture and diversity,politics and legal aspects.

1. Country e-book as a part of IGPE assignment
Submitted to Prof. Bibhas Basumatary
By Kunal Bhasin
PGCM(4)-1415

3. INTRODUCTION
Saudi Arabia officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Ara-
bia,is the largest Arabstate in Western Asia by land area
(approximately 2,150,000 km2
(830,000 sq mi), constituting
the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest
geographically in the Arab world after Algeria. It is bordered
by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the north-
east, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the
east, Oman to the southeast, and Yemen in the south. It is
the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian
Gulf coast and much of its terrain consists of inhospitable
desert.
The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of
four distinct regions: Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Ara-
bia (Al-Hasa) and Southern Arabia ('Asir).
Saudi Arabia is the world's dominant oil producer
and exporter, and controls the world's second larg-
est hydrocarbon reserves.Backed by its fossil fuels, the
kingdom is categorized as a high income economy with a high Human Development Index ( HDI).

4. HISTORY
In pre-Islamic times, apart from a small number of urban trading
settlements (such as Mecca and Medina), most of what was to
become Saudi Arabia was populated by nomadic tribal societies
in the inhospitable desert. The Islamic prophet, Muhammad, was
born in Mecca in about 571 A.D. In the early 7th century, Muham-
mad united the various tribes of the peninsula and created a sin-
gle Islamic religious polity. Following his death in 632, his follow-
ers rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Ara-
bia, conquering huge swathes of territory (from the Iberian Penin-
sula in west to modern day Pakistan in east) in a matter of dec-
ades. In so doing, Arabia soon became a politically peripheral re-
gion of the Muslim world as the focus shifted to the more devel-
oped conquered lands. In the 16th century, the Ottomans added
the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coast (the Hejaz, Asir and Al-Hasa)
to the Empire and claimedsuzerainty over the interior. One rea-
son was to thwart Portuguese attempts to attack the Red Sea
(hence the Hejaz) and the Indian Ocean..Several attacks were
there and many fights were fought but In 1932 the two kingdoms
of the Hejaz and Nejd were united as the Kingdom of Saudi Ara-
bia.

6. Total population 2013
( people)
29,994,272 *
Saudi population
growth rate 2013
2.15%
The cost-of-living index
2014
130.1
Unemployment Rate ( >
15 years) 2014
5.7%
Growth of exports of
non-oil goods for 2013
6.14%
Infants mortality rate
(per thousand live
births) 2013
15.9
Rate of illiteracy of the
population (2013)
5.6%
Largest City
Riyadh

7. 1.252 Billion POPULATION 28.83 Million
1.877 USD GDP 25,961.81 USD
73% LITERACY RATE 96%
2.50 BIRTH RATE 2.70
7.4 per 1000 DEATH RATE 3.71 per 1000
10.5 per 1,00,000 SUICIDE RATE 5.9 per1,00,000
5 GROWTH RATE 1.49
3,287,590 sq km TOTAL AREA 2,149,690 sq km

8. CAMEL IS THEIR FAVOURITE RIDE.ONE CAN
SEE A LOT OF CAMELS IN SAUDI ARABIA
MADINA IS THE SACRED PLACE.POTTERY BEING AN ANCIENT FORM OF ART
HAS BEEN STILL ARABIANS FAVOURITE PIECE
OF ART AND ITS UNIQUE AS WELL.

9. DANCE FOOD DRESS
CODE

10. Saudi Arabia was an absolute monarchy in 1992. The king was not con-
strained by a written constitution, a legislative assembly, or elections.
Since 1962, Saudi kings periodically promised to establish a majlis ash
shura, or consultative council, to advise them on governmental
matters, but none of them undertook practical steps to establish such a
body. In March 1992, King Fahd once again announced that a majlis ash
shura would be appointed and specified its responsibilities . Later came
the govt. into being. Saudi Arabia consisted of fourteen provinces, or
amirates, each governed by an amir (governor) appointed by the king. In 1992 these amirates included Al Banah, Al Hudud ash
Shamaliyah, Al Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Al Qurayyat, Ar Riyadh, Ash Sharqiyah, Asir, Hail, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, and
Tabuk. The larger, more populous amirates were subdivided into districts and subdistricts. Saudi Arabia is still under King.Here
King holds the government.

11. Saudi oil reserves are the second largest in the world, and Saudi Arabia is
the world's leading oil exporter and second largest producer. Proven re-
serves, according to figures provided by the Saudi government, are estimat-
ed to be 260 billion barrels (41 km3
), about one-quarter of world oil reserves.
Petroleum in Saudi is not only plentiful but under pressure and close to the
earth's surface. This makes it far cheaper and thus far more profitable to ex-
tract than oil at many other fields. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly
92.5% of Saudi budget revenues,90% of export earnings, and 55% of GDP.
Another 40% of GDP comes from the private sector. An estimated 7.5 (2013)
million foreign workers play a crucial role in the Saudi economy, for example,
in the oil and service sectors.

12. Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, told The Independ-
ent in a series of messages that judges in Saudi Ara-
bia’s criminal court want him to undergo a re-trial
for apostasy. If found guilty, he would face a death
sentence.
She said the “dangerous information” had come
from “official sources” inside the conservative king-
dom, where Mr Badawi has already been sentenced
to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes – adminis-
tered at a rate of 50 per week – for criticising the
country’s clerics through his liberal blog.