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Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, is the largest state in Western Asia, according to its size. Besides it is the 2nd largest nation in the Arab world. With Jordan and Iraq on its north and north east, it has Oman as its south eastern neighbor. With Qatar, UAE and Kuwait as its eastern neighbors, Saudi Arabia has Yemen to its south. It is surrounded by the Red Sea to its north and the Persian Gulf to its north east.

In 1932 Abdul-Aziz bin Saud established the empire of Saudi Arabia. With world’s 2nd largest oil reserves, Saudi Arabia is the world's second leading oil exporter. Oil makes up 90% of Saudi Arabia’s exports.

Saudi Arabia was initially inhabited by wandering tribes who mainly settled in Mecca and Medina. Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca in Saudi Arabia in 571. From the 10th century to 20th century Mecca and Medina were ruled by the Sharif of Mecca.

The Ottomans established their suzerainty in the 16th century. The formation of the first Saudi state dates back to 1744. Arabia was freed from Ottoman suzerainty in 1916. In 1932, the empires of the Hejaz and Nejd were amalgamated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Although the newly established kingdom was a state deprived of natural resources whose economy relied on limited agriculture and funds generated from pilgrimage, the year 1938 marked economic boom for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1938 enormous reserves of oil were found in the Al-Hasa. This led to a full-blown expansion of the oil fields in 1941. Oil worked like a panacea to all the economic problems Saudi Arabia had. And it heralded a new era of financial affluence and power in international politics for Saudi Arabia.

Ever since King Fahd passed away in 2005, his half-brother, Abdullah succeeded him and has been ruling Saudi Arabia.

With the exception of the south western region of Asir, Saudi Arabia has a desert climate with exceedingly soaring temperatures during the day and very low temperature at night. Usually the regular summer temperatures are in the region of 45 °C, however they can go upto 54 °C.

During the winters the temperature goes down to less than 0 °C once in a blue moon. The heat during spring and autumn is temperate, and the normal temperature is approximately 29 °C. Yearly rainfall is particularly very low.

Saudi Arabia has a projected population of 27 million. This includes a sizable 8.8 million registered overseas expatriates while 16 million people are Saudi Arabian nationals. About 25 million people in Saudi Arabia are Muslims who comprise 97 percent of its population.