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SAUDI ARABIA – AT A GLANCE
Geography
:
|
Location |
Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea north
of
Yemen |
|
Area |
2.25 million sq. kms |
|
Border countries |
Iraq 814 km, Jordan 728 km, Kuwait 222 km, Oman 676
km,
Qatar 60 km,
UAE 457 km, 1,458 km |
|
Coastline |
2,640 kms |
|
Climate |
harsh, dry desert with great extremes of temperature |
|
Terrain |
mostly uninhabited, sandy desert |
|
Natural resources |
petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper |
People
:
|
Population (2003 est.) |
24.06 Million (Growth rate
2.9%)
Males – 13.21
million; Females – 10.85 million
Saudi - 17.93
million (growth rate 3.3%)
Non-Saudi
– 6.14 million (growth rate 1.7%)
Fertility
rate: 6.2 children born/women (2003) |
|
Age structure |
0-14 Years: 39.71%
(male 4,878,200; female 4,678,000)
15-64 Years: 57.89%
(male 8,065,800; female 5,863,200)
65 years and above: 2.4%
(male 270,800; female 308,000)
|
|
Average wage of workers |
SR 2461 per month (2001) |
|
Average Wages by nationality |
Saudi SR 6560 (2001)
Non-Saudi SR 1722 (2001) |
Government :
|
Capital |
Riyadh |
|
Administrative divisions |
13 provinces Al Baha, Al Hofuf, Al
Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Ar Riyad
Ash Sharqiyah, Asir, Hail, Jizan,
Makkah, Najran, Tabuk |
|
Independence (National Holiday) |
23 September, 1932 |
|
Constitution |
Governed according to Sharia
(Islamic Law). |
|
Legal System |
based on Islamic Law, several secular
codes have been introduces; commercial
disputes handled by special committees;
Has not accepted compulsory ICJ Jurisdiction |
|
Executive branch |
Head of State & Head of Government:
King and Prime Minister, &
Custodian of the two Holy Mosques Fahd bin Abd al-Aziz al Saud
(since 13 June 1982);
Crown Prince and
First Deputy Prime Minister
Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud |
|
Legislative branch |
Legislation through royal decrees.
Consultative Council of 120 members
and a Chairman appointed by the Monarch for
Four-year terms. |
|
Judicial branch |
Supreme Council of Justice |
|
Economy
:
The Saudi economy rests primarily on oil revenues. Its crude oil
reserves, amounting to 259.40 billion barrels, are estimated to
be 25% of the world’s known reserves. Its natural gas reserves at
200 trillion cubic feet are 4% of world reserves. The
average daily output of oil during the year 2002 was around 7.09 mbd.
The petroleum sector accounts for 78 % of total revenues, 37.5
% of the Gross Domestic Product and 88% of export earnings. About
41 % of the GDP is generated by the private sector.
The Kingdom, under its "Saudization policy", has
undertaken to reduce its dependence on foreign labour in key sectors
by progressively replacing expatriate workers (around 3.6 million) by
Saudis. During the last few years, the Kingdom has been introducing
changes in its trade, investment and taxation regulations to make
itself an attractive investment destination as also to
pave the way for
its accession to the WTO. The Saudi Arabian General Investment
Authority (SAGIA), set up in May 2001 provides “fast-track” approvals
for investment in different sectors, including setting up of 100 %
foreign owned entities.
|
Economic indicators:
|
Per capita income |
$ 7,970 |
|
GDP |
$211.2
billion |
|
GDP real growth rate |
6.4
% |
|
GDP private sector real growth rate |
3.4% |
|
Oil Reserves |
259.40 billion barrels |
|
Natural Gas Reserves |
6531 billion Cubic Meters
|
|
Production of Crude Oil |
2589 million barrels (average 7.09 million
barrels per day) |
|
Production of petrochemicals |
29.6 million tons |
|
Oil refining |
1.6 million barrels per day |
|
Number of producing factories |
11622 |
|
Industrial investment |
$ 46 billion |
|
Electricity generation capacity |
24,768 Megawatts |
|
Electricity Consumption |
128.63 Megawatts/hour |
|
Voltage |
110v/60Hz & 220/50Hz |
|
Water supply from Desalination plants |
1,021.5
Million Cubic Meters
|
|
Agricultural / poultry products |
wheat, barley, tomatoes, melons,
dates,
citrus,
mutton, chicken,
eggs, milk |
|
Total Exports |
$71.57 billion |
|
Total Exports of oil and oil products |
$62.93 billion
(87.9%) |
|
Export - partners |
Japan. US. South Korea,
India and Singapore |
|
Imports |
$32.27 billion |
|
Imported commodities |
Machinery & equipment,
Foodstuff, Chemicals and metals,
Textiles and clothing, Motor vehicles,
Jewellery and ornaments |
|
Imports – partners |
US, Japan, Germany, UK,
Italy, France, China, Australia,
South Korea and India |
| |
|
Industries:
Main industries are in the field of crude oil production,
petroleum refining, basic petrochemicals, cement, construction,
fertilizer, plastics etc.
Budget 2004
| Total budget |
SR 430 billion ($114.66 billion) |
| Project Revenues |
SR 200 billion ($53.33 billion) |
| Projected expenditures |
SR 230 billion ($61.33 billion) |
| Deficit |
SR 30 billion ($8 billion) |
Sectoral allocations
|
Education |
SR 63.7 billion ($16.98 billion) (28%) |
|
Health |
SR 24.3 billion ($6.48 billion) (11%) |
|
Municipality projects |
SR 8.6 billion ($2.29 billion) (4%) |
|
Transport & Communication |
SR 7.3 billion($1.95 billion) (3%) |
|
Infrastructure including Water, Industry &
Agriculture |
SR 15.1 billion ($4.02 billion) (7%) |
|
Other sectors |
SR 111 billion (47%) |
Growth of private sector GDP
:
3.7%
Growth of non-oil sector
: 3.9%
Growth in Construction sector
: 2.8%
Electricity, gas and water : 6.2%
Transport and communication
: 4.3%
Wholesale, retail,
restaurants and hotels
: 4.4%
New sectors opened for privatization : Water and water treatment, airports, roads,
railroads, education, health & social services.
Currency
: Saudi Riyal (SR)
Exchange Rate : $1 = SR 3.7450 (fixed rate since 6/86)
Fiscal year : Calendar year
Communications
:
Telephone lines - fixed : 3.3 million (2002)
Telephone – mobile cellular : 5.0 million (2002)
Internet country code :
Sa
Internet service providers (ISPs) : 21 (2003)
Internet
users : 1.6
million (2002)
Telephone Codes : 01 Riyadh;
02 Jeddah, Makkah, Taif
03 Dammam, Dhahran,
Jubail, Hofuf
04 Yanbu, Tabuk, Madinah
05 Cellular
06 Hail, Al Qaseem, Al Majmaa’h
07 Abha, Najran
Transportation :
Ports and
harbors
: Ad Dammam, Al Jubail, Duba, Jeddah,
Jizan, Rabigh,
Ra's al Khafji, Mishab, Ras Tanura, Yanbu' al Bahr,
Madinat
Yanbu' as-Sinaiyah.
Railways
: 1392 kms (2001)
Highways
: 151,800 kms
Length of asphalted roads
: 45,572.3 kms (2002)
Length of earth surfaced roads
: 114,505.3 kms (2002)
No of registered vehicles
: 9.1 million
Major
ports : Jeddah, Dammam, Jubail, & Yanbu
Volume of imports and exports handled at the ports : 104.2 million metric tons
Airports
: 27, of which three
are International
Airports: Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran
Others
:
Health facilities :
Health centers : 1,786 (2002)
Hospitals
: 324
(2002)
Beds
: 46,600 (2002)
Physicians
: 32,000 (2002)
Private dispensaries
: 744 (2002)
Number of hotels : 861 (2002)
Number of rooms : 142,000 (2002)
Number of cement companies
: 8
Cement
production : 23.3 million tons (2002)
Cement
consumption : 20.5 million tons (2002)
Cement
exports : 2.9 million tons (2002)
Industrial
Cities :
Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam,
Aseer, Makkah, Al-Qassim,
Al-Ahsa,
Al-Jouf, Najran Jubail and Yanbu.
General
:
Largest cities
(2003): : Riyadh, 3,724,100;
Jeddah,
2,745,000;
Makkah,
1,614,800
Ethnicity/race : Arab 90%;
Afro-Asian 10%
Religion : Islam
(100%)
Literacy
rate : 78% (2002 est.)
Language
: Arabic (English is widely used in
Business circles)
Time Zone : GMT +3 hrs
Business
Hours: The working week is Saturday to Wednesday, although some
offices and businesses also operate on Thursday morning.
Weekly
Holiday : Friday
Government
Offices: open from 7.30 am to 2.30 p.m.
Banks: open 8.00 a.m. to 12 noon and 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
Private Businesses: open 8.00 a.m. to 12 noon and 5.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.
Official
Holidays:
Eid
Al-Fitr, "the festival of breaking the fast", runs from the 25th day of
the month of
Ramadan to the 5th day of the
following month. Eid Al-Fitr is an occasion of great celebration and
rejoicing.
Eid
Al-Adha, "the festival of sacrifice" and the greater of the two main
festivals, runs from the 5th to the 13th day of the month of Dhul Hijjah.
Months/Days of the Week/Time
: The
Arab calendar is a lunar calendar. The 12 months are:
-
Muharram (30
days)
-
Safar (29 days)
-
Rabi'a al-Awal
(30 days)
-
Rabi'a ath-Thani
(29 days)
-
Jumada al-Ula (30
days)
-
Jamada
Ath-Thaniya (29 days)
-
Rajab (30 days)
-
Sha'aban (29
days)
-
Ramadan
(30 days)
-
Shawwal (29 days)
-
Dhul Qa'dah (30
days)
-
Dhul Hijjah (29
days: 30 days in a leap year)
The seven days of
the week are:
-
As-Sabt
(Saturday)
-
Al-Ahad (Sunday)
-
Al-Athnain
(Monday)
-
Ath-Thulatha
(Tuesday)
-
Al-Arbia
(Wednesday)
-
Al-Khamees
(Thursday)
-
Al-Juma (Friday)
Prayer Times
-
Fajr (Dawn)
-
Shuruq (Sunrise)
- the latest time by which Fajr should be performed
-
Dhuhr (Midday)
-
Asr (Afternoon)
-
Maghreb (Sunset)
-
Isha (Night)
MALE
DRESS
THOBE: The traditional clothing for men is the Thobe, a
loose, long-sleeved, ankle-length garment. Thobes worn in summer are
generally white and made of cotton. Thobes worn in winter are generally
darker in color and made of wool.
TAGIYAH: The Tagiyah is a white knitted skull cap
GHUTRA: The Ghutra is a square scarf, made of cotton or silk, which is
worn folded across the head over the Tagiyah. The end of the scarf can be
draped across the face as protection in the event of sandstorms.
AGAL:
The Agal is a thick, doubled, black cord which is worn on top of the
Ghutra to hold it in place.
FEMALE DRESS
THOBE: Women wear the Thobe - a loose, long-sleeved,
ankle-length garment, but, for women, the neck and front can be
embroidered and decorated with beads.
ABAYA: The Abaya is a large, black cloak, worn either loose
and flowing or wrapped around the body. The Abaya is generally made of
silk or synthetic cloth.
BOSHIYA: The Boshiya is a black veil, light in weight, worn
across the lower part of the face.
SURWAL: The Surwal are cotton or silk trousers worn by women under the
Thobe.
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