Travel warning is issued for traveling to Saudi Arabia. For more information please visit U.S. Department of State
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Last Minute Tips Before you Travel to Saudi Arabia
- Time Zone: GMT/UTC +3
- Electricity: 127/220V, 60 Hz (bring an adapter/transformer for your hair drier, laptop, cellullar phone etc.)
- Currency: Saudi Arabian Riyal (SRIs)
- Country Dialing Code: 966
Saudi Arabia
Location
Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen
Capital
Riyadh
Population
26,417,599
note: includes 5,576,076 non-nationals (July 2005 est.)
Regions
13 provinces (mintaqat, singular - mintaqah); Al Bahah, Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah, Al Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Ar Riyad, Ash Sharqiyah (Eastern Province), 'Asir, Ha'il, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, Tabuk
Climate
harsh, dry desert with great temperature extremes
Ethnic groups
Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%
Religions
Muslim 100%
Languages
Arabic
Government type
monarchy
Background
In 1902, ABD AL-AZIZ bin Abd al-Rahman Al Saud captured Riyadh and set out on a 30-year campaign to unify the Arabian Peninsula. A son of ABD AL-AZIZ rules the country today, and the country's Basic Law stipulates that the throne shall remain in the hands of the aging sons and grandsons of the kingdom's founder. Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia accepted the Kuwaiti royal family and 400,000 refugees while allowing Western and Arab troops to deploy on its soil for the liberation of Kuwait the following year. The continuing presence of foreign troops on Saudi soil after Operation Desert Storm remained a source of tension between the royal family and the public until the US military's near-complete withdrawal to neighboring Qatar in 2003. The first major terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia in several years, which occurred in May and November 2003, prompted renewed efforts on the part of the Saudi government to counter domestic terrorism and extremism, which also coincided with a slight upsurge in media freedom and announcement of government plans to phase in partial political representation. As part of this effort, the government permitted elections - held nationwide from February through April 2005 - for half the members of 179 municipal councils. A burgeoning population, aquifer depletion, and an economy largely dependent on petroleum output and prices are all ongoing governmental concerns.
Visitor's Impressions
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