45 Fun Facts About Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's tectonic plate is splitting away from Africa along which sea?

The Red Sea opened as Arabia split from the Horn of Africa, and geologists expect the widening rift to become a new ocean in time.

Who founded the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, after campaigns that began in 1902?

Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) had ruled it as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd until a decree renamed it after his own dynasty, the Al Saud.

In 1902 a small raiding party back from exile in Kuwait began the third Saudi state by seizing which city?

Riyadh fell after the raiders ambushed the Masmak fort, which was later turned into a museum and opened to the public in 1995.

The 1744 alliance underpinning Saudi rule paired the emir of Diriyah with which religious reformer?

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab founded the Al ash-Sheikh family, which has long led the religious establishment under a power-sharing deal with the Al Saud.

The First Saudi State, the Emirate of Diriyah, was destroyed in 1818 by forces of which ruler?

Mohammed Ali Pasha of Egypt sent Ibrahim Pasha into Arabia, and his army besieged Diriyah for nearly five months in 1818 before it fell.

Which religious tribal militia helped build the Saudi kingdom before rebelling against its king in the late 1920s?

The Ikhwan were crushed at the Battle of Sabilla in 1929, and the militia was later reorganised into the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

Saudi Arabia's first commercial oil well, struck in 1938, was drilled in which city?

Dhahran's well was the seventh try, after six disappointing wells had nearly got the drillers pulled out of what looked like a costly failure.

Which title did King Fahd adopt in 1986 in place of 'His Majesty'?

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques had been used informally by King Faisal, but his successor Khalid dropped it before Fahd revived it.

What is the world's largest contiguous sand desert, covering Saudi Arabia's southeast?

Rub' al Khali, the 'Empty Quarter', once held shallow lakes, and fossils show that hippopotamuses and water buffalo lived there.

Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the world lacking what?

Permanent rivers are absent, so the kingdom relies on desalinated seawater and ancient groundwater for most of its drinking water.

Which peak do Saudi authorities officially recognise as the kingdom's highest point?

Jabal Soudah is officially 3,015 m high, but a survey published in 2025 found another Asir peak, Jabal Ferwa, slightly higher.

Saudi Arabia is home to more than 2,000 of what geological feature?

Dormant volcanoes are not all extinct: in the 13th century a lava flow from Harrat Rahat came within a few kilometres of Medina before turning away.

Which sacred well, said to have sprung up for the infant Ismail, gives Muslim pilgrims their holy water?

Zamzam, tradition says, opened in the desert for Hajar and her son Ismail after Ibrahim left them in the valley of Mecca.

The cube-shaped Kaaba at the heart of the Masjid al-Haram determines what for Muslims worldwide?

The direction of prayer first faced Jerusalem, until Muhammad's community in Medina turned towards the Kaaba around 623 CE.

What makes the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, founded by Muhammad in 622, especially sacred?

His burial site was brought inside the mosque around 707, when caliph al-Walid I enlarged it over the homes of Muhammad's wives.

Roughly how many pilgrims perform the Hajj in a typical year?

About two million come in a typical year, but in 2020 COVID-19 cut the Hajj to about 10,000 pilgrims already living in the kingdom.

In 930 the Qarmatians sacked Mecca and carried off which sacred object?

The Black Stone's theft outraged the Muslim world, and the relic was not returned to Mecca for more than 20 years.

From the 10th to the early 20th century the two holy cities were run by a local ruler called what?

The Sharif of Mecca Hussein bin Ali led the 1916 Arab Revolt against the Ottomans, but by the end of 1925 the Al Saud had conquered the region and expelled his family.

What is written on the green flag of Saudi Arabia above the sword?

The shahada is why Saudi flags are made with identical front and back sides, so the creed reads correctly from right to left on either face.

What is the currency of Saudi Arabia, divided into 100 halala?

The riyal's first paper money was 'Hajj Pilgrim Receipts', issued in 1953 for pilgrims, but they won such trust at home that regular banknotes followed.

According to the 1992 Basic Law, what serves as Saudi Arabia's constitution?

The Quran and the Sunnah are named as the constitution in Article One of the Basic Law, which King Fahd announced in 1992 alongside plans for a Consultative Council.

Saudi judges generally follow which school of Islamic jurisprudence, noted for literalism?

Hanbali texts guide judges in a system where Sharia was uncodified and precedent not binding, so similar cases could end in different verdicts.

Which 1979 event led Saudi rulers to empower clerics?

The seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca was followed by a decade of stricter religious rule, in which the kingdom's cinemas were shut down.

Saudi Arabia's religious police, who enforced dress codes and prayer attendance, are known as what?

The Mutaween, formally the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, later lost the power to detain suspects as criticism of their conduct grew.

Until 2018, Saudi Arabia was the only country banning women from doing what?

Driving was cleared for women by a 2017 royal order that took effect in June 2018, weeks after several campaigners who fought for it were detained.

Which Hollywood film reopened Saudi cinemas in 2018?

Black Panther ended a long cinema ban imposed after religious conservatives condemned films as un-Islamic.

The reform programme launched to diversify Saudi Arabia away from oil is called what?

Vision 2030 was approved in 2016 to cut oil dependence, yet by 2022 the economy still relied heavily on oil revenue.

The Neom megaproject, including 'The Line', lies in which province?

Tabuk province, facing Egypt across the Gulf of Aqaba, is home to Neom, whose size was reported in 2024 to be sharply reduced from the original plans.

Saudi Arabia is the only Arab country in which international grouping?

The G20 summit Saudi Arabia hosted in 2020 was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of 2024, which country held larger proven oil reserves than Saudi Arabia?

Venezuela's reserves jumped past Saudi Arabia's once the extra-heavy oil of its Orinoco Belt was judged economic to produce.

In 2024, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were the world's two biggest producers of which fruit?

Dates are traditionally the first food Muslims eat when breaking the Ramadan fast, following the example of the Prophet Muhammad.

Which eastern Saudi oasis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018, is described as the largest oasis in the world?

Al-Ahsa is fed by more than 280 artesian springs drawing on a huge underground aquifer, which lets farmers grow crops all year round.

Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 2008, preserves the rock-cut tombs of which people?

The Nabataeans carved Hegra's tombs, yet its Arabic name, Mada'in Salih, recalls the Quranic prophet Salih and the Thamud people said to have lived there.

How far did Saudi Arabia go at its first World Cup?

The round of 16 was reached after Saeed Al-Owairan's solo goal beat Belgium 1-0 in Washington.

At the 2022 World Cup, Saudi Arabia beat which team 2-1?

Argentina saw a 36-match unbeaten run end in that loss, yet recovered to win the tournament.

Which traditional annual event, begun in 1974, is one of Saudi Arabia's most important sporting contests?

The King's Camel Race keeps up a centuries-old Middle Eastern racing tradition and draws camels and riders from throughout the region.

Which spiced rice dish, served with meat, is a traditional favourite across the Arabian Peninsula?

Kabsa is traditionally served on large shared platters, a way for hosts to show generosity to guests at weddings and feasts.

Saudi men traditionally wear a white ankle-length garment known as what?

Thawb robes are loose and flowing, which suits the desert climate, and heavier coloured wool ones are worn in the winter months.

Which Saudi journalist was killed inside his country's consulate in Istanbul in 2018?

Jamal Khashoggi had gone there for a document proving his divorce so that he could marry his Turkish fiancée.

Which prince became Crown Prince in 2017 and drove a wave of social reforms?

Mohammed bin Salman replaced Muhammad bin Nayef as heir, and his reforms included restricting the powers of the religious police.

King Fahd's full brothers, a powerful royal faction, are known collectively as what?

The Sudairi Seven are named after their mother, Hussa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi, and the eldest, Fahd, ruled as king from 1982 to 2005.

Most of Saudi Arabia's Shia minority lives in which region, also home to its oil fields?

The Eastern Province alarmed Saudi rulers after Iran's 1979 revolution, which they feared might inspire the Shia living near the oil fields to rebel.

Which Saudi university, founded in 2009, was the kingdom's first mixed-gender campus?

KAUST barred the religious police from its campus, and women there were not required to wear veils in class.

In 2020–24, Saudi Arabia was the largest recipient of arms exports from which country?

The United States sent 12 per cent of its arms exports to Saudi Arabia in 2020–24, even though Saudi arms imports fell by 41 per cent from 2015–19.

In March 2015 Saudi Arabia launched air strikes to intervene in the civil war of which neighbour?

Yemen's Houthi rebels had captured the capital, Sanaa, and forced President Hadi to flee, and the Saudi-led coalition intervened at his request.