Portal:Saudi Arabia

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The Saudi Arabia Portal – بوابة المملكة العربية السعودية

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Flag of Saudi Arabia	Emblem of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's Location

Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2,150,000 km² (830,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest country in Asia and the largest in the Middle East. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. The capital and largest city is Riyadh; other major cities include Jeddah and the two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina. With a population of almost 32.2 million, Saudi Arabia is the fourth most populous country in the Arab world. (Full article...)

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Dadanite statues found in a funerary temple in al-Ula

Al-Ula (Arabic: ٱلْعُلَا, romanized: al-ʿUlā) is an ancient Arabian oasis city located in Medina Province, Saudi Arabia. Situated in the Hejaz, a region that features prominently in the history of Islam as well as several pre-Islamic Semitic civilizations, al-Ula was a market city on the historic incense route that linked India and the Persian Gulf to the Levant and Europe.

The immediate vicinity contains a unique concentration of precious artifacts, including well-preserved ancient stone inscriptions that illustrate the development of the Arabic language, and a concentration of rock dwellings and tombs that date from the Nabatean and Dedanite periods that coincided with Greco-Roman influence during classical antiquity. Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hegra (also known as Al-Hijr, or Mada'in Salih), is located 22 km (14 mi) north of the city, in al-Ula governorate. Built more than 2,000 years ago by the Nabataeans, Hegra is often compared with its sister city of Petra, in Jordan. Meanwhile, the ancient walled city of al-Ula (meaning 'Old Town'), situated near the oasis that allowed for its settlement, contains a dense cluster of mud-brick and stone houses. al-Ula was also the capital of the ancient Lihyanites (Dedanites). (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the documentary film Jihad Rehab features interviews with former inmates from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp who are now in the Care Rehabilitation Center, a "jihad rehab" in Saudi Arabia?
... that the bombing of Mokha was described as one of the deadliest attacks by the Saudi Arabian–led coalition against Yemen, leaving between 65 and 120 dead, including 10 children?
... that due to U.S. support for Saudi-led operations in Yemen, both Saudi Arabia and the United States may be held responsible for war crimes?
... that The Twins, a 1930 story by Abd al-Quddus al-Ansari, was called the first Saudi Arabian novel?
... that Saudi Arabian poet Hamad al-Hajji lost three members of his family during his childhood and later suffered from schizophrenia until he died at the age of 49 after a lung disease?
... that Saudi Arabian historian Sa'd ibn Junaydil took high school graduation exams with his students, as he had yet to obtain a high school diploma?

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News

9 August 2024 – Saudi Arabia–United States relations: The Biden administration partially lifts a three-year-old ban on American weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

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Related portals

Religions in Saudi Arabia

Arab states

Other countries

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WikiProjects

WikiProject Saudi Arabia

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Things you can do

Expand Saudi Arabia stub articles located at Category:Saudi Arabia stubs
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This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Mecca was attacked with catapults from a nearby mountain

The siege of Mecca (Arabic: حصار مكة) occurred at the end of the Second Fitna in 692 when the forces of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan besieged and defeated his rival, the caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr in his center of power, the Islamic holy city of Mecca.

After the death of Caliph Yazid in 683, Ibn al-Zubayr had been recognized as caliph in most of the provinces of the Caliphate, while the Umayyads, who had ruled the Caliphate since the end of the First Fitna, had been confined to their stronghold of Syria. There, the pro-Umayyad tribes elected Marwan ibn al-Hakam as caliph in 684; after his death in 685, his son and successor Abd al-Malik undertook the task of reasserting Umayyad authority across the Caliphate. After defeating his enemies in Syria and Iraq, he sent his general Hajjaj ibn Yusuf to Mecca to defeat Ibn al-Zubayr. To avoid bloodshed in the sanctuary, Hajjaj was ordered to besiege the city and starve out Ibn al-Zubayr. The siege started in March 692 and lasted for six to seven months. The city was bombarded with catapults and supplies were cut off, resulting in large scale desertions by the followers of Ibn al-Zubayr. He was killed along with his few remaining supporters in October 692. The siege brought an end to the decade-long civil war and the Caliphate was united under Abd al-Malik. The Ka'ba, which had been damaged by the bombardment, was rebuilt according to its original plan from the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. (Full article...)

List of Good articles
Muhammad Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia Black Stone Jeddah Tower Legal system of Saudi Arabia Demolition of al-Baqi Women's football in Saudi Arabia Faisal of Saudi Arabia Hajj Al-Masjid an-Nabawi 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix Manal al-Sharif Siege of Mecca (683) Wojdan Shaherkani McMahon–Hussein Correspondence Alid revolt of 762–763 Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi Battle of the Trench

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Image 1Nasseef House is a historical structure in Al-Balad, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. As of 2009 it is a museum and cultural center which has special exhibits and lectures given by historians.
Image 2A view of Jabal Sawda, a peak located in Saudi Arabia, with an elevation of around 3,000 metres (9,843 ft).^[1]
Image 3Sunset view from Farasan Island, the largest island of the Farasan Islands, in the Red Sea. It is located some 50 km offshore from Jizan, the far southwestern part of Saudi Arabia.

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More did you know

... that the 2006 visit by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to India was officially described as "heralding a new era in Indo-Saudi Arabian relations"?

More did you know...

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Topics

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General images

The following are images from various Saudi Arabia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Abdulaziz (left) and Roosevelt aboard USS Quincy during their historic 1945 meeting (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 2The first Saudi State 1727–1818 (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 3Abdulaziz (left) and Farouk checking an Egyptian Army unit in 1946. Other people picture include princes Fahd, Abdullah, and Mishaal, as well as prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim. (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 4The Rashidun Caliphate reached its greatest extent under Caliph Uthman, c. 654 (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 5Saudi football fans cheering for their national football team at the FIFA World Cup (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 6Sections of Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries formed a part of the Roman Empire. (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 7The Mosque of the Prophet in Medina containing the tomb of Muhammad (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 8A Saudi woman riding a horse at Souk Okaz, a yearly cultural festival in the outskirts of Taif (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 9Pakistani workers at Al Masjid Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) in Medina (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 10King Abdullah practicing falconry, a traditional pursuit in Saudi Arabia (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 11VOX Cinemas movie theater (center) at Riyadh Front in 2023 (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 12Saudi males dressed and prepared for ardah, the national dance. It also includes swords, poetry, and singing. (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 13Serenata, a Filipino children's choir in Jeddah (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 14Supplicating pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram, Mecca (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 15Dammam No. 7, the oil well where commercial volumes of oil were first discovered in Saudi Arabia on March 4, 1938. (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 16The Arabian Peninsula in 1914 (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 17Wall painted with Al-Qatt Al-Asiri (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 18The tribes of Arabia at the time of the spread of Islam (expandable map) (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 19Abdulaziz Al Saud, founder of Saudi Arabia (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 20Wedding in Saudi Arabia (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 21Faisal (left) and Nasser in Cairo, 1969 (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 22The surviving insurgents of the seizure of the Grand Mosque, 1979 under custody of Saudi authorities, c. 1980. (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 23Soldiers in the Arab Army during the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918, carrying the Flag of the Arab Revolt and pictured in the Arabian Desert. (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 24Red and white keffiyeh commonly worn in the desert held with a black agal (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 25Residential homes in Yanbu (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 26A family fishing in Jeddah (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 27Saudi woman wearing a niqāb in Riyadh. Many women commonly wear a niqab or a burqa in Saudi Arabia. (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 28Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt (1789–1848) (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 29Bisht Being Sewn in Al-Ahsa (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)