Portal:Saudi Arabia

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The Saudi Arabia Portal – بوابة المملكة العربية السعودية

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Flag of Saudi Arabia

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Emblem of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's Location

Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia and the Middle East. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2150000 km2 (830000 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, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. Bahrain is an island country off its east coast. 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; the kingdom also hosts Islam's two holiest cities of Mecca and Medina. (Full article...)

Islam's holiest site, that is Al-Masjid al-Haram, which surrounds the Kaaba (middle), in Mecca. Mecca is the city of Muhammad's birth and ancestry, and an annual point of pilgrimage for millions of Muslims.

The Hejaz (/hˈæz, hɪˈ-/, also US: /hɛˈ-/; Arabic: ٱلْحِجَاز, romanizedal-Ḥijāz, lit.'the Barrier', Hejazi Arabic pronunciation: [alħɪˈdʒaːz]) is a region that includes the majority of the west coast of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Baljurashi. It is thus known as the Western Province, and it is bordered in the west by the Red Sea, in the north by Jordan, in the east by the Najd, and in the south by the Region of 'Asir. Its largest city is Jeddah, which is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia, with Mecca and Medina, the holiest Muslim sites and respectively,the fourth- and fifth-largest cities in the country.

As the location of the cities of Mecca and Medina, respectively the first and second holiest sites in Islam, the Hejaz is significant in the Arabo-Islamic historical and political landscape. This region is the most populated in Saudi Arabia, and Arabic is the predominant language, as in the rest of Saudi Arabia, with Hejazi Arabic being the most widely spoken dialect here. Some Hejazis are of ethnically diverse origins, although the vast majority are of Arab origin. (Full article...)
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12 March 2024 –
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund announces a $2 billion offer to buy both professional tennis tours, the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour. (The Telegraph)

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Manal al-Sharif (Arabic: منال الشريف; born 25 April 1979) is a Saudi women's rights activist who helped start a right to drive campaign in 2011. Wajeha al-Huwaider filmed al-Sharif driving a car as part of the campaign. The video was posted on YouTube and Facebook. Al-Sharif was detained on 21 May 2011, released, and then rearrested the following day. On 30 May, al-Sharif was released on bail, on the conditions of returning for questioning if requested, not driving, and not talking to the media. The New York Times and Associated Press associated the women's driving campaign as part of the Arab Spring and the long duration of al-Sharif's detention due to Saudi authorities' fear of protests.

Following her driving campaign, al-Sharif remained an active critic of the Saudi government, tweeting on issues including imprisoned female foreign workers, the lack of elections for the Shura Council, and the murder of Lama al-Ghamdi. Her work has been recognized by Foreign Policy, Time, and the Oslo Freedom Forum. (Full article...)

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Sources

  1. ^ Sawe, Benjamin (2017-04-25), Tallest Mountains In Saudi Arabia, Worldatlas.com, retrieved 2019-01-14
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