Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia (ⁱ/ˌsɔːdiː əˈreɪbiə/, ⁱ/ˌsaʊ-/), officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is an Arab state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. With a land area of approximately 2,150,000 km² (830,000 sq mi), Saudi Arabia is geographically the second-largest state in the Arab world after Algeria. Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast, and Yemen to the south. It is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast, and most of its terrain consists of arid inhospitable desert or barren landforms.

The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four distinct regions: Hejaz, Najd, and parts of Eastern Arabia (Al-Ahsa) and Southern Arabia ('Asir). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud. He united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. The country has since been an absolute monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultra-conservative Wahhabism religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called "the predominant feature of Saudi culture", with its global spreading largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called "the Land of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca), and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam. The Kingdom has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners.

Khalid of Saudi Arabia

Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Arabic: خالد بن عبد العزيز آل سعود‎ Khālid ibn ‘Abd al ‘Azīz Āl Su‘ūd; 13 February 1913 – 13 June 1982) was the King of Saudi Arabia from 1975 to 1982, being the fourth ruler of the country. His reign saw both huge developments in the country due to increase in oil revenues and significant events in the Middle East.

Early life

Khalid was born in Riyadh on 13 February 1913. He was the fifth son of King Abdulaziz. His mother, Al Jawhara bint Musaed Al Jiluwi, was from the important Al Jiluwi clan whose members intermarried with Al Sauds.

Khalid had only one full-brother, Prince Muhammad. His sister, Al Anoud, married to the sons of Sa'ad bin Abdul Rahman. She first married Saud bin Saad. After Saud died, she married Fahd bin Saad.

Early experience

At age 14, Khalid bin Abdulaziz was sent by King Abdulaziz as his representative to the desert tribes to hear their concerns and problems. In 1932, Prince Khalid was named as viceroy of the Hejaz, replacing Prince Faisal in the post, who was named minister of foreign affairs. Prince Khalid's term as viceroy of Hejaz lasted until 1934. Prince Khalid joined the Saudi army led by his older brother Prince Faisal and fought against Yemeni forces in 1934. After the war, Prince Khalid served as the chairman of the Saudi delegation at the Taif Conference with Yemen in 1934. This was a diplomatic move that led to the Taif Treaty later that year.

King Abdullah

King Abdullah may refer to:

Current monarchs

Previous monarchs

See also

Salman of Saudi Arabia

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Arabic: سلمان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود‎‎, Salmān ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd, Hejazi Arabic (born 31 December 1935) is the King of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the head of the House of Saud.

He served as the Deputy Governor and then the Governor of Riyadh for 48 years from 1963 to 2011. He was appointed as Minister of Defence in 2011. He was also named the Crown Prince in 2012 following the death of his brother Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Salman was crowned as the new King of Saudi Arabia on 23 January 2015 following the death of his half brother, King Abdullah. Among the most notable events during his reign so far have been Saudi Arabia's military intervention in the Yemeni Civil War, the 2015 Mina stampede during the Hajj, and the execution of Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others opponents of the regime on 2 January 2016.

Early life

Salman was born on 31 December 1935, and is reported to be the 25th son of King Abdulaziz ibn Saud. Salman and his six brothers make up what is referred to as the Sudairi Seven. He was raised in the Murabba Palace.

Ibn Saud

Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Faisal ibn Turki ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al Saud (Arabic: عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود‎, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn ‘Abd ar-Raḥman Āl Sa‘ūd; 15 January 1875 – 9 November 1953), usually known within the Arab world as Abdulaziz and in the West as Ibn Saud, was the first monarch and founder of Saudi Arabia and the House of Saud, the "third Saudi state".

He reconquered his family's ancestral home city of Riyadh in 1902, starting three decades of conquests that made him the ruler of nearly all of central Arabia. He consolidated his control over the Najd in 1922, then conquered the Hejaz in 1925. He extended his dominions into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. As King, he presided over the discovery of petroleum in Saudi Arabia in 1938 and the beginning of large-scale oil production after World War II. He fathered many children, including 45 sons, and all of the subsequent kings of Saudi Arabia.

Early life and family origins

Ibn Saud was born on 15 January 1875 in Riyadh in the region of Najd in central Arabia. He was the son of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, last ruler of the Emirate of Nejd, the "Second Saudi State", a tribal sheikhdom centered on Riyadh. His family, the House of Saud, had been a power in central Arabia for the previous 130 years. Under the influence and inspiration of Wahhabi Islam, the Saudis had previously attempted to control much of the Arabian peninsula in the form of the Emirate of Diriyah, the "First Saudi State", until its destruction by an Egyptian army in the early 19th century. Ibn Saud's mother was a member of the Sudairi family, Sarah Al Sudairi. She died in 1910.