Saudi Arabia - Basic facts

September 23, 2012

RECORDER REPORT

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The following are some useful and interesting statistics of Saudi Arabian Kingdom:

---- Area: total: 2,149,690 sq km country comparison to the world: 13 land: 2,149,690 sq km water: 0 sq km Area - comparative: slightly more than one-fifth the size of the US

LAND BOUNDARIES: Total: 4,431 km border countries: Iraq 814 km, Jordan 744 km, Kuwait 222 km, Oman 676 km, Qatar 60 km, UAE 457 km, Yemen 1,458 km

Coastline:2,640 km Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 18 nm continental shelf: not specified Climate: harsh, dry desert with great temperature extremes.

Terrain: mostly uninhabited, sandy desert Elevation extremes: lowest point: Persian Gulf o m highest point: Jabal Sawda' 3,133 m Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper etc.

Land use: arable land: 1.67% permanent crops: 0.09% other: 98.24% (2005) Irrigated land: 17,310 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 2.4 cu km (1997) Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 17.32 cu km/yr (10 %/1%/89%) per capita: 705 cu m/yr (2000) Natural hazards: frequent sand and dust storms volcanism: despite many volcanic formations, there has been volcanism: despite many volcanic formations, there has been little activity in the past few centuries; volcanoes include Harrat Rahat, Harrat Khaybar, Harrat Lunayyir, and Jabal Yar.

Environment - current issues:desertification; depletion of underground water resources; the lack of perennial rivers of permanent water bodies has promoted the development of extensive seawater desalination facilities; coastal pollution from oil spills.

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution singed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements Geography - note" extensive coastlines on Persian Gulf and Red Sea provide great leverage on shipping (especially crude oil) through Persian Gulf and Suez Canal People and Society: SAUDI ARABIA.

Nationality: Noun: Saudi(s) adjective: Saudi or Saudi Arabian Ethnic groups: Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10% Languages: Arabic (official) Religions: Muslim (official) 100% Population: 26,534,504 (July 2012 est.) Country comparison to the world: 46 note: includes 5,576,076 non-nationals.