Saudi Arabia Facts, Map, Population, GDP

Capital

Riyadh

Population

36,544,431 (2024 est.)

Area

2,149,690 sq km

Location

Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen

🧭 Background

Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and home to Islam's two holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina. The king's official title is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. ABD AL-AZIZ bin Abd al-Rahman AL SAUD (Ibn Saud) founded the modern Saudi state in 1932 after a 30-year campaign to unify most of the Arabian Peninsula. One of his male descendants rules the country today, as required by the country's 1992 Basic Law. After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia took in the Kuwaiti royal family and 400,000 refugees, while allowing Western and Arab troops to deploy on its soil and liberate Kuwait the following year. Major terrorist attacks in 2003 spurred a strong ongoing campaign against domestic terrorism and extremism. US troops returned to the Kingdom in 2019 after attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure. From 2005 to 2015, King ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud incrementally modernized the Kingdom through a series of social and economic initiatives that included expanding employment and social opportunities for women, attracting foreign investment, increasing the private sector's role in the economy, and discouraging the hiring of foreign workers. Saudi Arabia saw some protests during the 2011 Arab Spring but not the level of bloodshed seen in protests elsewhere in the region; Riyadh took a cautious but firm approach, arresting and quickly releasing some protesters and using its state-sponsored clerics to counter political and Islamist activism. The government held its first-ever elections in 2005 and 2011, when Saudis voted for municipal councilors. King ABDALLAH's reforms accelerated under King SALMAN bin Abd al-Aziz, who ascended to the throne in 2015 and lifted the Kingdom's ban on women driving, implemented education reforms, funded green initiatives, and allowed cinemas to operate for the first time in decades. In 2015, women were allowed to vote and stand as candidates for the first time in municipal elections, with 19 women winning seats. King SALMAN initially named his nephew, MUHAMMAD BIN NAYIF bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, as the Crown Prince, but a palace coup in 2017 resulted in King SALMAN's son, Deputy Crown Prince MUHAMMAD BIN SALMAN bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, taking over as Crown Prince. King SALMAN appointed MUHAMMAD BIN SALMAN as prime minister in 2022. In 2015, Saudi Arabia led a coalition of 10 countries in a military campaign to restore Yemen's legitimate government, which had been ousted by Houthi forces. The war in Yemen has drawn international criticism for civilian casualties and its effect on the country’s dire humanitarian situation. The same year, MUHAMMAD BIN SALMAN announced that Saudi Arabia would lead a multi-nation Islamic Coalition to fight terrorism, and in 2017, Saudi Arabia inaugurated the Global Center for Combatting Extremist Ideology (also known as "Etidal"). The country remains a leading producer of oil and natural gas and holds about 17% of the world's proven oil reserves as of 2020. The government continues to pursue economic reform and diversification -- particularly since Saudi Arabia's accession to the WTO in 2005 -- and promotes foreign investment in the Kingdom. In 2016, the Saudi Government announced broad socio-economic reforms known as Vision 2030. Low global oil prices in 2015 and 2016 significantly lowered Saudi Arabia’s governmental revenue, prompting cuts to subsidies on water, electricity, and gasoline; reduced government-employee compensation; and new land taxes. In coordination with OPEC and some key non-OPEC countries, Saudi Arabia agreed to cut oil output in 2017 to regulate supply and help boost global prices. In 2020, this agreement collapsed, and Saudi Arabia launched a price war by flooding the market with low-priced oil before returning to the negotiating table to agree to a major output cut that helped buoy prices.

🗺️ Geography

Location

Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen

Geographic coordinates

25 00 N, 45 00 E

Map references

Middle East

Area — total

2,149,690 sq km

Area — land

2,149,690 sq km

Area — water

0 sq km

Area - comparative

Slightly more than one-fifth the size of the US

Land boundaries — total

4,272 km

Land boundaries — border countries

Iraq 811 km; Jordan 731 km; Kuwait 221 km; Oman 658 km; Qatar 87 km; UAE 457 km; Yemen 1,307 km

Coastline

2,640 km

Maritime claims — territorial sea

12 nm

Maritime claims — contiguous zone

18 nm

Maritime claims — continental shelf

Not specified

Climate

Harsh, dry desert with great temperature extremes

Terrain

Mostly sandy desert

Elevation — highest point

As Sarawat range, 3,000 m

Elevation — lowest point

Persian Gulf 0 m

Elevation — mean elevation

665 m

Natural resources

Petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper

Land use — agricultural land

80.8% (2023 est.)

Land use — agricultural land: arable land

Arable land: 1.6% (2023 est.)

Land use — agricultural land: permanent crops

Permanent crops: 0.1% (2023 est.)

Land use — agricultural land: permanent pasture

Permanent pasture: 79.1% (2023 est.)

Land use — forest

1.3% (2023 est.)

Land use — other

17.9% (2023 est.)

Irrigated land

7,575 sq km (2022)

Major watersheds (area sq km) — Indian Ocean drainage

(Persian Gulf) Tigris and Euphrates (918,044 sq km)

Major aquifers

Arabian Aquifer System

Population distribution

Historically a population that was mostly nomadic or semi-nomadic, the Saudi population has become more settled since oil was discovered in the 1930s; most of the country's population is now concentrated in a wide area across the middle of the peninsula, from Ad Dammam in the east through Riyadh in the interior to Mecca-Medina in the west near the Red Sea

Natural hazards

Frequent sand and dust storms volcanism: little activity in the past few centuries, despite many volcanic formations; volcanoes include Harrat Rahat, Harrat Khaybar, Harrat Lunayyir, and Jabal Yar

Geography - note

Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the world without a river; extensive coastlines on the Persian Gulf and Red Sea allow for considerable shipping (especially of crude oil) through the Persian Gulf and Suez Canal

👥 People and Society⬆️ Top

Population — total

36,544,431 (2024 est.)

Population — male

20,700,838

Population — female

15,843,593

Nationality — noun

Saudi(s)

Nationality — adjective

Saudi or Saudi Arabian

Ethnic groups

Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%

Languages — Languages

Arabic (official)

Languages — major-language sample(s)

كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Religions

Muslim (official; citizens are 85-90% Sunni and 10-12% Shia), other (includes Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh) (2020 est.)

Age structure — 0-14 years

22.9% (male 4,266,720/female 4,097,270)

Age structure — 15-64 years

72.7% (male 15,577,133/female 10,994,061)

Age structure — 65 years and over

4.4% (2024 est.) (male 856,985/female 752,262)

Dependency ratios — total dependency ratio

37.5 (2024 est.)

Dependency ratios — youth dependency ratio

31.5 (2024 est.)

Dependency ratios — elderly dependency ratio

6.1 (2024 est.)

Dependency ratios — potential support ratio

16.5 (2024 est.)

Median age — total

32.8 years (2025 est.)

Median age — male

34.6 years

Median age — female

29.3 years

Population growth rate

1.72% (2025 est.)

Birth rate

13.41 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

Death rate

3.51 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

Net migration rate

7.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

Population distribution

Historically a population that was mostly nomadic or semi-nomadic, the Saudi population has become more settled since oil was discovered in the 1930s; most of the country's population is now concentrated in a wide area across the middle of the peninsula, from Ad Dammam in the east through Riyadh in the interior to Mecca-Medina in the west near the Red Sea

Urbanization — urban population

85% of total population (2023)

Urbanization — rate of urbanization

1.69% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas - population

7.682 million RIYADH (capital), 4.863 million Jeddah, 2.150 million Mecca, 1.573 million Medina, 1.329 million Ad Dammam, 872,000 million Hufuf-Mubarraz (2023)

Sex ratio — at birth

1.05 male(s)/female

Sex ratio — 0-14 years

1.04 male(s)/female

Sex ratio — 15-64 years

1.42 male(s)/female

Sex ratio — 65 years and over

1.14 male(s)/female

Sex ratio — total population

1.31 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

Maternal mortality ratio

7 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

Infant mortality rate — total

11.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)

Infant mortality rate — male

12.8 deaths/1,000 live births

Infant mortality rate — female

10.5 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth — total population

77.2 years (2024 est.)

Life expectancy at birth — male

75.6 years

Life expectancy at birth — female

78.8 years

Total fertility rate

1.84 children born/woman (2025 est.)

Gross reproduction rate

0.9 (2025 est.)

Drinking water source — improved: urban

Urban: 98.4% of population (2022 est.)

Drinking water source — improved: rural

Rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)

Drinking water source — improved: total

Total: 98.6% of population (2022 est.)

Drinking water source — unimproved: urban

Urban: 1.6% of population (2022 est.)

Drinking water source — unimproved: rural

Rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)

Drinking water source — unimproved: total

Total: 1.4% of population (2022 est.)

Health expenditure — Health expenditure (as % of GDP)

6% of GDP (2021)

Health expenditure — Health expenditure (as % of national budget)

12.8% of national budget (2022 est.)

Physician density

3.41 physicians/1,000 population (2023)

Hospital bed density

2.2 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Sanitation facility access — improved: urban

Urban: 99.7% of population (2022 est.)

Sanitation facility access — improved: rural

Rural: 99.7% of population (2022 est.)

Sanitation facility access — improved: total

Total: 99.7% of population (2022 est.)

Sanitation facility access — unimproved: urban

Urban: 0.3% of population (2022 est.)

Sanitation facility access — unimproved: rural

Rural: 0.3% of population (2022 est.)

Sanitation facility access — unimproved: total

Total: 0.3% of population (2022 est.)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

35.4% (2016)

Alcohol consumption per capita — total