oleum products 90%

Exports - partners:
US 18.2%, Japan 14.9%, South Korea 9.5%, China 6.1%, Taiwan 4.5%,
Singapore 4.1% (2004)

Imports:
$36.21 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, motor vehicles,
textiles

Imports - partners:
US 15.3%, Japan 9.8%, Germany 8.1%, China 6.6%, UK 5.7% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$23.62 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$34.35 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - donor:
pledged $100 million in 1993 to fund reconstruction of Lebanon;
since 2000, Saudi Arabia has committed $307 million for assistance
to the Palestinians; pledged $240 million to development in
Afghanistan; pledged $1 billion in export guarantees and soft loans
to Iraq

Currency (code):
Saudi riyal (SAR)

Currency code:
SAR

Exchange rates:
Saudi riyals per US dollar - 3.745 (2004), 3.745 (2003), 3.745
(2002), 3.745 (2001), 3.745 (2000)

Fiscal year:
1 March - 28 February

Communications Saudi Arabia

Telephones - main lines in use:
3,502,600 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
7,238,200 (2003)

Telephone system:
general assessment: modern system
domestic: extensive microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and
fiber-optic cable systems
international: country code - 966; microwave radio relay to Bahrain,
Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Yemen, and Sudan; coaxial cable to
Kuwait and Jordan; submarine cable to Djibouti, Egypt and Bahrain;
satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian
Ocean), 1 Arabsat, and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region)

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 43, FM 31, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios:
6.25 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
117 (1997)

Televisions:
5.1 million (1997)

Internet country code:
.sa

Internet hosts:
15,931 (2004)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
22 (2003)

Internet users:
1.5 million (2003)

Transportation Saudi Arabia

Railways:
total: 1,392 km
standard gauge: 1,392 km 1.435-m gauge (with branch lines and
sidings) (2004)

Highways:
total: 152,044 km
paved: 45,461 km
unpaved: 106,583 km (2000)

Pipelines:
condensate 212 km; gas 1,780 km; liquid petroleum gas 1,191 km; oil
5,068 km; refined products 1,162 km (2004)

Ports and harbors:
Ad Dammam, Al Jubayl, Jiddah, Yanbu' al Sinaiyah

Merchant marine:
total: 64 ships (1,000