o unify the Arabian Peninsula. Today,
the monarchy is ruled by a son of ABD AL-AZIZ, and the country's
Basic Law stipulates that the throne shall remain in the hands of
the aging sons and grandsons of the kingdom's founder. Following
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia accepted the Kuwaiti
royal family and 400,000 refugees while allowing Western and Arab
troops to deploy on its soil for the liberation of Kuwait the
following year. The continuing presence of foreign troops on Saudi
soil after Operation Desert Storm remained a source of tension
between the royal family and the public until the US military's
near-complete withdrawal to neighboring Qatar in 2003. The first
major terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia in several years, which
occurred in May and November 2003, prompted renewed efforts on the
part of the Saudi government to counter domestic terrorism and
extremism, which also coincided with a slight upsurge in media
freedom and announcement of government plans to phase in partial
political representation. A burgeoning population, aquifer
depletion, and an economy largely dependent on petroleum output and
prices are all ongoing governmental concerns.

Geography Saudi Arabia

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: 1,960,582 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 1,960,582 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 0 m
highest point: Jabal Sawda' 3,133 m

Natural resources:
petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper

Land use:
arable land: 1.67%
permanent crops: 0.09%
other: 98.24% (2001)

Irrigated land:
16,200 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
frequent sand and dust storms

Environment - current issues:
desertification; depletion of underground water resources; the lack
of perennial rivers or permanent water bodi