Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Arabian Peninsula and the principal economic, cultural, and political power in the Gulf region, with a land area of 2,149,690 square kilometres (830,000 square miles) and a 2024 population of around 36,000,000. The kingdom is strategically located between Asia, Africa, and Europe, and serves as the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds, hosting the two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina. By the 20th century, following the discovery of oil and the unification of the kingdom in 1932, Saudi Arabia had become one of the world’s major centers of energy, politics, religion, and commerce, a position it continues to hold today. The Saudi economy had a GDP of approximately US $1.1 trillion in 2022, accounting for the largest share of the GDP of the Middle East. According to official estimates, Saudi Arabia ranks among the world’s top twenty economies and remains the financial, energy, and cultural hub of the Arab world.