Saudi Arabia in 1 Minutea quick overview of the kingdom today

Saudi Arabia Flag, image by erjkprunczyk, image retrieved from Flickr, used under CC license.

Governance● The Saud Family rule the country with a

monopoly on power.

● Political parties are banned.

Governance● Governance is in the form of authoritarian

monarchy with strict adherence to Islamic (Sharia) law.

● Saudi Arabia follows an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam, translated to English as Wahhabism.

Geography● Saudi Arabia is home to two of Islam’s most

holiest sites: Mecca and Medina.

7am at Mecca. image by marviikad, image retrieved from Flickr, used under CC license.

Economy● Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer

and exporter of petroleum.

Media● Saudi Arabia has a heavily censored and

state-dominated press.

● Authorities use the press to educate the public, communicate government views and promote national unity.

Internet● The kingdom has a severely rigorous, yet

highly consistent and transparent Internet filtering regime.

● In 2012, approximately half of the Saudi population were Internet users.

Block page of filtered webpage. image by Curtis Palmer, image retrieved from Flickr, used under CC license.

Demographics● Approximately 70% of the population are

under 30 years old.

Saudi Arabia. image by Stefan Krasowski, image retrieved from Flickr, used under CC license.

National Psyche● The kingdom strives for a balance between:

- old / new- reform / traditions- globalised progress / Islamist identity

This is the central tenet that is greatly challenging Saudi Arabia in these changing times.

Building in Riyadh. image by xsix, image retrieved from Flickr, used under CC license