An independent kingdom, created on 23 September, 1932, upon the union of the kingdoms of Nejd (Najd) and Hejaz (Al-Ḥijāz) and the emirates of ‘Asīr, Najrān and Al-Aḥsā’.
After the death of the country’s founder Abdul Aziz (1953), as is the custom the power went to his sons, from one to the next in order of age. The health conditions of King Salmān has given a lot of freedom to his son, Muḥammad bin Salmān, Crown Prince since 2017, who has arrested many members of the royal family and promoted sometimes rash initiatives, such as the armed intervention in Yemen.
The Basic Law (1992) stipulates that the king, “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” (Mecca and Medina), holds all power (legislative, executive and judicial); there is no distinction between the assets and wealth of the royal family and those of the state. The King is advised by a Consultative Assembly, whose 150 members are appointed by the king himself (in 2013, he allocated 30 seats to women). In 2015 the right to vote, only exercised in administrative elections, was extended to women and the minimum age was lowered to 18 years. The official religion is Sunni Islam.

Defence and justice.
Military spending in relation to GDP is among the highest in the world. Military service is voluntary. The judicial system is based on Islamic Law (sharia).

Population by age and gender (% - 2018)
	75+ 60-74 45-59 30-44 15-29 0-14
MALE	AGE	FEMALE

Foreigners account for approximately one third of the total population and more than half of the active population.

Economic situation.
The fall in oil prices caused a serious budget deficit in 2015, aggravated by the cost of the war in Yemen. To compensate, the country turned to huge foreign currency reserves and the issuing of government bonds. An ambitious investment plan (“Vision 2030”) approved in 2016 was focused on diversifying the economy and social development in the country, but it has been met with difficulties. Cuts were made to high public spending (reducing the incomes of public employees and subsidies for energy, water and fuel), and in 2018, a value-added tax was introduced, though this led to an increase in prices and a reduction in growth.

Primary and secondary sector.
Substantial investment has been made in agriculture. The main farming produce is wheat, chicken meat and dates (Saudi Arabia is among the leading exporters of dates).
The largest oil fields are in the eastern region bordering on the Arabian Gulf (Al-Ghawār, As Saffānīyah, Abqaiq, Al-Kharsānīyah, Abū Ḥadrīyah, Al-Qaṭīf, Ad-Dammām, Al-Fāḍilī, Khurayṣ, Abū Sa‘fah, Al-Barrī, Munīfah, Fazrān and Zuluf). Crude oil is pumped through a network of pipelines to the major refineries (Ra’s Tannūrah, Riyadh, Yanbu‘ al-Baḥr, Rābigh, Al-Jubayl and Jeddah) and to the terminals at Mīnā’ az Zawr (Kuwait) and Awālī (Bahrain). Most of the natural gas is consumed in the country itself. Other industrial activities include heavy engineering (Jeddah), steel (Yanbu‘ al-Baḥr, Al-Jubayl), alumi­nium founding (Ras al-Khaīr) and construction materials (about 25 cement factories).

Tertiary sector

With several big banks and a stock exchange in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is the main financial centre in the Middle East. Religious tourism is extremely important; more than 2 million pilgrims go to Mecca and Medina every year.