By George Luna

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By George Luna
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History

• The Saudi state began in central Arabia in about
  1750. A regional ruler, Muhammad bin Saud, joined
  forces with an Islamic reformer, Muhammad Abd
  Al-Wahhab, to create a new political entity. Over
  the next one hundred and fifty years, the
  fortunes of the Saud family rose and fell several
  times as Saudi rulers contended with Egypt, the
  Ottoman Empire, and other Arabian families for
  control on the peninsula. The modern Saudi state
  was founded by the late King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud
  (known internationally as Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud).

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• In 1902 Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud captured Riyadh, the
  Al-Saud dynasty's ancestral capital, from the
  rival Al-Rashid family. Continuing his conquests,
  Abdul Aziz subdued Al-Ahsa, Al-Qatif, the rest of
  Najd, and the Hijaz between 1913 and 1926. On 8
  January 1926 Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud became the King
  of Hijaz. On 29 January 1927 he took the title
  King of Najd (his previous Najdi title was
  Sultan). By the Treaty of Jedda, signed on May
  20, 1927, the United Kingdom recognized the
  independence of Abdul Aziz's realm, then known as
  the Kingdom of Hijaz and Nejd. In 1932, these
  regions were unified as the Kingdom of Saudi
  Arabia.

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• The discovery of oil in March 1938 transformed
  the country economically, and has given the
  kingdom great legitimacy over the years.
• Besides Liechtenstein, Saudi Arabia remains the
  only country in the world whose common English
  name includes that of its ruling family. Many
  opponents of the House of Saud reject the
  family's legitimacy and decline to speak of the
  country as "Saudi Arabia".

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• There are no recognized political parties or
  national elections. The king is often classified
  as an absolute monarch, but his powers are
  theoretically limited within the bounds of
  Shari'a and other Saudi traditions. He also must
  retain a consensus of the Saudi royal family,
  religious leaders (ulema), and other important
  elements in Saudi society. The state's ideology
  is Salafi. This flavour of Islam spreads further
  by funding construction of mosques and Qur'an
  schools around the world. The leading members of
  the royal family choose the king from among
  themselves with the subsequent approval of the
  ulema.

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Population
26,417,5991
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• In recent years, Saudi Arabia has experienced a
  significant contraction of oil revenues combined
  with a high rate of population growth. Per capita
  income has fallen from 25,000 in 1980 to 8,000
  in 2003, up from about 7,000 in 1999. The
  decline in inflation-adjusted per-capita income
  from 1980 to 1999 set a record, being by far the
  worst such decline suffered by any nation-state
  in history.

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Mecca

• The city is revered as the holiest site of Islam,
  and a pilgrimage to it is required of all
  able-bodied Muslims who can afford to go, at
  least once in their lifetime. Muslims regard the
  al-Masjid al-Haram (The Sacred Mosque) as the
  holiest place on Earth.

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The End