The Saudi Arabia Report
Overview |History | Geography | Economy | People | Current Event
Star Player | World Cup Information | Links | Sources

Overview
    In 1902  at night a young Arab prince and 40 to 50 friends moved across the desert toward Riyadh, a town in the Arabian pennsula. In a dramatic raid at dawn they captured Riyadh. The princes family had been exiled for years there. Abdul Aziz Al-Saud's victory was the first in a chain of conquests by which he wanted the Arabian Peninsula. He and his sucessors wanted the kingdom  of Saudi Arabia based on the goverenment and Islamic reliigious teachings. It is the biggest oil explorting nation in the world.
History
    People have been in the Arabian Peninsula at least 7,000 years. Arabia had fertilee land, but it turned to desert by 3,000  b.c.. Nomadic desert dwellers developed economy bases on animals and plants.  In 570 a.d. a child who was to become a grea religious leaderof all time was born in a town of trading called Mecca. Muhammed was his name. Until he was 40 he hid the revelations from God. Meccan leaders rejected him  as a prohetso he went t oYatrib(Mdina) in 622. He quickly got followersand eventually won over Mecca and most of Arabia. Muhammed died in 632 but Islam did not.
Geography

• Capital: Riyadh
• Other Cities: Jidda Mecca Dammam
• Landforms: desert water
• Neighbors:  Yemen Oman Iran Iraq Egypt Sudan Kuwait
• Climate:  It is in the tropic of cancer at the same latitudes of Northern Africa and Gulf of Mexico during the summer the tep often tops 120 degrees. Thcountry usually only receives 2 to 4 inchs of rain.

• Currency: 1 Saudi riyal = 100 halalah
• GDP (per capita): $10,500
• Labor force breakdown: 7 million
• Inflation rate: .5%
• Major exports: wheat bareley tomatoes melons dates livestock crude-oil petrochemicals petroleum refining  cement
• Other industries:  crude-oil petrochemicals petroleum refining cement
• Trading partners:  Japan US France South Korea Singapore India Germany Italy UK
• Debt:  $26.3 billion

Current Event
I.T. EVENT PLANNED FOR NEXT APRIL IN RIYADH

November 28, 2001

Riyadh Exhibitions Company has announced that the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition is to be held in Riyadh from
April 21 to 25 next year. Over 400 I.T. firms from around the world are expected to participate. The Company thinks that I.T.
spending in the Middle East Region will exceed U.S. $4.6 billion in 2002, and Saudi Arabia accounts for 40 percent of the I.T.
market. Driving the growth are projects for Internet access in Saudi schools, and 600,000 new subscribers in the Kingdom.
Star Player
Name: Sami Al Jaber
Nationality: Saudi Arabian
Date of birth: 11 December 1972
Height: 1.70m
Weight: 65kg
FIFA World Cup™ finals: 1994, 1998
Games played in FIFA World Cup™ finals: 5
At the age of 15, Sami Al Jaber was already being pursued by many
                     of Saudi Arabia's top clubs. His decision to join leading outfit Al Hilal
                     was rewarded in 1988 in his second season, when he finished top
 
  Links World football and soccer
Sources

• CIA World Factbook (Saudi Arabia) :  flag, geography, economy, and people section
• Sports Illustrate
• Lands and Peoples volume 2
• Fifa world cup 2002 homepage