Short answers, pulled from the story.
The modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded on the 23rd of September 1932 by King Abdulaziz, also known as Ibn Saud. This date unified the regions of Hejaz, Najd, parts of Eastern Arabia, and South Arabia into a single state. The date is now celebrated annually as Saudi National Day.
A single well drilled in the Al-Ahsa region struck oil in 1938. This discovery transformed the territory from a sparse desert landscape into the world's second-largest oil producer. Full-scale development of the oil fields began in 1941 under the US-controlled Arabian American Oil Company.
The emergence of the Al Saud dynasty began in the town of Diriyah in central Arabia with the accession of Muhammad bin Saud as emir on the 22nd of February 1727. Muhammad bin Saud formed a pivotal alliance with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in 1744. This alliance provided the ideological impetus for Saudi expansion and remains the foundation of the country's dynastic rule.
The land covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, spanning approximately 2.15 million square kilometers. The terrain is dominated by arid deserts, including the Rub' al Khali, or Empty Quarter, which is the world's largest contiguous sand desert. The country features over 2,000 dormant volcanoes in the Hejaz region and has no permanent rivers.
In June 2018, the Saudi government issued a law allowing women to drive. As of June 2023, the kingdom has reportedly reversed its ban on women becoming lawyers, engineers, or geologists. The government has also added its first female newspaper editors, diplomats, TV anchors, and public prosecutors.
The kingdom joined the UN in 1945 and is a founding member of the Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council. Saudi Arabians are among the world's youngest people, with approximately half being under 25 years old. Foreign-born residents comprise roughly 40% of the population, making the kingdom home to the world's third-largest immigrant population.