In 1938, a single well drilled in the Al-Ahsa region struck oil, transforming a sparse desert landscape into the world's second-largest oil producer and fundamentally altering the geopolitical balance of the entire planet. Before this discovery, the territory now known as Saudi Arabia was a patchwork of tribal fiefdoms, nomadic pastoralists, and isolated trading towns, with no unified political identity. The land covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, spanning approximately 2.15 million square kilometers, making it the fifth-largest country in Asia and the largest in the Middle East. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west, the Persian Gulf to the east, and shares land borders with Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. The terrain is dominated by arid deserts, including the Rub' al Khali, or Empty Quarter, which is the world's largest contiguous sand desert, and features over 2,000 dormant volcanoes in the Hejaz region. Despite its vast size, the country has no permanent rivers, relying instead on wadis, which are non-permanent watercourses that fill only during rare rainfall events. The climate is extreme, with summer temperatures often exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, while winter nights in the northern regions can drop below freezing, occasionally bringing snow to the mountainous areas of Tabuk Province. This harsh environment shaped a society that was historically defined by survival, trade routes, and the deep spiritual significance of its two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina.
The Birth of a Faith
The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 CE, and his arrival marked the beginning of a religious and political revolution that would eventually unite the entire Arabian Peninsula. In the early 7th century, Muhammad united the various tribes of the peninsula, creating a single Islamic religious polity that transcended the traditional tribal loyalties that had long divided the region. Following his death in 632, his followers expanded Muslim rule far beyond Arabia, conquering territories in North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Iberian Peninsula within a few decades. Arabs originating from modern-day Saudi Arabia, particularly the Hejaz region, founded the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates, which became the dominant political and cultural forces in the Islamic world for centuries. The Umayyad Caliphate, which ruled from 661 to 750, was one of the largest empires in history, covering vast territories and governing 62 million people, representing 29 percent of the world's population at the time. During the Middle Ages, Mecca and Medina were under the control of local Arab rulers known as the Sharif of Mecca, who often owed allegiance to major Islamic empires based in Baghdad, Cairo, or Istanbul. The region experienced periods of instability, including the Qarmatian pillage of Mecca in 930, during which the Black Stone was stolen, an act that outraged the Muslim world. Despite these fluctuations, the spiritual heart of Islam remained in the Hejaz, and the pilgrimage to Mecca continued to be a central pillar of Islamic life, drawing millions of believers from across the globe and sustaining the local economy through trade and hospitality.
The modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded on the 23rd of September 1932 by King Abdulaziz, also known as Ibn Saud, who united the regions of Hejaz, Najd, parts of Eastern Arabia, and South Arabia into a single state through a series of military and political campaigns that began in 1901. 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. In 1744, he formed a pivotal alliance with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of the Wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam. This alliance provided the ideological impetus for Saudi expansion and remains the foundation of the country's dynastic rule to this day. The Emirate of Diriyah rapidly expanded, briefly controlling most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia, sacking Karbala in 1802 and capturing Mecca in 1803, before being destroyed by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Ali Pasha, in 1818. The much smaller Emirate of Nejd was re-established in 1824, and throughout the 19th century, the Al Saud contested control of the interior with the Al Rashid family, who ruled the Emirate of Jabal Shammar. By 1891, the Al Rashid were victorious, and the Al Saud were driven into exile in Kuwait. Abdulaziz recaptured Riyadh in 1902, bringing the Al Saud back to Nejd and creating the third Saudi state. He gained the support of the Ikhwan, a tribal army inspired by Wahhabism, and with their aid, captured Al-Ahsa from the Ottomans in 1913. After defeating the Al Rashid, he took the title Sultan of Nejd in 1921 and, with the help of the Ikhwan, conquered the Kingdom of Hejaz in 1924, 25, declaring himself king of Hejaz on the 10th of January 1926. For the next five years, he administered the two parts of his dual kingdom as separate units before unifying them as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the 23rd of September 1932, a date now celebrated as Saudi National Day.
The Oil Revolution
The discovery of oil in 1938 in the Al-Ahsa region transformed Saudi Arabia from a poor, agrarian society into an economic powerhouse, but it also brought profound social and political changes. Full-scale development of the oil fields began in 1941 under the US-controlled Arabian American Oil Company, known as Aramco. Oil provided Saudi Arabia with economic prosperity and substantial political leverage internationally, allowing the kingdom to become the world's second-largest oil producer and leading oil exporter, controlling the world's second-largest oil reserves and sixth-largest gas reserves. The influx of foreign workers in the oil industry increased the pre-existing propensity for xenophobia, and the government became increasingly wasteful and extravagant, leading to large governmental deficits and excessive foreign borrowing by the 1950s. In 1953, Saud of Saudi Arabia succeeded as king, but in 1964 he was deposed in favor of his half-brother Faisal after an intense rivalry fueled by doubts within the royal family over Saud's competence. In 1972, Saudi Arabia gained a 20% control in Aramco, decreasing US control over Saudi oil, and in 1973, the kingdom led an oil boycott against Western countries that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War, causing oil prices to quadruple and triggering a global economic crisis. By 1976, Saudi Arabia had become the largest oil producer in the world, and King Khalid's reign saw rapid economic and social development, transforming the infrastructure and educational system. In 1980, Saudi Arabia bought out the American interests in Aramco, and King Fahd continued to develop close relations with the United States, increasing the purchase of American and British military equipment. The vast wealth generated by oil revenues led to rapid technological modernization, urbanization, mass public education, and the creation of new media, but political power remained monopolized by the royal family, leading to discontent among many Saudis who began to look for wider participation in government.
The Shadow of Extremism
The year 1979 marked a turning point in Saudi history, as two major events deeply concerned the government and had long-term influences on foreign and domestic policy. The first was the Iranian Islamic Revolution, which raised fears that the country's Shi'ite minority in the Eastern Province, where the oil fields are located, might rebel under the influence of their Iranian co-religionists, leading to several anti-government uprisings such as the 1979 Qatif Uprising. The second event was the Grand Mosque Seizure in Mecca by Islamist extremists, who were in part angered by what they considered the corruption and un-Islamic nature of the Saudi government. The government regained control of the mosque after 10 days, and those captured were executed. In response, the royal family enforced stricter observance of traditional religious and social norms, such as the closure of cinemas, and gave the ulema, the body of Islamic religious leaders and jurists, a greater role in government. The ulema, who are of the Salafi movement, have been a key influence in major government decisions, including the imposition of the oil embargo in 1973 and the invitation to foreign troops to Saudi Arabia in 1990. They have had a major role in the judicial and education systems and a monopoly of authority over socio-religious affairs. Following the seizure of the Grand Mosque, the government strengthened the ulema's powers and increased their financial support, giving them greater control over the education system and allowing them to enforce stricter Wahhabi rules of moral and social behavior. This response did not entirely succeed, as Islamism continued to grow in strength, and in the 1980s, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait spent $25 billion in support of Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War. In 1990, Saudi Arabia condemned the invasion of Kuwait and asked the United States to intervene, allowing American and coalition troops to be stationed in Saudi Arabia, a move that prompted the development of a hostile Islamist response internally and led to the rise of Osama bin Laden, a Saudi citizen until 1994, who was responsible for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa and the 2000 USS Cole bombing near Aden, Yemen. Fifteen of the hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks were Saudi nationals, and many Saudis who did not support the Islamist terrorists were deeply unhappy with the government's policies.
The Reforms of the 21st Century
In the 21st century, Saudi Arabia has undergone a process of political and social reform, though the pace has been limited and often criticized as merely cosmetic. In 2005, the first municipal elections were held, but women were not allowed to take part. King Abdullah, who succeeded King Fahd in 2005, continued the policy of minimum reform and clamping down on protests, introducing economic reforms aimed at reducing the country's reliance on oil revenue, including limited deregulation, encouragement of foreign investment, and privatization. In February 2009, Abdullah announced a series of governmental changes to the judiciary, armed forces, and various ministries, including the replacement of senior appointees in the judiciary and the Mutaween, the religious police, with more moderate individuals, and the appointment of the country's first female deputy minister. In 2011, hundreds of protesters gathered in Jeddah to criticize the city's poor infrastructure after flooding killed 11 people, and since then, Saudi Arabia has been affected by its own Arab Spring protests. In response, King Abdullah announced a series of benefits for citizens amounting to $36 billion, of which $10.7 billion was earmarked for housing, and a package of $93 billion, which included 500,000 new homes to a cost of $67 billion, in addition to creating new security jobs. Although male-only municipal elections were held in 2011, Abdullah allowed women to vote and be elected in the 2015 municipal elections, and also to be nominated to the Shura Council. In June 2018, the Saudi government issued a law allowing women to drive, and as of June 2023, the kingdom has reportedly reversed its ban on women becoming lawyers, engineers, or geologists, establishing aggressive affirmative action programs that doubled the female labor force participation rate. The government has added its first female newspaper editors, diplomats, TV anchors, and public prosecutors, with a female head of the Saudi stock exchange and a member on the board of Saudi Aramco. However, an investigation by The Guardian newspaper in 2025 found that the Dar al-Reaya, officially care homes, continued to be effectively jails for women whose families wished to institutionalize them for disobedience, extramarital sexual relations, or being absent from home, with treatment reported as hellish, including solitary confinement, flogging, and no family contact.
The Geopolitical Chessboard
Saudi Arabia's foreign policy is officially focused on cooperation with the oil-exporting Gulf States, the unity of the Arab world, Islamic solidarity, and support for the United Nations and multilateralism. The kingdom joined the UN in 1945 and is a founding member of the Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council, Muslim World League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Saudi Arabia joined the World Trade Organization in 2005 and plays a prominent role in the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the G20. Although part of the Non-Aligned Movement, Saudi Arabia is generally considered pro-Western, and since co-founding OPEC in 1960, its oil pricing policy has officially aimed to stabilize the world oil market and moderate sharp price movements. The kingdom and the United States are strategic allies, with the U.S. being the most influential foreign power in the kingdom since the end of World War II. Saudi Arabia's role in the 1991 Gulf War, particularly the stationing of American troops on Saudi soil from 1991, prompted the development of a hostile Islamist response internally, leading the kingdom to distance itself from the U.S. in some respects, such as refusing to support or participate in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia remains a key strategic ally of the U.S. and a leading importer of American arms, with American President Donald Trump and King Salman signing a series of letters of intent in 2017 for Saudi Arabia to purchase arms from the United States totaling $350 billion over 10 years. China and Saudi Arabia's relationship has grown significantly in recent decades, and in February 2019, Crown Prince Mohammad defended China's Xinjiang internment camps for Uyghur Muslims, with 37 other countries, including Saudi Arabia, responding by submitting a letter defending China's policies. Saudi Arabia has traditionally sought to preserve the regional status quo by using its financial, diplomatic, and military resources to limit the effects of revolutionary uprisings in neighboring countries, engaging in a proxy conflict with Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia can be seen as the geopolitical extension of the wider Sunni-Shia conflict, with both sides being the flagship state for their respective sides. The consequences of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the Arab Spring led to increasing alarm within the Saudi monarchy over the rise of Iran's influence in the region, with King Abdullah privately urging the United States to attack Iran and cut off the head of the snake, though tensions have cooled in recent years due to diplomatic dialogue.
The Human Cost
The Saudi government has been denounced by international organizations and governments for violating human rights, with the authoritarian regime consistently ranked among the worst of the worst in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rights. According to Amnesty International, security forces torture and ill-treat detainees to extract confessions to be used as evidence against them, and the kingdom abstained from the UN vote adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, saying it contradicted Sharia. Mass executions, such as those carried out in 2016, 2019, and 2022, have been condemned by international rights groups, and in 2025, Saudi Arabia broke its record for annual executions for the second consecutive year, with many human rights groups calling it the bloodiest year of executions in the kingdom since monitoring began. Saudi Arabian law does not recognize sexual orientations or religious freedom, and the public practice of non-Muslim religions is actively prohibited. The justice system regularly engages in capital punishment, which has included public executions by decapitation, stoning, or by firing squad, followed by crucifixion. In 2022, the Saudi Crown Prince stated that capital punishments will be removed except for one category mentioned in the Quran, namely homicide, and in April 2020, the Saudi Supreme Court issued a directive to eliminate the punishment of flogging from the court system, being replaced by imprisonment or fines. Historically, Saudi women have faced discrimination in many aspects of their lives and were effectively treated as legal minors under the male guardianship system, with the treatment of women referred to as sex segregation and gender apartheid. Saudi Arabia is a notable destination country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of slave labor and sexual exploitation, with migrants from Asia and Africa employed in the country's construction, hospitality, and domestic work sectors under the kafala system, which human rights groups say is linked to slavery. The kingdom has the world's third-largest immigrant population, with foreign-born residents comprising roughly 40% of the population, and Saudi Arabians are among the world's youngest people, with approximately half being under 25 years old. Despite these challenges, the kingdom has made several attempts to improve the status of women, and as of June 2023, it has reportedly reversed its ban on women becoming lawyers, engineers, or geologists, and established aggressive affirmative action programs, doubling the female labor force participation rate. However, the Dar al-Reaya, officially care homes, continue to be effectively jails for women whose families wish to institutionalize them for disobedience, extramarital sexual relations, or being absent from home, with treatment reported as hellish, including solitary confinement, flogging, and no family contact.