Saudi Arabia
Riyadh · Western Asia
Saudi Arabia is a country in Asia. Its capital city is Riyadh, the official currency is the Saudi Riyal, and the main language is Arabic.
With a population of roughly 36.9 million people spread over 2,149,690 km², Saudi Arabia is the 39th most populous country in the world and the 12th largest by area. That works out at about 17 people per square kilometre.
Saudi Arabia shares land borders with Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen — 7 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Riyadh, Jeddah and Mecca. The highest point in the country is Jabal Sawda, at 3,000 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as Mexico, while its population is closest to that of Angola.
- Capital
- Riyadh
- Region
- Western Asia
- Population
- 36,900,000
- Area
- 2,149,690 km²
- Currency
- Saudi Riyal
- Main language
- Arabic
- Highest point
- Jabal Sawda
3,000 m - Land borders
- 7
Saudi Arabia: things worth knowing
- Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers, the largest country in the world without one.
- The Rub' al Khali, or Empty Quarter, is the largest continuous sand desert on Earth.
- Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam, draw millions of pilgrims each year.
Saudi Arabia in context
Asia has 48 sovereign countries in total. Saudi Arabia ranks 16th among them by population.
See the full list of Asia countries, or browse all 195 countries.