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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Islamic absolute monarchy in which Sunni Islam is the official state religion based on firm Sharia law. Non-Muslims must practice their religion in private and are vulnerable to discrimination and arrest. While no law requires all citizens to be Muslim, non-Muslim foreigners attempting to acquire Saudi Arabian nationality must convert to Islam. Children born to Muslim fathers are by law deemed Muslim, and conversion from Islam to another religion is considered apostasy and punishable by death. Blasphemy against Sunni Islam is also punishable by death, but the more common penalty is a long prison sentence; there have been 'no confirmed reports of executions for either apostasy or blasphemy' in the 21st century.
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2150000 km2, making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Arab world, and the largest in West Asia and the Middle East. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. Bahrain is an island country off its east coast. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. Saudi Arabia's capital and largest city is Riyadh; the kingdom also is the location of Islam's two holiest cities of Mecca and Medina.
The cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is greatly influenced by the Arab and Islamic culture. The society is in general deeply religious, conservative, traditional, and family-oriented. Many attitudes and traditions are centuries-old, derived from Arab civilization and Islamic heritage. However, its culture has also been affected by rapid change, as the country was transformed from an impoverished nomadic society into a rich commodity producer in just a few years in the 1970s. This change has also been affected by and the result of a number of factors including the communications revolution and external scholarships. The most recent ruler or king of Saudi is King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
Human rights in Saudi Arabia are a topic of concern and controversy. The Saudi government, which mandates both Muslim and non-Muslim observance of Islamic law under the absolute rule of the House of Saud, has been accused of and denounced by various international organizations and governments for violating human rights within the country. The authoritarian regime ruling the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is consistently ranked among the "worst of the worst" in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rights.
Saudi Arabia competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004.
The Saudi Arabia national football team represents Saudi Arabia in men's international football. They are known as Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur in reference to their traditional colours of green and white and represent both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
King Khalid Military City (KKMC) is a special city in northeastern Saudi Arabia, about 60 km south of Hafar al-Batin city. The city was designed and built by the Middle East Division, a unit of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, in the 1970's and 1980's. Consultants for the building of the city included Brown, Daltas, and Associates as well as LeMessurier in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The city was designed and built to provide lodging for several brigades of Saudi troops and a population of 65,000 people.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Saudi Arabia face severe repression and legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. LGBT rights are not recognized by the government of Saudi Arabia. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal.
The Saudi Football Federation is the football governing body of Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1956, its responsibilities include administration of club competitions and national teams. The founder of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation is Prince Abdullah bin Faisal Al Saud.
Saudi Arabia competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Nine competitors, all men, took part in thirteen events in five sports.
Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia is a legal penalty. Death sentences are almost exclusively based on the system of judicial sentencing discretion (tazir), following the classical principle of avoiding Sharia-prescribed (hudud) penalties when possible. In recent decades, the government and the courts have increasingly issued these sentences, reacting to a rise in violent crime during the 1970s. This paralleled similar developments in the U.S. and Mainland China in the late 20th century.
Women's rights in Saudi Arabia are a topic of concern and controversy internationally. Saudi women have experienced major legal rights reforms since 2017, after facing Wahhabism religious fundamentalist dominance dating from 1979.
The King Faisal Prize, is an annual award sponsored by King Faisal Foundation presented to "dedicated men and women whose contributions make a positive difference". The foundation awards prizes in five categories: Service to Islam; Islamic studies; the Arabic language and Arabic literature; science; and medicine. Three of the prizes are widely considered to be the most prestigious awards in the Muslim world.
Saudi Americans are Americans of total or partial Saudi descent. According to the 2000 census, 7,419 people of Saudi origin were living in the United States of America (USA). In 2015, according to the American Community Survey, 96,783 Saudi-born people were living in the USA. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the USA have had important political relations since the 1940s. Population estimates are seen to have a very small diaspora, mainly because the KSA provides native Saudis with more than adequate welfare benefits, removing the need to live and work in other developed countries.
Saudis or Saudi Arabians are the citizens and nationals of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They are mainly composed of Arabs and live in the five historical Regions: Najd, Hejaz, Asir, Tihamah and Al-Ahsa; the regions which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded on or what was formerly known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd in the Arabian Peninsula. Saudis speak one of the dialects of Peninsular Arabic, including the Hejazi, Najdi, Gulf and Southern Arabic dialects, as a mother tongue.
The modern history of Saudi Arabia begins with the declaration of the unification of Saudi Arabia in a single kingdom in 1932. This period of time in Saudi Arabia's history includes the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia and many invents. It goes on to encompass Saudi Arabia's brief involvement in World War II in 1945. Afterwards, it includes Saudi Arabia's involvement in the Western Bloc and the Cold War. It also includes Saudi Arabia's proxy conflict with Iran, the Arab Spring, and the ongoing Arab Winter.
Visitors to Saudi Arabia must obtain a visa unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries. Some visitors are eligible to obtain a visa online or on arrival while others needs to apply at one of the Saudi diplomatic missions in advance.
The 2004 Asian Junior Athletics Championships was the eleventh edition of the international athletics competition for Asian under-20 athletes, organised by the Asian Athletics Association. It took place from 12–15 June at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia. A total of 43 events were contested, which were divided equally between male and female athletes aside from the men's 3000 metres steeplechase.
Saudi Arabia is a theocracy organized according to the principles of Islam, which puts emphasis on the importance of knowledge and education. In Islamic belief, obtaining knowledge is the only way to gain true understanding of life, and as such, both men and women are encouraged to study. The way of practicing Wahhabi Islam has therefore led to gendered segregation in education in Saudi Arabia, which further perpetuates gender division in political, economic, and labor force environments.
The Saudi Arabian Handball Federation (SAHF) is the governing body of handball and beach handball in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1975, SAHF is affiliated to the International Handball Federation and Asian Handball Federation. SAHF is also affiliated to the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee, West Asian Handball Federation and the Arab Handball Federation. It is based in Riyadh.
References
- ↑ "Saudi Arabian Culture". Cultural Atlas. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
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