Population: 26,417,599 (includes 5,576,076 non-nationals. July 2005 est.)

Languages: Arabic

Religions: Muslim

Currency: Saudi riyal (SAR)

Timezone: GMT+3

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, popularly known within the country as 'the Kingdom', occupies around four fifths of the area of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the countries of Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen, and has a coastline of 2,640 metres bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Much of the country consists of uninhabited desert, but there are also areas of mountain and lowland. Most of the population lives either in the coastal areas, or the oasis towns and cities of the interior. The economy is oil-based.

Saudi Arabia is an Islamic state, and the Holy Qur'an forms the country's constitution. As the home of Islam's holiest city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia receives thousands of Muslim pilgrims each year. The government of Saudi Arabia consists of its monarchy and there are no political parties or elections, although the King has to govern strictly by Islamic law (Sharia) and other Saudi customs. The king appoints judges to the religious courts which administer justice according to Islamic law, commonly in the form of corporal punishment including floggings or even amputations and beheadings for serious crimes. Unsurprisingly, the crime rate in Saudi Arabia is extremely low.

Daily life in Saudi Arabia is also governed by the laws of Islam and the religious police, or Mutaween, are responsible for enforcing the law and preventing non-Islamic activities. Their power includes the right to report to the courts unrelated males and females who are socializing, to apprehend any Saudi women who are not covered from head to toe in a long cloak (abaya) and veil (niqab) in public, and to confiscate any inappropriate consumer goods or media products. They also have to ensure that all shops and businesses stop work during the five daily prayer times. Drinking alcohol and eating pork are against Islam and are completely forbidden in Saudi Arabia, as is any form of pornography or homosexual practice. It is an offence to criticize the regime or Islam, or to violate any of the country's laws, even unknowingly, and no exception is made for expatriates, who may be imprisoned, deported or even executed if they do so. The death penalty is strictly enforced for drug trafficking.