Historical Background
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the original home of Islam and the Arab people and occupies a large part of the Arabian Peninsula (Vassiliev, 2013). Saudi Arabian citizens mostly support the Arab and Muslim cultures that connect them with millions of people in different parts of the world. The Kingdom occupies 2,250,000 square kilometers. The Persian Gulf surrounds it on the east, the Red Sea on the west, Qatar, UAE, Oman, and Yemen on the south and southeast, Kuwait, Iraq, and Jordan on the north and northeast (Vassiliev, 2013). Saudi Arabia is marked by a hot desert climate accompanied by high humidity in the coastal regions. The area receives scarce rainfall, except a region called Asir, where there is enough rain to support agriculture on the farms, alluvial planes, and upper slopes. The area also receives enough rain to support the nomadic farming of camels, goats, sheep, and the desert flora and fauna’s sustenance. The country majorly relies on irrigation for crop production. Saudi Arabia does not have any permanent water bodies or rivers and only has artificial pools and lakes.
The Kingdom has four main regions. Najd is the political, geographical, and cultural center. It is a large plateau that combines sandy and rocky areas with wadi systems and isolated mountains. This region has for a long time supported nomadic production and is the main homeland to the Bedouin communities.
Hijaz is the second region in the Saudi Arabian Kingdom. The region has ancient and strong urban cultures and traditions, and it is where Mecca and Medina are located. Hijaz has oases to support agriculture, and a long history of tribally selected nomadic pastoralism.
Asir is the third region. It has multiple cities and some nomadic activities, but it is still rural and has farmers living in communities. These communities are highly organized according to clan and tribal identities. Farmers in the region also engage in fishing and commercial trade.
Al-Ahsa is the largest oasis in the Kingdom. It is watered by the artesian springs and wells located in the Eastern Province interiors and provides water for food growing. The Eastern province is also the main source of oil. Gas and oil wells and processing plants are located in this region. Also, the headquarters of the national oil industry is located in this region. The area has a long existence of urban and trade centers, but the complexes of Dammam, Dhahran, and al-Khubar have dominated the scene since the 1960s.
Each region has diverse histories and customs. However, they all share traditional values in the harsh desert setting and are from a long history that involves the development of the current state and its culture (Vassiliev, 2013). All the regions take part in the common development history of the country including oil revenues, military events, and the process of globalization.
Political Life
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a monarchy with kings serving as both head of the government and the state. The Koran guides their constitution. Regulations and the legislation are promulgated by the ministerial or royal decrees sanctioned by the state’s king (Wynbrandt, 2017). The monarch appoints province governors, cabinet ministers, ambassadors, and military executives. He is also the commander in chief of the armed forces and also the final court of appeal. The government has the Royal Diwan, which comprises the chief of protocol, the king’s office, advisers for religious, international, and domestic issues, and the heads of Bedouin affairs (Wynbrandt, 2017). The government includes the department of religious research, missionary ventures, and guidance. The king holds court sessions in the diwan (Diwan AI-Mazal’im), where local citizens can express their voices and make requests (Wynbrandt, 2017).
The core executive organ is the Council of Ministers, which comprises the King, Prince and royal ministers of state without portfolio, the heads of twenty ministries, the National Guard, and other state ministers (Safran, 2018). The council of ministers also includes the heads of the monetary agencies and the mineral and petroleum organization. Saudi Arabia has a considerable civil service, which employs over 400,000 people. The Kingdom has 14 provinces, with each headed by an emir, often hailing from royalty. The Kingdom has no political parties, and the royal family has the most significant political influence (Safran, 2018). The royal family comprises about 20,000 people with several clans and branches. Some people from the royal family take active part in politics, while other members are successfully operating in the business.
The Justice System
Maintenance of social stability and adherence to Islamic values are consistent objectives of Saudi Arabia’s development goals. Society and religion come together to foster social control which serve as a deterrent to protect people and their families against sinful way of life. Crimes related to drugs, alcohol, and sexual misconduct are often associated with modernization (Vassiliev, 2013). Stealing and robbery are rare in the Kingdom, and other economic crimes are also rare except smuggling. Murder, violence, and assault are uncommon except to tribal communities involving revenge and honor (Safran, 2018). The justice system is guided by the Sharia, which describes crimes and their punishments.
Violations that are not clearly described in the Sharia are based on analogy and are punished by prison sentences. A person arrested for a crime is detained in the jail cell until the court renders the first instance judgment presided by the quadis. The court of appeal also exists, with the King being the final court of appeal. If the Sharia prescribes physical punishment, it is conducted in a public space, usually on Friday outside the mosque (Safran, 2018). The criminals’ ancestral names are announced loudly to cause shame. Saudi Arabians believe that shame is more painful than physical harm (Vassiliev, 2013). Punishments involving drugs and smuggling are less public, and foreigners condemned of crimes are punished and deported immediately. The Islamic religion is strict about order and requires witnesses. For one to be charged with theft, four Muslims have to take a religious oath, while physical punishment is only applied to repeated crimes.
Family
Traditionally, marriage in Saudi Arabia happened between first cousins who are paternally linked. Marriages would usually be arranged by the parents and other relatives (Na, 2015). However, today these practices are evolving slowly, with couples encouraged to communicate and date before the wedding (Na, 2015). Parents still choose suitors for their children, but they manage the relationship indirectly. Men can marry up to four wives as long as they pay equal attention to them. The neolocal residence is the norm in the region for newly wedded couples (Na, 2015). In these settings, the roles of the husband and wife involve equality and sharing of responsibility. The husband is the head of the family, and all authority lies on him. He has the religious duties to protect and provide for the needs of his family.
Education
Children in Saudi Arabia attend kindergarten and get ingrained into the general education system. The Kingdom’s population is mostly literate, with about 73% of the men and 43% of the women attaining education (Alamri, 2011). The Arabic language and religious subjects are represented strongly in the curricula but are not included in traditional teachings. Universities have produced thousands of graduates in the last few years, with more than half of those students being women (Alamri, 2011). Gender segregation and age strongly mark social interaction. Polite behavior and ethos are taught both in schools and traditionally. Men and women rarely interact outside domestic spaces, with many societal regulations aiming to regulate these interactions within family confines (Alamri, 2011). Any form of male-female interaction in a public space should be formal and limited to buying and selling. Younger people should show deference to their elders, and generational relations are characterized by formality and decorum maintenance.
Religion
The majority of the Saudi Arabian population is Muslim. Most Saudi Arabians are Sunni and majorly follow the Hanbali School of Islamic Law called Madhab. The country does not allow the practicing of non-Muslim faiths (Vassiliev, 2013). The most learned person in Islam is responsible for leading the prayers. These well-educated people include preachers, judges, prayer leaders, teachers, and other Islamic scholars. Muslims are expected to make five prayers daily that make up the four Islamic Pillars. They are to pray facing Mecca, often as a group or in the mosque (Vassiliev, 2013). Muslims are also expected to perform the haj, another five pillars, at least once in their lifetime. Muslims believe that there is no other god but Allah and prophet Muhammad is his messengers (Vassiliev, 2013). Dead people are cleaned, wrapped in shrouds and buried in graves around Mecca. Muslims have strong belief that the dead reach heaven or hell depending on their deeds on the earth.
Trade
Saudi Arabia produced most of its basic food categories until the 1940s. Sugar, cardamom, coffee, tea, cloth, rice, and manufactured items comprised the main import items. Exports consisted of camels, dates, horses, and sheep with Iraq, India, Egypt, and Syria (Wynbrandt, 2017). Today, Saudi Arabia is essentially dependent on international trade for almost all its products. Developed land for agriculture, industrial, commercial, and residential uses is owned as private property and might be traded freely (Wynbrandt, 2017). Undeveloped and non-demarcated land belongs to the state, however, traditional rights are provided to the Bedouin communities. The country has foreign exchange houses, banks, import houses, jewelry shops, international companies, contracting firms, supermarkets, butcheries, grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, and coffee houses (only for men), among others (Wynbrandt, 2017). Crude oil, natural gas, and refined products are the main export products. The key customers are Japan, Europe, and the US. The primary imports include appliances, machinery, foodstuffs, electrical equipment, jewelry, metals, transport items, and chemical products.
Healthcare
Modern medicine is widely spread in Saudi Arabia and used by all members of society. The country has established public and private clinics all over the region, and multiple specialist hospitals installed with state-of-the-art technologies and practices are present in major cities and towns (Al-Hanawi et al., 2018). However, it is still common for people to travel abroad and other Arab countries for medical treatment.
References
Alamri, M. (2011). Higher education in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 11(4), 88-91.
Al-Hanawi, M. K., Alsharqi, O., Almazrou, S., & Vaidya, K. (2018). Healthcare finance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study of householders’ attitudes. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 16(1), 55-64.
Alrashidi, O., & Phan, H. (2015). Education context and English teaching and learning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An overview. English Language Teaching, 8(5), 33-44.
Na, N. (2015). Saudi Arabia in the nineteenth century. Springer.
Safran, N. (2018). Saudi Arabia: The ceaseless quest for security. Cornell University Press.
Vassiliev, A. (2013). The history of Saudi Arabia. Saqi.
Wynbrandt, J. (2017). A brief history of Saudi Arabia. Infobase Publishing.