# Riyadh Province

The Riyadh Province (Arabic: منطقة الرياض Manṭiqat ar-Riyāḍ), also known as the Riyadh Region, is a province of Saudi Arabia, located in the geographic center of the country and the center of the Arabian Peninsula. It has an area of 404,240 km$^2$ (156,080 sq mi) and with a 2022 population of 8,591,748, it is the second-largest region by area, behind the Eastern Province and the largest by population. The capital governorate of the province is the Riyadh Governorate and it is named after the capital of the kingdom, Riyadh, which is the most populous city in the region and the kingdom, with a little less than two-thirds of the population of the region residing within the city. The province was governed for nearly five decades by Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz from 1963 to 2011 shortly before he became the Crown Prince in 2012. Currently, it is governed by Prince Faisal bin Bandar.
Other populous cities in the region include Al Ghat, Dawadmi, Afif, Zulfi and Majma'ah. Approximately half of the region's area is desert, and it only borders other regions of the kingdom; it has no international borders. The region borders, clockwise from the north, the Eastern Province, Najran Province, ʽAsir Province, Mecca Province, Medina Province and the Al-Qassim Province. It is one of the 7 regions of the kingdom that do not have a coastline.

## Population

Population development since 1992:

## Subdivisions

In addition to the Municipality of Riyadh, the region is divided into 19 governorates (muhafazat) and one sub-governorate (markaz):
* Riyadh
* Layla
* 'Afif
* Dawadmi
* al-Ghat
* al-Gway'iyyah
* al-Hareeg
* Al-Kharj
* Al Majma'ah
* Al-Muzahmiyyah
* al-Sulayyil
* Dhruma
* Dir'iyyah
* Hotat Bani Tamim
* Huraymila
* Rimah
* Shaqra
* Thadig
* Wadi ad-Dawasir
* The sub-governorate (markaz) of Marat, which is tied directly to the Municipality of Riyadh.
* Yabrin
* Zulfy City (Al-Zulfi City)

## Modern history of Riyadh Province and Saudi Arabia

| Period | from | to | Timeline |
| First Saudi State | 1727 | 1818 | 74 years |
| Khedewian Invasion | 1818 | 1824 | 6 years |
| Second Saudi State "first period" | 1824 | 1838 | 14 years |
| Khedewian Invasion "secondly" | 1838 | 1843 | 5 years |
| Second Saudi State "second period" | 1843 | 1865 | 22 years |
| Civil War | 1865 | 1887 | 22 years |
| (Conquests of Abdul Aziz Al-Saud "he began to Riyadh") Third Saudi State | 1902 | 1932 | 30 years |
| (End of Conquests) "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" | 1932 | .... | ... |

## List of governors

| Name | Dates |
| Muhammad bin Saad bin Zaid | 1929–1936 |
| Prince Nasser bin Abdulaziz | 1937–28 May 1947 |
| Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz | 29 May 1947 – 19 December 1952 |
| Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz (on behalf of Prince Sultan) | 3 March – 19 December 1952 |
| Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz | 20 December 1952 – 18 April 1955 |
| Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz (on behalf of Prince Nayef) | 16 March 1954 – 18 April 1955 |
| King Salman bin Abdulaziz | 18 April 1955 – 22 September 1960 |
| Prince Turki bin Abdul-Aziz (on behalf of Prince Salman) | 10–21 Oct 1957 – 1957; 31 October 1960 |
| Prince Fawaz bin Abdulaziz | 11 September 1961 – 20 January 1963 |
| Prince Badr bin Saud bin Abdulaziz | 20 Jan – 5 February 1963 |
| Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz | 5 February 1963 – 5 November 2011 |
| Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz | 5 November 2011 – 12 February 2013 |
| Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud | 14 February 2013 – 14 May 2014 |
| Prince Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud | 14 May 2014 – 29 January 2015 |
| Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud | 29 January 2015 – present |