Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was the largest Arab state in the Middle East, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. In 2025, the country was bordered by Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, United Islamic Republic, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen. It also shared close maritime borders with Bahrain, Egypt and Sudan.
== History ==
=== Post-Unification ===
The new kingdom was one of the poorest countries in the world, reliant on limited agriculture and pilgrimage revenues. However, in 1938, vast reserves of oil were discovered in the Al-Ahsa region along the coast of the Persian Gulf, and full-scale development of the oil fields began in 1941 under the US-controlled Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company). Oil provided Saudi Arabia with economic prosperity and substantial political leverage internationally. Cultural life rapidly developed, primarily in the Hejaz, which was the center for newspapers and radio.
In 1953, King Saud succeeded to the throne on his father's death. However, an intense rivalry between the King and his half-brother, Prince Faisal emerged, fueled by doubts in the royal family over Saud's competence. As a consequence, Saud was deposed in favor of Faisal in 1964. In 1972, Saudi Arabia gained control of a proportion (20%) of Aramco, thereby decreasing US control over Saudi oil. In 1973, Saudi Arabia led an oil boycott against the Western countries that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War against Egypt and Syria. Oil prices quadrupled. In 1975, Faisal was assassinated by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid and was succeeded by his half-brother King Khalid.
King Khalid died of a heart attack in June 1982, and was succeeded by his brother, King Fahd, who added the title "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" to his name in 1986 in response to considerable fundamentalist pressure to avoid use of "majesty" in association with anything except God. Fahd continued to develop close relations with the United States and increased the purchase of American and British military equipment. In the 1980s, Saudi Arabia spent $25 billion in support of Saddam Hussein in the Iran–Iraq War. However, Saudi Arabia condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and asked the US to intervene. King Fahd allowed American and coalition troops to be stationed in Saudi Arabia. He invited the Kuwaiti government and many of its citizens to stay in Saudi Arabia, but expelled citizens of Yemen and Jordan because of their governments' support of Iraq. In 1991, Saudi Arabian forces were involved both in bombing raids on Iraq and in the land invasion that helped to liberate Kuwait.
=== Saudi Civil War ===
See Full Article: Saudi Civil War
=== Demise and Annexation ===
See Full Article: Third Persian Gulf War
== Government and Politics ==
== Economy ==
Category:Nations
Category:List of Nations
Category:Defunct Nations
Category:Middle East
Category:G-30