Saudi Arabia

## General Information

Saudi Arabia is a desert country bordered to the north by Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait, on the south by Yemen and Oman as well as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to the east. The country sits between two bodies of water, the Red Sea to the west and the Persian Gulf to the east. It also comprises most of the Arabian Peninsula. The capitol of Saudi Arabia is Riyadh, which is also it's largest city, as well as where King Muhammad bin Nayef lives.

## Economy

Saudi Arabia's economy is a command economy, controlled by the government, and based on oil. 90% of export earnings come from the oil industry. The oil industry relies heavily on non-Saudi labor, with roughly 80% of oil workers in the private sector being from other countries. There have been attempts to get more Saudi Arabians into the private oil sector with little success.

Saudi Arabia also has a small gold mining industry, agriculture sector, as well as many seasonal jobs created by the nearly 2 million hajj pilgrimages to Mecca every year.

## Religion

Officially all Saudi citizens are Muslim, and nearly all residents are Muslim. Between 90 and 75 percent are Sunni while the remaining Muslim population is Shia. The dominant form of Sunni Islam, which the ruling Saud family subscribes to, is Wahhabism, a particularly conservative form of Islam.

Saudi Arabia contains the Islamic holy cities of Mecca (which all Muslims are required to visit during their lives for their hajj pilgrimage, with exceptions for those physically or financially unable) and Medina, which contains the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad.

## Government

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy ruled currently by King Muhammad bin Nayef. The Saud family, descendants of Ibn Saud and is brothers, control the whole country. Legislation is made through royal decree from the king. The Quran is the Constitution.

## Military

Saudi Arabia's military consists of the Royal Saudi Land Forces (75,000 men), Royal Saudi Air Force (18,000 men), Royal Saudi Navy (16,000 men), Royal Saudi Air Defense (15.500 men including 3000 Marines), and the Saudi Arabian National Guard (100,000 men including 500 members of Royal Cloak and Dagger). The military is very modern and well funded, with Saudi Arabia being fourth in the world for government military spending.

Saudi Arabia is also set to put the first permanant weapon into space in a joint project with the US, a Kinetic Bombardment Satellite.

## Foreign Relations

Saudi Arabia has historically been in good standing with

* United States
* Canada
* Mexico
* Germany
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom

## News

2016

* Saudi Arabia begins construction of new solar power plants In Progress
* Saudi Arabia forms special operations battalion of 500 soldiers, dubbed 'Royal Cloak and Dagger'
* Saudi Arabia to begin construction of new surveillance sattelite to aid in fight against ISIS - Nullified with failure of A spear from the sky
* Saudi Arabia to begin open construction of kinetic bombardment weapon

2017

* Saudi Arabia has delayed the start of operation for new solar power plants
* Saudi Arabia announces the beginning of women science teams
* Saudi Arabia begins specialized training of Royal Cloak and Dagger

## Events

2016

* Saudi Arabia increases troop density near Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait

2017

* Saudi Arabia bans former prisoners from becoming members of the CPVPV

## Diplomacy

2015

* The Netherlands sends a diplomat to Saudi Arabia Netherlands sent a diplomat to Saudi Arabia. SA agreed it increase oil exportation to Netherlands, and Netherlands offered to provide a civil engineer team for future Saudi urban projects, as well as a visit from the Dutch royal couple.

2017

## Conflicts

2016

* China offers military support to Saudi Arabia - 2000 Chinese troops are stationed on the northern Saudi Border
* ISIS floods Saudi Arabia with child soldier suicide bombers - Few Saudi Casualties, Complete ISIS Failure

## Covert Ops

2016

* Sending a Message - Failed But Remained Secret
* A spear from the sky - Failed and Exposed

## Roleplay

2016

* Rocket Fuel Can't Melt Tungsten Beams