Saudi Arabia

American  

noun

1. a kingdom in N and central Arabia, including Hejaz, Nejd, and dependencies. About 600,000 sq. mi. (1,554,000 sq. km). Riyadh.

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Saudi Arabia British  

/ ˈsɔːdɪ-, ˈsaʊ- /

noun

1. a kingdom in SW Asia, occupying most of the Arabian peninsula between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea: founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud, who united Hejaz and Nejd; consists mostly of desert plateau; large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Official language: Arabic. Official religion: (Sunni) Muslim. Currency: riyal. Capital: Riyadh (royal and administrative), Jiddah (diplomatic). Pop: 26 939 583 (2013 est). Area: 2 260 353 sq km (872 722 sq miles)

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Saudi Arabia Cultural  

1. Monarchy occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula, where it is bordered by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the east and south; Yemen to the south; and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba to the west. Its capital and largest city is Riyadh.

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Saudi Arabia sits on at least one-fourth of the world's known oil reserves, a geological gift that makes this otherwise resource-poor, desert nation very rich and important to the industrial nations of the world.

Saudi Arabia is the location of Mecca (see also Mecca) and Medina, the two most holy places in the world for Muslims, pilgrimage sites equivalent to the Catholic Rome and the Christian and Jewish Jerusalem (see also Jerusalem).

Saudi Arabia became the major staging ground for United Nations forces seeking to expel Iraq from Kuwait in 1990–1991. (See Persian Gulf War.)

Overwhelmingly Muslim, the country is ruled by a royal family according to conservative Muslim law.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Saudi Arabia

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a "reconsider travel" advisory, warning that Houthi attacks had targeted cities, infrastructure, airports, military bases, diplomatic facilities and energy facilities.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Saudi Arabia had issued brief alerts on Tuesday over possible attacks in Mecca and across swathes of the kingdom's south, which borders Yemen.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

Amazon and Microsoft separately said last month that they would still launch data centers in Saudi Arabia by the end of the year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Israel has been providing Saudi Arabia with intelligence to help thwart further attacks, using American military intermediaries, according to Israeli media reports.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

After the visit, Joseph had returned with his parents to their home in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, and within a few months, his grandfather died of a heart attack.

From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick