Geography of Saudia Arabia
Saudi Arabia Geographical Information
Saudi Arabia, monarchy in southwestern Asia, occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia is bounded on the north by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait; on the east by the Persian Gulf and Qatar; on the southeast by the United Arab Emirates and Oman; on the south by the Republic of Yemen; and on the west by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. The country's border with the United Arab Emirates is not precisely defined. Saudi Arabia has an area of about 2,240,000 sq km (about 864,900 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Riyadh.
Land and Resources
Considerably more than half the area of Saudi Arabia is desert. Rub' al Khali, known in English as the Great Sandy Desert and as the Empty Quarter, extends over much of the southeast and beyond the southern frontier. Partially unexplored, Rub' al Khali has an estimated area of about 650,000 sq km (about 250,000 sq mi). An extension of the Syrian Desert projects into northern Saudi Arabia, and extending southeast from this region is An Nafûd, an upland desert of red sand covering an area of about 57,000 sq km (about 22,000 sq mi). Ad Dhan', a narrow extension of this desert, links An Nafûd and Rub' al Khali. A central plateau region, broken in the east by a series of uplifts, extends south from An Nafûd. Several wadis (watercourses), dry except in the rainy season, traverse the plateau region. Its western limits are delineated by a mountain range extending generally northwest and southeast along the eastern edge of the regions of Al Ḩijz (Hejaz) and 'Asîr. The highest point in Saudi Arabia, Jabal Sawd' (3,207 m/10,522 ft), is located in the southwestern portion of the country. Between the range, which has an average elevation of about 1,200 m (about 4,000 ft), and the Red Sea is a narrow coastal plain. In the east, along the Persian Gulf, is a low-lying region known as Al Aḩs'. It is underlain by great petroleum deposits.
Climate
Extreme heat and aridity are characteristic of most of Saudi Arabia. The average temperature range in January is 8° to 20°C (47° to 68°F) in Riyadh and 19° to 29°C (66° to 83°F) in Jiddah. The average range in July is 27° to 43°C (81° to 109°F) in Riyadh and 27°to 38°C (80°to 100°F) in Jiddah. The Arabian Peninsula is one of the few places in the...