Atlas Saudi Arabia |
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Country
(long form) History In the early 18th century the Al-Saud, the ruling family of modern Saudi Arabia, were the ruling sheikhs of the oasis village of Dir'aiyah, near modern Riyadh. When they formed an alliance, in the mid-18th century, with Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab, the result was Wahhabism, the back-to-basics religious movement that is still Saudi Arabia's official form of Islam. By 1806, the converting armies of Wahhabism had conquered most of modern Saudi Arabia as well as a large part of southern Iraq. None of this went down well in Constantinople, as western Arabia was, at least in theory, part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1812 the empire retook western Arabia, and by the end of the 19th century the Al-Saud had retreated to Kuwait, where they were given sanctuary. Enter stage left one of the great Al-Saud leaders, known as Ibn Saud, who brewed up an irresistible combination of piety, strategy and diplomacy and retook Riyadh and then, in 1925, Jeddah. In 1938, Chevron found commercial quantities of oil in Saudi Arabia, and when WWII started, oil production really took off. By 1950 the kingdom's royalties were running at about 1000000 a week, and by 1960, 80% of the government's revenues came from oil. The Arab oil embargo, in 1973-74, increased the price of oil fourfold and Saudi Arabia became something of a world power. As the government raked in the cash, a building boom began and Saudi Arabia became one immense construction site. But the oil boom attracted a lot of interest from outside the country, and Saudi Arabia's relations with its neighbours became increasingly strained. The massacre of 400 Iranian pilgrims at the 1987 haj resulted in Iran boycotting the pilgrimage for several years. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the Saudis started getting nervous, and asked the USA to send troops to defend the kingdom. Although Saudi Arabia was not invaded, the crisis stirred up demands for political change, and in 1993 the king set up a Consultative Council - members are appointed by the king and can comment on proposed laws. The days of easy oil money are just a fond memory and the country's population is growing rapidly (the average Saudi woman bears six children), presenting Saudi Arabia and the aging King Fahd with an impressive challenge. Two generations of generous public assistance haven't inculcated the country's youth with the strongest work ethic, either. In 1999, the first high-end tour groups entered the difficult-to-visit nation, but visas remain officially restricted to business travellers, Muslims making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, and those few lucky folk able to convince a Saudi national to sponsor their visit. The terrorist
attacks in the US in September 2001 were something of a landmark event
for Saudis too. Most of the suspects subsequently arrested turned out
to be Saudi nationals, and the rumours of state sponsorship of terrorism
are not going away. The US military pulled out of the country in 2003
following the invasion of Iraq hoping this would ease the outrage in
some pockets of the Islamic world who found its presence in the kingdom
intolerable. Some observers are predicting an increasingly turbulent
future for the Saudi royal family, as the voices of change get louder.
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