Saudi Arabia, officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is an Arab sovereign state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. With a land area of approximately 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), Saudi Arabia is geographically the fifth-largest state in Asia and second-largest state in the Arab world after Algeria. Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast, and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba. It is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert or barren landforms. The state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The state’s official language is Arabic. English is however widely used, even on street signs. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four distinct regions: Hejaz, Najd, and parts of Eastern Arabia (Al-Ahsa) and Southern Arabia (‘Asir). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud. He united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been an absolute monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called “the predominant feature of Saudi culture”, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called “the Land of the Two Holy Mosques” in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca), and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam. Mecca and Medina are however completely blocked for non-Muslims. A violation of this rule will lead to penalties and deportation. read more…
Dubai Creek is a saltwater creek located in Dubai. It ends at Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary. Some sources say that the creek extended as far inland as Al Ain, and that the Ancient Greeks called it River Zara. Historically, the creek divided the city into two main sections – Deira and Bur Dubai. It was along the Bur Dubai creek area that members of the Bani Yas tribe first settled in the 19th century, establishing the Al Maktoum dynasty in the city. In the early 20th century, the creek, though incapable then of supporting large scale transportation, served as a minor port for dhows coming as far away as India or East Africa. Although it impeded the entry of ships due to current flow, the creek remained an important element in establishing the commercial position of Dubai, being the only port or harbour in the city. Dubai’s pearling industry, which formed the main sector of the city’s economy, was based primarily on expeditions in the creek, prior to the invention of cultured pearls in the 1930s. read more…
Sitra, also known as Sitrah, is an island in Bahrain. It has a distance of 5 km (3.1 mi) south of the capital, Manama, on Bahrain Island. Sitra Island had a mixed Shia and Sunni Arab population. The Sunni inhabitants (including the Al Buainain) tribe which inhabited the now deserted village of Salba, west of Sitra eradicated during the early 1920s when most of them died as a result of smallpox or migrated back to their homelands. read more…
The Hawar Islands is an archipelago of desert islands owned by Bahrain, situated off the west coast of Qatar in the Gulf of Bahrain of the Persian Gulf. The islands used to be one of the settlements of the Bahraini branch of the Dawasir who settled there in the early 19th century. The islands were first surveyed in 1820, when they were called the Warden’s Islands, and two villages were recorded. They are now uninhabited, other than a police garrison and a hotel on the main island; access to all but Hawar island itself is severely restricted. Local fishermen are allowed to fish in adjacent waters and there is some recreational fishing and tourism on and around the islands. Fresh water has always been scarce; historically it was obtained by surface collection and even today, with the desalinisation plant, additional supplies have to be brought in. read more…
Umm an Nasan island is the fifth largest island in Bahrain. It has a distance of 17.5 km (10.9 mi) west of the capital, Manama, on Bahrain Island. Umm an Nasan lies in the Gulf of Bahrain in Persian Gulf to the west of Bahrain Island, and to the east of the Saudi coastal city of Khobar. read more…
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain is a small Arab monarchy in the Persian Gulf. Bahrain consists of a group of islands between the Qatar peninsula and the north eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. It is an island country situated near the western shores of the Persian Gulf in the Middle East. It is a small archipelago centered on Bahrain Island, its largest land mass. It is just 23 km (14 mi) east off Saudi Arabia, connected to it through the King Fahd Causeway. The peninsula of Qatar is also nearby, about 50 km (31 mi) to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. Iran lies 200 km (124 mi) to the north across the Persian Gulf. The population in 2010 stood at 1,200,000, including 666,000 non-nationals. It is 780 km² in size, making it the third smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore. Bahrain had the first post-oil economy in the Persian Gulf. Since the late 20th century, Bahrain has invested in the banking and tourism sectors. Many large financial institutions have a presence in Manama, the country’s capital. Bahrain has a high Human Development Index and was recognised by the World Bank as a high income economy. read more…
Palm Islands are three artificial islands, Palm Jumeirah, Deira Island and Palm Jebel Ali, on the coast of Dubai. As of November 2014, only Palm Jumeirah has been completed. This island takes the form of a palm tree, topped by a crescent. After completion, Palm Jebel Ali will take a similar shape; each island will be host to a large number of residential, leisure and entertainment centers and will add a total of 520 kilometers of non-public beaches to the city of Dubai. The creation of the Palm Islands began in June 2001. Land reclamation began shortly after the announcement. Palm Jumeirah was built entirely from sand and rocks (no concrete or steel was used to build the island). This was done in accordance with the order of the Prince of Dubai, who came up with the idea for the Palm Islands, as well as their design. The primary objective for the construction of the Palm Islands was to create a major tourist destination in Dubai to compensate for a decrease in revenue from oil as oil reserves in the Persian Gulf depleted. The Palm Jumeirah has a number of hotels, resorts, and hotel residences, among them Atlantis. Other artificial islands in Dubai are The World, Dubai Waterfront and Jumeirah Islands. read more…
Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Historians are divided as to whether the dhow was invented by Arabs or Indians. Typically sporting long thin hulls, dhows are trading vessels primarily used to carry heavy items, like fruit, fresh water or merchandise, along the coasts of Eastern Arabia (Arab states of the Persian Gulf), East Africa, Yemen and some parts of South Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh). Larger dhows have crews of approximately thirty, smaller ones typically around twelve. read more…
The Pearl-Qatar in Doha is an artificial island spanning nearly four million square metres. It is the first land in Qatar to be available for freehold ownership by foreign nationals. As of January 2015, there are 12,000 residents. Once fully completed, The Pearl will create over 32 kilometres of new coastline, for use as a residential estate with an expected 18,831 dwellings and 45,000 residents by 2018. Developed by United Development Company and planned by architecture and design firm Callison, the island is located 350 metres offshore of Doha’s West Bay Lagoon area. In 2004, when the project was first revealed, the initial cost of constructing the island stood at $2.5 billion. It is now believed the project will cost $15 billion upon completion. read more…
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