Source: Wikipedia Establishment As Kingdom : Area : Population : GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate : HDI (2003): 0.772 (medium) (77th) Currency: Riyal (SAR) Time zone: (UTC+3) Calling code: +966 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية ) is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula . It borders Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait , Qatar , Bahrain , and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south, with the Persian Gulf to its northeast and the Red Sea to its west. It is called "the land of the two holy mosques", a reference to Mecca and Medina , Islam's two holiest places. In English, it is most commonly referred to as Saudi Arabia often as just Saudi by many English-speaking expatriates in the kingdom, or, less commonly (as in international football events or in its national press) as KSA. ( Arabia is sometimes also used to refer to the nation, but the term can also refer to the entire Peninsula and its varied nations and is thus ambiguous.) |