[...]... There are no rivers or lakes in Saudi Arabia Wadis (valleys) may briefly surge with rivers following a rainfall The water supply comes from rainfall, groundwater, and water that has been desalinated In the Eastern Province and in the Jabal Tuwayq, many underground springs rise up into deep pools and are used to provide irrigation in the oases In the Hijaz and Asir regions, springs are also common, as is... coral reefs that shelter marine life are also found in the Arabian Gulf At least 11 types of sea grass beds are found in the Red Sea and 3 types in the Arabian Gulf DESALINATION Somewhere between 50 percent and 70 percent of Saudi Arabia s drinking water is desalinated As of 2010, the desalinated water is pumped through 4,157 kilometers of pipelines with 29 stations transporting water to 168 reservoirs... the rock, forming cavities During dry periods the underground water table receded The Geology of Petroleum | 5 More than oil flows under the Arabian Peninsula Here, volcanic lava beds (harrat in Arabic) in western Saudi Arabia (Peter Harrigan/ Saudi Aramco) even further, leaving some caves to fill with air and forming stalactites and stalagmites within them (Pint 2000, 27) At Ain Hit, in the Sulairy... James “Flowers in the Sand.” Aramco World, January/February 1968, 23–25 Pint, John The Desert Caves of Saudi Arabia London: Saudi Geological Survey and Stacey International, 2003 References | 15 Pint, John Saudi Arabia s Desert Caves.” Aramco World 51, no 2 (March/April 2000), 27–38 Silsby, Jill Inland Birds of Saudi Arabia London: Immel, 1980 U.S Energy Information Administration Independent Statistics... arising since King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Sa‘ud’s creation of the nation and during its governance by his descendants, whether from the need for foreign labor, the youth bulge in Saudi Arabia s demography, or disputes over the appropriate role of religion in society The next subsection deals with women’s roles and history in Saudi Arabia and with marriage As many international groups have accused Saudi Arabia. .. describe the Arabian Peninsula as completely barren, Betty Vincett cataloged and photographed some 80 varieties of flowers in the 1970s (Vincett 1977) In the Eastern Province, there are drying winds and salty soil Some 360 types of plants can be found, including weeds Livestock graze on the arfaj bush, the rimth salt bush, and tkumam, a kind of grass James Mandaville (1968) provides the Latin and Arabic... the Gulf coastline In addition, during the war, some 700 oil wells in Kuwait burned or exploded, releasing pollution into the air and oil into the Kuwaiti desert The particles from this pollution moved as far south as Riyadh, coating items left outdoors and soaking into the desert areas of northern Arabia HISTORIC AND MODERN DIVISIONS Locations in ancient Arabia had different names in the past One... Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, with each country governing its half 1 2 | Chapter 1 Geography The Saudi Arabian Flag (Dreamstime.com) THE FLAG OF SAUDI ARABIA The flag of Saudi Arabia has its origins in the reform movement of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab and the warriors of the al-Sa‘ud The flag above was adopted as the standardized form in 1973 The color green has always symbolized Islam The flag of Saudi Arabia. .. Analysis Saudi Arabia. ” 2010 http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs /Saudi_ Arabia/ Oil.html Vincett, Betty A Lipscombe Wild Flowers of Central Arabia N.p.: Author, 1977 Distributed by E.W Classey Ltd., Faringdon, Oxon, UK Vincett, Betty A Lipscombe Animal Life in Saudi Arabia Cernusco, Italy: Garzanti Editore, 1982 CHAPTER 2 History TIMELINE 3200–1600 BCE—Dilmun civilization in modern-day Bahrain and nearby... copyediting team I could never have undertaken this book without the generosity of many individuals, scholars, and officials who live in Saudi Arabia or are connected to the Saudi Arabian diplomatic corps Among them I want to thank the perennially supportive Hassan al-Hussaini, my former classmate and fellow Bruin Abdullah al-Askar, the faculty and members of the Diplomatic Institute in the Saudi Arabian . permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging -in- Publication Data Zuhur, Sherifa. Saudi Arabia / Sherifa Zuhur. p. cm. — (Middle East in focus) Includes bibliographical. Saudi Arabian cuisine and food traditions; and leisure activities, including popular sports in the kingdom. Another subsection is on popular cultural traditions not treated earlier, including. term. Saudi Arabia s major holidays are described, and a section on organizations in Saudi Arabia includes some bilateral organizations, business portals, important organizations of the Saudi Arabian