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1) What role has oil played in Saudi Arabia's economy? 

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1) What role has oil played in Saudi Arabia's economy? 

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2) Looking at the 2nd pie chart- Why do you think Saudi Arabia spends the most money on it's defense?

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Why is the United States dependent on the Middle East for oil? 

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Why is the United States dependent on the Middle East for oil? 

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Support your answers with facts.
Think about how we use oil in our everyday lives.

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Thinking of Saudi Arabia, how are oil and water connected when considering this nation? 

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Thinking of Saudi Arabia, how are oil and water connected when considering this nation? 

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Saudi Arabia occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba to the west, the Persian Gulf to the east, and Yemen to the south.
The total length of its land boundaries is 4,431 kilometres: Jordan 744, Iraq 814, Kuwait 222, Qatar 60, the United Arab Emirates 457, Oman 676, and Yemen 1,458. The island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf is connected to the Saudi mainland by a causeway.
Over the past decades, Saudi Arabia has signed treaties with most of its neighbouring countries, but some disputes over the country's borders continue - for instance, with the United Arab Emirates over the bordering Shayba oilfield and with Iran over al-Arabiya Island in the Persian Gulf.

Recently the Saudi government claimed two islands, Tiran and Sanafir, from the Egyptian government. The two islands are located in the Red Sea, across from the Jordanian port of Aqaba. The administration of the islands had been handed over to Egypt by the Saudi King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for defence purposes, but Israel took possession of the islands during the 1967 June War. In 1982, Israeli forces withdrew from the islands, and they were left under the administration of Egypt and the Multinational Force of Observers (MFO).

Saudi Arabia contains the world's largest continuous sand desert, al-Rub al-Khali (the Empty Quarter). Saudi Arabia has four other major regions. The largest is the Najd, a central plateau, which rises from about 600 metres in the east to about 1,500 metres in the west. The capital, Riyadh, is located in the Najd. The Hijaz stretches along the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aqaba south to Asir and is the location of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Asir, extending south to the Yemen border, includes a fertile coastal plain. Inland mountains in the Asir region rise to more than 2,700 metres. The Eastern Province extends along the Persian Gulf and is the primary oil-producing region of the country. The oasis region of al-Ahsa occupies much of the Eastern Province.

Saudi Arabia's climate is generally hot and dry, although nights are cool, and frosts occur in winter. The humidity along the coasts is high. The inland areas of Najd, al-Qassim Province, and the deserts share a uniform climate. The temperature during the summer is high, reaching well over 45 °C, with generally cold nights. Extreme temperatures well below 0 °C are frequent in winter. The daily maximum temperature is mild during the short spring and autumn seasons, averaging about 29 °C.

The coastlines of Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea and Persian Gulf maintain a relatively constant maximum temperature (about 38 °C) throughout the year. Sandstorms driven by northwesterly winds persist for about three months each year, usually during late spring and early summer, on the eastern coast.

The southern region of Asir and the lower Hijaz regions are elevated, reaching up to 3,000 metres above sea level. The climate is cooler, with temperatures rarely rising above 35 °C. During the Indian Ocean monsoon season, in the autumn and spring, there is excessive rainfall. This region receives an average of 300 millimetres of rain during this season, or approximately 60 percent of total annual precipitation.

In the other Saudi Arabian regions, rainfall is sparse and infrequent. The annual average precipitation rarely exceeds 100 millimetres, which is insufficient to maintain crops or livestock. Between 1901 and 2009, the monthly rainfall ranged between a low 1.2 millimetres in September to a high of 16.2 millimetres in April.

Throughout the ages, the harsh climate largely prevented settlement on the Arabian Peninsula, except in a few major cities and oases. The average monthly temperatures observed in Saudi Arabia over the last century ranged between a low of 15.5 °C from December to February to 30 °C from May to September.

Saudi Arabia covers a vast area, 8 percent of the Asian continent it has a unique biodiversity and natural environment. Its land area of about 1,969,000 square kilometres makes it the tenth largest country in the world. There are 2,250 species of flowering plants, of which 246 are endemic to the region. The location of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula between Eurasia and Africa allowed species unique to the two continents to intermingle. Many of these plants are used in homeopathy.

Saudi Arabia is also home to 76 of the 98 mammals known to live in the Arabian Peninsula, 444 bird species, nine freshwater fish species, 103 reptiles, and seven amphibians. Expansion of urbanization, pollution, modern agricultural activities, and overhunting for recreational purposes are threats facing the natural habitat system. The tidal flats on the Persian Gulf, an important winter migration area, is home to 1-2 million wading birds of 125 species.

There are fifteen protected areas representing 4 percent of the country's total land; they are maintained by the Saudi Wildlife Authority (SWA). The areas were established between 1987 and 2002 to protect regions of special ecological significance.

Woodlands and forests are scattered across various regions in Saudi Arabia. Juniper woodlands extend as a narrow belt 7,000 kilometres long in the south-western region, at an altitude of about 2,000-3,000 metres. Olive woodlands grow at 1,500-2,000 metres. Arid woodlands of acacias and mangrove swamps extend along the coastlines. Uncontrolled cutting of live branches for feeding livestock, urban expansion, and chemical and pesticide pollution have endangered the forests of Saudi Arabia.

Its harsh climate makes water resources extremely valuable in Saudi Arabia. There are four main water resources in Saudi Arabia:

* surface water, mainly in the western and south-western regions, provides 10 percent of water supply;
* ground water held in aquifers (underground reservoirs) - some of which are naturally replenished and the majority are non-renewable - provides 84 percent;
* desalinated water, produced by 27 electric desalination plants, built from 1985 onwards, provides 5 percent. Desalination plants produce 814 million cubic metres of desalinated water and 70 percent of the required drinking water;
* reclaimed wastewater provides 1 percent of the water supply.

Saudi Arabia has the largest natural-resource deposits in the Middle East, of which oil and gas are the most important. Oil was discovered in 1938. According to the latest estimates, Saudi Arabia's recoverable oil stands at 267 billion barrels, or one fifth of the world's reserves. The oil-extraction rate ranges between 9 and 10 million barrels a day, of which about 7.5 million barrels a day are exported. This makes Saudi Arabia the world's largest oil exporter. The oil fields are concentrated in the eastern part of the country.

Other resources

The so-called Arabian-Nubian Shield - an exposure of Precambrian crystalline rocks on the flanks of the Red Sea, in the western part of the country - is a major source of several minerals, including gold, silver, copper, zinc, chromium, manganese, tungsten, lead, tin, aluminium, and iron. Sedimentary formations in the east yield such industrial minerals as gypsum, feldspar, mica, sulphur, and salt.

More than 540 licenses to explore for minerals and fifteen concession licenses for gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, and iron have been granted. Gold has been discovered at some 600 sites around Saudi Arabia, and a total of 29 prospects have been explored by drilling. All known gold deposits are located in the rocks of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. The Mahd al-Dhahab gold mine has been reopened with the intention of developing a high-grade underground gold mine, with a capacity of at least 400 tonnes of ore per day. The Ministry of Petroleum has identified another 53 sites for gold mining. Reserves of silver are located mostly in the north-eastern and western region. The most important location is al-Nuqra, near Medina, with estimated reserves of 866,000 tonnes of silver.

Copper and zinc are found in the central region and on the west coast, north of Jeddah. Reserves in the al-Masane region, near Riyadh, are estimated at seven million tonnes; there is an additional four million tonnes of copper ore west of Riyadh. Iron is found in Wadi Sawawin, west of Tabuk, in the north. The iron reserve is estimated at 84 million tonnes. More iron reserves, estimated at 50 million tonnes, are found near Riyadh and in Wadi Fatima, east of Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia also has deposits of rare metals such as tantalum and niobium (25 percent of the world reserves). Other rare metals are found in granitic rocks near Tabuk.

According to World Bank data, arable land covered 3,200,000 hectares in 2009. These include lands under temporary crops, meadows for pasture, land in market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Arable land amounted to 1.48 percent of the total land area in 2009. The proportion of total land used for agriculture was constant at just under 81 percent in 2009. Cereals production in 2010 was reported as 1,784,000 metric tonnes, with a yield of 5,620 kilogrammes per hectare. There were 37,400 hectares of land used for cereals production in 2010. In 2005, forests covered 9,770 square kilometres.

All economies face the challenge of hidden costs - costs that are not contained in transaction prices and that are being imposed on others in the society and on the natural environment - as well as the challenge of economically sustainable development. Environmental issues go beyond national borders, and Saudi Arabia's sizable carbon emissions and role as one of the world's principal suppliers of hydrocarbon fuels brings the country into the global debate on these issues as well.

Saudi Arabia's main environmental struggles are with desertification, depletion of underground water resources, and the lack of perennial rivers and other permanent water bodies, which has prompted the development of extensive seawater-desalination facilities. According to some statistics, Saudi Arabia has the third-highest per capita fresh-water consumption in the world, despite being one of the world's driest countries. Air pollution and waste management are also important issues. Manmade threats come mainly from oil spills, which cause coastal pollution. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels and the production of cement are a main threat. CO2 emissions were estimated at 16.6 metric tonnes per capita in 2008. Natural threats come mainly from frequent sand and dust storms.

Environmental protection and conservation in Saudi Arabia are based on a commitment to implement Article 32 of the Basic Law of Governance, which states that 'The state works for the preservation, protection, and improvement of the environment, and for the prevention of pollution.' In past years, several regulations were enacted to try to meet this commitment. Such regulations and measures include issuance of the General Environmental Law in 2001 and the creation of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment, as well as endorsement of the Kyoto Protocol in 2005, accession to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in 2001, accession to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in 1997, accession to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in 2007, and approval of the National Health and Environment Strategy in 2008.

The Saudi Ninth Development Plan (for 2010-2014) has made the integration of environmental sustainability and protection one of its main goals. Water used in Saudi Arabia for agricultural, municipal, and industrial purposes comes mainly from non-renewable sources; this makes the protection of such sources vital. Measures have been taken to ensure rationalization of water consumption and reliance on conventional renewable resources.

Desertification and degradation of limited agricultural and forestry land constitute a major challenge for development. Goal Seven in the plan intends to ensure environmental sustainability by setting several targets. Target 12 aims to integrate the principles of sustainable development into the country's policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources. Target 13 aims to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of loss of biodiversity. By 2010, maintenance of current land and water resources was stabilized. Target 14 aims at halving the proportion of people by 2015 without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation. By 2010, 96 percent of the population had access to safe drinking water and 100 percent had access to sanitation services through septic tanks and waste-water treatment systems.

The Saudi Wildlife Commission (SWC) has bred endangered species at their research centre and re-introduced them into several protected areas. Protected areas cover more than 82,700 square kilometres or 4.2 percent of country's total land surface. Two of the protected zones, Harrat al-Harra in the Jawf region and al-Khunfa in the Tabuk region, have been demarcated. More protected areas have been introduced in Upper Jabal Shada, in the Baha region. The Ministry of Agriculture has extended protection to more than 40 sites in various regions to protect plants from overgrazing. There are three stations dedicated to producing grazing-plant seeds, and 27 nurseries for trees and grazing plants.

Environmental awareness is not deeply anchored in the public and bureaucratic consciousness, however, and the formal obligation of environmental-impact assessments for new projects is sometimes treated in a cavalier manner. Powerful follow-up mechanisms are lacking. All major cities suffer from sewage problems, industrial spills are not uncommon, and the average Saudi household produces large amounts of garbage, as large-scale recycling has not been implemented. The massive hydrocarbons sector presents particular challenges: the potential for an environmental disaster from a ruptured pipeline or tanker accident is high.

In 2010 about 82 percent of the total population lived in cities. The capital, Riyadh, currently has 5.2 million inhabitants, followed by Jeddah (3.2 million), Mecca (2 million), Medina (1.3 million), and Dammam (750,000). Of Saudi Arabia's thirteen provinces, Makka (Mintaqat Makka al-Mukarrama or Province of the Holy City of Mecca) in the west has the largest population (6.9 million), followed by Riyadh (6.8 million), the Eastern Province (al-Mintaqa al-Sharqiya or al-Sharqiya; 4.1 million), Asir in the south (1.9 million), al-Madina(Mintaqat al-Madina al-Munawwara or Province of the City of Light, or Province of Medina) in the west (1.8 million), Jazan in the south (1.4 million), al-Qassim in the centre (1.2 million), Tabuk in the north (790,000), Hail in the north (597,000), Najran in the south (505,000), al-Jawf in the north (440,000), al-Baha in the south (412,000), and the Northern Borders Province (Mintaqat al-Hudud al-Shamaliya; 322,000).

The rural geography of Saudi Arabia is varied but largely barren and harsh, with salt flats, gravel plains, and sand dunes and few lakes or permanent streams. In the south, al-Rub al-Khali (the Empty Quarter) is an almost continuous body of sand; it is little explored and rarely crossed. In the south-west, the mountain ranges of Asir province rise to over 2,700 metres. East of the mountains lies the Najd, a high central plateau with a relatively level surface. In some areas, long cliff-like hills rise abruptly from the Najd. In many areas the terrain is deeply eroded and rugged. Some sections are covered by extensive lava flows.

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Saudi Arabia occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba to the west, the Persian Gulf to the east, and Yemen to the south. The total length of its land boundaries is 4,431 kilometres: Jordan 744, Iraq 814, Kuwait 222, Qatar 60, the United Arab Emirates 457, Oman 676, and Yemen 1,458.

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Knowing what you know now about Saudi Arabia, why do you think people call oil "black gold"? 

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Knowing what you know now about Saudi Arabia, why do you think people call oil "black gold"? 

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THINK- How do natural resources contribute to the politics and economy of the Middle East?

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THINK- How do natural resources contribute to the politics and economy of the Middle East?

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DOD, Defense Visual Information Center, March Air Force Base, CA

The Middle East has always had a rich abundance of natural resources, although which resources are coveted and valued has changed over time. Today, abundant petroleum fields dominate the area's economy. The Middle East is similarly disproportionately rich in natural gas (32 percent of the world's known natural gas reserves are in the region) and phosphate (Morocco alone has more than half of the world's reserves).

Water has always been an important resource in the Middle East -- for its relative scarcity rather than its abundance. Disputes over rights to water (for example, building a dam in one country upstream from another) are a fundamental part of the political relationships in the region. Water for irrigation is necessary for many of the ecosystems to sustain crops.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, major European nations competed to establish and maintain colonies around the world. Superior military power and economic leverage allowed them to create new markets for their manufactured goods, and to exploit the natural resources of the African, American, and Asian continents.

Since the early part of the 19th century, Europeans vied to control the Middle East. The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 divided the Ottoman lands between the British and the French, giving those nations control over any natural resources, most importantly oil.

Modern armies were thirsty for oil. The British navy was the first to switch from coal to oil in 1912, and other new technologies, like automobiles and airplanes, quickly and drastically increased the demand for fuel.

The United States was becoming an important player in world affairs during the early 20th century, and soon Americans found they, too, had a vested interest in developing and controlling oil reserves in the Middle East to supply their growing needs.

More than 1,000 years ago, Zoroastrians in Iran revered the perpetual flames that burned where natural gas vented from the earth. In the early 20th century, British prospectors discovered oil in Iran and in 1908 began the first large-scale drilling projects there. The government of Iran sold the exclusive right to explore and drill for oil in Iran -- a " concession" -- to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC). The British government bought a controlling stake in AIOC, and by the start of World War I, Iranian oil was Britain's most important strategic resource.

In time, Iranians grew to resent the AIOC. The terms of the concession were so unbalanced that British investors were rewarded handsomely while the government of Iran made very little profit. Foreign businessmen and engineers in Iran led extravagantly wealthy lifestyles that contrasted sharply with the poverty of the local population.

Frustration with foreign exploitation led to nationalization. The Iranian government of Mohammed Mossadeq nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1953, but in a coup engineered by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), this nationalist government was overthrown, and a government friendly to Western interests was installed under the control of the Shah of Iran.

The continued economic and cultural influence of the West and the repressive nature of the Shah's regime led to the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The Shah was overthrown and exiled, and the new Islamic Republic of Iran was established, led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

After World War II, Britain and France gave up control over much of the Middle East, as they could no longer afford to continue their imperialist strategies, either politically or economically. But a new world power, the United States, increased its presence in the region as American demands for oil were rapidly growing and outstripping domestic supply.

Standard Oil of California first discovered oil in Saudi Arabia in 1936. The huge deposits there and in the neighboring Persian Gulf countries -- the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain -- established these countries as some of the richest in the world.

Continuing American military power and domestic lifestyles depend on available access to Middle Eastern oil and reasonably low world petroleum prices. Thus, U.S. foreign policy initiatives work to support the stability of pro-U.S. governments, prevent anti-U.S. powers or blocs from forming, and reduce tension and potential armed conflict in the region.

Relations between the Saudi and U.S. governments have traditionally remained strong. Some Americans have questioned that relationship since the events of September 11, 2001, when Osama bin Laden and several other Saudis were involved in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. At the same time, many Saudis mistrust their government's close relationship with the U.S. and resent other American policies in the region, such as U.S. support for Israel and the U.S.-led bombing of Iraq. The presence of armed U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia -- the birthplace of Islam -- is particularly galling to many Muslims.

Because the Middle East has the world's largest deposits of oil (55 percent of the world's reserves) in an easily extracted form, Middle Eastern oil continues to be necessary to the United States. American dependence on foreign oil has grown steadily over the years; currently about 55 percent of the oil consumed in the U.S. is imported. This reliance on foreign oil leaves the country vulnerable to unilateral political and economic acts by oil producing countries. For example, although the U.S. advocated economic sanctions against Iraq after the Gulf War, 9 percent of the oil used by Americans after the war still came from Iraq, shipped through other countries.

Oil money has created both opportunities and problems for the region.

Middle Eastern nations have learned to manipulate their production of oil as an international strategy. After the unsuccessful Yom Kippur War with Israel in 1973, an OPEC oil embargo by Arab nations demonstrated a new way to influence European and American policy. Oil prices quadrupled from $3 a barrel in 1972 to $12 a barrel in 1974. In the U.S., the era of cheap gas came to an end, stimulating research on increasing energy efficiency, conservation, and alternative fuels as well as exploration for alternative sources of oil.

Uneven distribution of petroleum deposits has created a disparity of wealth and power in the Middle East. Gulf countries with relatively small populations have the most oil. When workers from countries with large, poor populations, such as Egypt, come to the Gulf region to work, they are often treated as second-class citizens. Meanwhile, wealthy Saudis and Kuwaitis may vacation in Egypt, openly drinking alcohol and displaying other behaviors that would not be permitted in their home countries. Even within oil-rich nations themselves, there is a large gap between rich and poor.

Oil will continue to be an important regional and global issue. In fact, some question whether one reason the U.S. seeks to maintain influence in Afghanistan after the overthrow of the Taliban is American interest in Central Asian oil and a possible pipeline through Afghanistan. Some estimates show that by 2050, landlocked Central Asia will provide more than 80 percent of the oil distributed to the U.S. As a result, the control of pipelines through Afghanistan or Turkey to distribution centers will be of increasing importance to the United States.

Another resource of vital importance to the region is water. Egypt, Iran, and Turkey are the only countries in the region with abundant fresh water resources. Roughly two-thirds of the Arab world depend on sources outside their borders for their water supply.

The scarcity of water is a major cause of tension between states in the region. Former U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has said that the next war in the Middle East will be fought over water.

The Jordan River provides 75 percent of Jordan's water and 60 percent of Israel's. In the early 1960s, Arab nations worked to divert the headwaters of the Jordan away from Israel and towards Jordan. One of Israel's objectives in the Arab-Israeli Six Day War of 1967, among others, was to control the Golan Heights and prevent this plan from being carried out. Israel is still reluctant to restore control of the Golan Heights to Syria. Though often ignored in Western analyses, water is one of the most contentious issues in the discussion of any peace plan for the Jordan Valley.

The Euphrates River, which originates in Turkey, provides most of the water for eastern Syria and almost all of Iraq. Turkey plans to build almost two dozen hydroelectric power dams for its growing population and industries. These dams, joining the completed Atatürk Dam, would drastically reduce the water available to Syria and Iraq. Syria, in turn, has dammed part of the Euphrates under its control, further choking off the water supply to Iraq. International complaints and protests are often challenged on the grounds that the dams are domestic infrastructure projects.

While most Americans may think of the Middle East as primarily desert, agriculture has been important for millennia, with farmers adapting to environmental conditions in different locations.

The history of cotton in Egypt is a good example of how Europeans have exploited the region's agricultural resources. During the American Civil War, American cotton grew scarce, and Egyptian cotton became increasingly important to England. Agreements signed in 1880 with European powers meant that no tariffs were applied to cotton. This meant that more and more farmable land was used to grow cotton instead of food crops. Most of the profits were taken by Egypt's small ruling elite and the Europeans. This system remained in place until the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, when the era of state-sponsored industrialization and a movement toward self-sufficiency began, reducing the amount of cash crops, like cotton, that were exported.

Middle Eastern cotton and textile products, however, are still an important export of the region. More and more garments in American malls, for example, carry a "Made in Turkey" label. Other important agricultural exports found in supermarkets around the world include citrus, dried dates, figs and apricots, and olive products.

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Related sites

Oil Prices on the Rise:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east /july-dec99/oil_11-23.html
NewsHour discusses Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's decision to cut off his country's oil exports to push up prices around the world.

Afghanistan's Agony:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/jan- june01/afghanistan_3-29.html
NewsHour reports on the devastating drought and political turmoil in Afghanistan. (March 2001)

Oil Price History and Analysis:
http://www.wtrg.com/prices.htm
A discussion of crude oil prices, the relationship between prices and rig count, and the outlook for the future of the petroleum industry.

Is America Stuck in the Middle East?:
http://www.pbs.org/thinktank/show_978.html
Is Middle East oil still crucial to American security?

Global Issues - Middle East:
http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/MiddleEast.asp
Modern Middle Eastern geopolitics have always been about oil. Given the vast energy resources that form the backbone of Western economies, the Middle East has been of paramount importance.

Energy Matters - The Mideast Oil Crisis:
http://library.thinkquest.org/20331/history/mideast.html
A brief history of the Mideast oil crisis in the 1970s and reasons for the embargo

Water Diplomacy in the Middle East:
http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~jpap/dolat.htm
This site explains how access to water is a key environmental factor in the politics of the Middle East.

People, Land and Water:
http://www.idrc.ca/research/xplaw_e.html
Articles and research dedicated to land and water issues in the Middle East and Africa

Water in the Middle East:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/mideast /cuvlm/water.html
A list of links from Columbia University's Middle East and Jewish Studies Department related to water issues in the Middle East

Commanding Heights Web Site:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/
An economist's look at world history and development from 1910 to the present

Middle East: Crossroads of Faith and Conflict (map):

Supplement to National Geographic, October 2002

Economics: It's More Than Oil

What have been the role and effects of U.S. foreign policies and actions in the Middle East?

Middle East Topographic and Natural Resources

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Global Connections . Natural Resources | PBS

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DOD, Defense Visual Information Center, March Air Force Base, CA The Middle East has always had a rich abundance of natural resources, although which resources are coveted and valued has changed over time. Today, abundant petroleum fields dominate the area's economy.

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What is the Strait of Hormuz? Why is it important to Saudi Arabia? 

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What is the Strait of Hormuz? Why is it important to Saudi Arabia? 

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Read National Geographic's latest stories about the environment.

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Read CNN's Fast Facts about Saudi Arabia and learn more about the oil-rich, Middle Eastern kingdom, home to Islam's holiest cities, Mecca and Medina.