Saudi Arabia (Modern World Nations) PDF
Preview Saudi Arabia (Modern World Nations)
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Saudi Arabia, Second Edition Copyright © 2007 by Infobase Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Harper, Robert Alexander. Saudi Arabia / Robert A. Harper with additional text by Aswin Subanthore. — 2nd ed. p. centimeters — (Modern world nations) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7910-9516-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7910-9516-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Saudi Arabia—Juvenile literature. I. Subanthore, Aswin. II. Title. III. Series. DS204.25.H37 2007 953.8—dc22 2007014922 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com Series design by Takeshi Takahashi Cover design by Joo Young An Printed in the United States of America Bang NMSG 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper. All links and Web addresses were checked and verified to be correct at the time of publication. Because of the dynamic nature of the Web, some addresses and links may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. Table of Contents 1 Introducing Saudi Arabia 8 2 Physical Landscapes 20 3 Life in the Desert 35 4 People and Culture 46 5 Government and Politics 59 6 Saudi Arabia’s Economy 68 7 Regions of Saudi Arabia 89 8 Saudi Arabia Looks Ahead 99 Facts at a Glance 105 History at a Glance 108 Glossary 110 Bibliography 112 Further Reading 113 Index 115 Saudi Arabia Second Edition 1 Introducing Saudi Arabia S uppose you are a camel herder in the desert. You and your rela- tives live in a tent camp. You have no electricity, no plumbing, and you cook over an open fire. You have never seen a train or an automobile. You live mostly on camel’s milk and dates. You can- not read or write. Because you are deeply religious, your children are taught how to live strictly according to God’s law—a law that does not accept change easily. Your life centers on finding water and food for your camels. In your search you move camp every few weeks. You have no radio, no television, and no telephone. Your only contact with the outside world comes when you visit town to sell your camels and buy some supplies, or when you meet other tribes at a well. WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR TRIBE STRIKES IT RICH Suddenly, outsiders who have different customs and clothes and speak a different language arrive at your camp. They offer you more Introducing Saudi Arabia money than you have ever seen to let them drill for oil in your part of the desert. The deal includes a payment for every barrel of oil they produce. You agree. The strangers arrive with machines you have never heard of: trucks and drilling equipment, even an air- plane. They do not want to live in your tent communities, and you do not want them to, either. They build their own commu- nities with their own types of houses and buildings, streets and cars, and their own food and lifestyle. Not only do the outsiders find oil, but they discover that the largest supply of oil in the world lies under your land. At the same time, the demand for oil in the world explodes. Oil pow- ers planes, ships, and cars; it helps pave roads; it is made into chemicals, plastics, and fertilizers; and it powers electric plants. More people throughout the world begin to use oil products. Oil production from your land increases each year. More for- eign workers, with their different ways, arrive. Some of their ways you like, but some you do not. Huge amounts of money roll in, not just to your country, but to you and your tribe. What are you, who never even had a bank account, going to do with this fortune? You have money to buy anything your family wants; your nation can build cities, electric plants, water and sewage sys- tems, roads, and airports. You can send all the children of your country to school for free; you can provide health care to every- one. What is not clear is how it should be done. How can it be done if you still wish to keep the religious, tribal, and family values you treasure? OIL MONEY: THE DILEMMA OF THE HOUSE OF SAUD This story is not the plot of a Hollywood movie. It is a prob- lem that has faced the family that rules the country of Saudi Arabia since World War II (1939–1945). The money has brought not only great benefits, but also terrible problems and responsibilities. Massive changes have been made. There have been mistakes and there has been waste. The family was totally
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