Natural hazards:
frequent sand and dust storms
Environment - current issues: desertification; depletion of underground water resources; the lack of perennial rivers or permanent water bodies has prompted the development of extensive seawater desalination facilities; coastal pollution from oil spills
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
extensive coastlines on Persian Gulf and Red Sea provide great
leverage on shipping (especially crude oil) through Persian Gulf and
Suez Canal
People Saudi Arabia
Population: 24,293,844 note: includes 5,576,076 non-nationals (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.3% (male 5,245,413; female 5,028,595)
15-64 years: 54.8% (male 7,700,121; female 5,622,099)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 393,173; female 304,443) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 18.8 years
male: 20.9 years
female: 16.8 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
3.27% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
37.2 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)