Top 7 Interesting Facts About Saudi Arabia

Most of you are probably aware that Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest oil producers in the world and until 2018, women in that country are forbidden to drive on the road.

In reality, there are many more interesting facts about the biggest country in the Middle East that some of you might not know. Here are some facts that might blow your mind.

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1. Biggest Country Without A River

Saudi Arabia comprises almost 80% percent of the Arabian Peninsula where the area of the land is roughly 2.15 million square km. This country has several geographical landscapes such as the desert, mountain range, highlands, grasses, and even a volcanic field.

But one thing that cannot be found in this country is a river stream. It is considered quite odd as Saudi Arabia is such a big country with no river flowing on its land. Instead, the country is abundant in valleys that used to be the base of a river that has dried up permanently or temporarily.

2. Biggest Desalination Plant In The World

Now you know that Saudi Arabia does not have any rivers on its land, so you must be wondering how such a country obtains fresh water to consume. The main source of water for Saudi Arabia is seawater.

Considering that humans cannot consume fresh seawater due to the high level of salt, the water must first undergo a process called desalination whereby impurities, salt, and other minerals are removed from the water.

Saudi Arabia has more than 33 desalination plants and one of them is the biggest in the world in terms of output. The Jubail desalination plant produces more than 1.4 million cubic meters of water each day.

3. Second Biggest Oil Reserve In The World

Saudi Arabia possesses as much as 266.57 billion tonnes of oil barrels making it the second country with the biggest oil reserves in the world comprising around 16.2% of the world's oil reserves.

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This means the country has an oil reserve equivalent to 221.2 times the country's annual usage. Even if Saudi Arabia did not export their oil to other countries out there, the fuel will be sufficient enough to sustain itself for 221 years.

In contrast, water is very limited in that country. One liter of water is much more expensive than one liter of diesel.

4. Royal Family's Net Worth Is Estimated At More Than $1.4 Trillion

Do you also know that the Saudi royal family that ruled Saudi Arabia and also known as the House of Saud holds the Guinness World Record for the biggest royal family in the world?

In 2002, this big family has around 4,000 princes and more than 30,000 royalty. The clean net worth of the royal family is estimated to be a whopping $1.4 trillion despite some claiming it to be much more.

To put into perspective, the British royal family is worth an estimated $87 billion. This means that the House of Saud is 16 times wealthier than the British family.

5. Segregated Wedding Event According To Gender

The people of Saudi Arabia are well known for having very grand and expensive wedding events as a part of their culture. But, it is not the same typical wedding that people would have expected in other countries worldwide.

Commonly, the wedding will be held in separation based on gender. The male guest will walk into a hall and interact with other male guests while for the women, it will be the usual case.

There are some Saudi Arabian partners that choose to have a wedding outside their country so that both the men's and women's guests can be in the same hall room.

6. World's Longest Straight Road

Highway 10 in Saudi Arabia holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest straight road in the world. The highway itself is around 150 miles long or 240km from Haradh to Al-Batha.

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Originally, the road was built as a private way for King Fash whereby the road is built in the middle of the desert that does not have any obstacles to make a diversion. It also does not have any obvious cliff that will hinder the path of the roadway.

The people that use the highway will be driving on the road for more than 2 hours.

7. Many Prohibition For Women Before 2018

The women in Saudi Arabia did not have as much freedom compared to other women around the world as they were not allowed to drive a car. When the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman ruled over, women were then allowed to drive their own cars in 2018.

There are many more prohibitions imposed on women in Saudi Arabia some of which they did not allow to live by themselves or go traveling overseas without being accompanied by their close male relatives or family.

On top of that, women were also not allowed to go into a stadium as spectators let alone to become a competitor. The crown prince Mohammed definitely put a big change to women's rights in that country by using a different approach than other rulers of that country.

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