in the five historical Regions: Najd, Al-Hijaz, Asir, Tihama and Al-Ahsa; the regions which Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was
founded on or what was formerly referred to as the dominion of Hejaz and Nejd within the Arabian Peninsula . Saudis speak one among the
accents and dialects of the Peninsular Arabic, including the Hejazi, Najdi, Gulf and Southern Arabic dialects, as a mother
tongue. consistent with the 2010 A.D.census, Saudi nationals represented approximately 19,335,377 making up 74.1% of the entire
population. Saudi Arabia may be a state governed by absolute monarchy, with the king as its head of state.
The word Saudis ask the name of the ruling family within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today as an inclusive name for the
people of the five regions: .
Census
The ethnic Saudi population as of the 2010 ِA.D. census was 19,335,377 making up 74.1% of the entire population. The remaining
population has 6,755,178 non-nationals representing 25.9%.
Saudis by region:
Al-Riyadh - 4,506,321 representing 69.3% being Saudi
Makkah Al-Mokarramah - 4,279,013
Al-Madina Al-Monawarah - 1,295,918
Al-Qassim - 957,419
Eastern Region - 2,971,646
Aseer - 1,626,418
Tabouk - 672,702
Ha'il - 507,601
Northern Borders - 274,250
Jazan - 1,121,527
Najran - 409,506
Al-Baha - 354,586
Al-Jouf - 358,467
Until the 1960s, most of the population was nomadic or seminomadic; thanks to rapid economic and concrete growth, quite 95%
of the population now's settled. 80% of Saudis sleep in three major urban centers—Riyadh, Jeddah, or Dammam. Some cities and
oases have densities of quite 1,000 people per square kilometer .
Saudi Arabia has lagged far behind in increasing its population compared to its neighbors like Iraq and Syria.
Genetics
DNA tests of Y chromosomes from stratified sample of Saudis were analyzed for composition and frequencies of
haplogroups, a plurality belong to Haplogroup J-M267 . Other frequent haplogroups divided between Haplogroup J-M172, A,
B, E1b1a, E1b1b, G, H, L, Q, R1a, R1b, T, UP .
Culture
Many attitudes and traditions are centuries-old, derived from Arab civilization. The Salafi Islamic movement, Which calls to
understanding the Quran and therefore the Hadith as understood by the Prophet Muhammad and his companions, like Forbidding the
establishment of a shrine on the graves of the righteous. Following the principle of "enjoining good and forbidding wrong", there
are many limitations on behaviour and dress are strictly enforced both legally and socially, often more so than in other Muslim
countries. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited, for instance , and there's no theatre or public exhibition of films. Things are
slowly changing now, as a few of theatres opened in 2018.
Daily life is dominated by Islamic observance and ruling. no matter whether the inhabitants of that city are non Muslim, this
is still observed. Although they're not required to fulfil religious rituals or obligations, clothing must meet a particular standard.
Five times every day , Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of mosques scattered throughout the country. Because
Friday is that the holiest day for Muslims, the weekend is Friday-Saturday. In accordance with Salafi doctrine, only two religious
holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, were publicly recognized, until 2006 when a non-religious holiday, the 23 September
national holiday was reintroduced.
Social life and customs
Bedouin
A large portion of the first inhabitants of the world that's now Saudi were desert nomads referred to as Bedouin. they continue to be a
significant and really influential minority of the indigenous Saudi population, though many that call themselves "bedou" no
longer engage in "traditional tribal activities of herding sheep and riding camels." consistent with authors Harvey Tripp and Peter
North, Bedouin structure most of the judiciary, religious leaders and National Guard of the country. Bedouin culture is "actively"
preserved by the govt .
Dress
The religion and customs of Saudi Arabia dictate not only conservative dress for men and ladies , but a uniformity of dress
unique to most of the center East. Traditionally, the various regions of Saudi have had different dress, but since the reestablishment of Saudi rule these are reserved for festive occasions, and "altered if not entirely displaced" by the dress of
the homeland of their rulers .
All women are required to wear an abaya an extended cloak that covers all, but the hands, hair, and face publicly . Saudi women also
normally wear a full head covering , like a niqāb. Women's clothes are often decorated with tribal motifs, coins, sequins, metallic
thread, and appliques. Foreign women are required to wear an abaya, but don't got to cover their hair.
In recent years it's common to wear Western dress underneath the abaya.
Saudi men and boys, whatever their job or social station , wear the normal dress called a thobe or thawb, which has been called
the "Arabic dress". During warm and weather , Saudi men and boys wear white thobes. During the cool weather, wool thobes
in dark colors aren't uncommon. At special times, men often wear a bisht or ' over the thobe. These are long white, brown or
black cloaks trimmed in gold. A man's headdress consists of three things: the ', alittle white cap that keeps the gutra from
slipping off the head; the gutra itself, which may be a large square of cloth; and therefore the igal, a doubled black cord that holds the gutra in
place. Not wearing an igal is taken into account a symbol of piety. The gutra is typically made from cotton and traditionally is either all white or
a red and white checked. The gutra is worn folded into a triangle and centred on the top .
Ghutrah may be a traditional keffiyeh headdress worn by men within the Arabian Peninsula . it's made from a square of usually finer cotton
cloth, folded and wrapped in various styles round the head. it's commonly worn in areas with an arid climate, to supply
protection from direct sun exposure, and also protection of the mouth and eyes from blown dust and sand.
Agal is an item of Arab headgear constructed of cord which is fastened round the keffiyeh to carry it in situ . The agal is
usually black in colour.
Thawb is that the standard Arabic word for garment. it's ankle length, woven from wool or cotton, usually with long sleeves similar
to a robe.
Bisht may be a traditional long, white, brown or black Arabic cloak trimmed in gold worn by men. it's usually only worn for prestige
on special occasions like weddings, or in chilly weather.
Abaya may be a women's hijab worn by women when leaving the house. it's a black cloak that covers the whole body apart from the
head, although some abayas also cover the highest of the top .
More recently, Western dress, particularly T-shirts and jeans became quite common clothing , particularly in Jeddah and
the Eastern Province.
Traditional footwear has been leather sandals but most footwear is now imported. Any overseas national attempting to accumulate
Saudi nationality must convert to Islam. Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its implementation of shariah and its poor
human rights record.
Islam
The official sort of Islam is Sunni of the Hanbali school, in its Salafi version. consistent with official statistics, 85-90% of Saudi
citizens are Sunni Muslims, 10-15% are Shia. who are predominantly but not entirely Muslim.) it's unknown what percentage
Ahmadi there are within the country. the 2 holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, are in Saudi Arabia . for several reasons, nonMuslims aren't permitted to enter the holy cities although some Western non-Muslims are ready to enter, disguised as
Muslims.
Non-Muslims
The large number of foreign workers living in Saudi Arabia includes non-Muslims. Irreligious population also exists in Saudi
Arabia. Although there's no official published statistics by the Saudi government, consistent with a Gallup poll, 5% of Saudi
Arabians are irreligious. they'll not enter Mecca either.
Policy of exclusion
According to scholar Bernard Lewis, the Saudi policy of excluding non-Muslims from permanent residence within the
country may be a continuation of an old and widely accepted Muslim policy.
The classical Arabic historians tell us that within the year 20 after the hijra, like 641 of the Christian calendar, the
Caliph Umar decreed that Jews and Christians should be faraway from Arabia to satisfy an injunction the Prophet uttered on his
deathbed: "Let there not be two religions in Arabia." The people in question were the Jews of the oasis of Khaybar within the north
and the Christians of Najran within the south.
was generally accepted as authentic, and Umar put it into effect. ... Compared with European expulsions, Umar's decree was
both limited and compassionate. It didn't include southern and southeastern Arabia, which weren't seen as a part of Islam's holy
land. ... the Jews and Christians of Arabia were resettled on lands assigned to them -- the Jews in Syria, the Christians in Iraq.
The process was also gradual instead of sudden, and there are reports of Jews and Christians remaining in Khaybar and Najran
for some time after Umar's edict.
But the decree was final and irreversible, and from then so far the Palestine of the Hijaz has been forbidden territory for nonMuslims. consistent with the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence, accepted by both the Saudis and therefore the declaration's
signatories, for a non-Muslim even to line foot on the sacred soil may be a major offense. within the remainder of the dominion , non-Muslims,
while admitted as temporary visitors, weren't permitted to determine residence or practice their religion.
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