Saudi Arabia is a peninsula found in South Western Corner of the Asian Continent with its capital city in Riyadh. The country has the largest desert in the world known as Rub’al-Khali among other outstanding things about Saudi Arabia. The form of currency is known as Saudi Riyal, and they rule under the kingdom form of government. Saudi Arabia is rich in traditional values, culture, religion, cuisines and the hospitality of the citizens who are of Islamic Religion. The culture and traditions of Saudi Arabia appear unique as they ensure it is passed on from one generation to the next. The Islamic culture is what defines the behaviors and activities of the Saudi Arabian people; as it is based on moral backgrounds and traditions.
The Saudi Arabian people tend to maintain their traditions and cultures throughout their generations by celebrating all traditional events. One of the most common tradition festivals is the Al janadriya that is celebrated annually. The festival is celebrated at the Al janadriya town that is on the outskirts of Riyadh (Janin, 47). The Heritage Festival begins with a camel race with the intention of entertainment. The festival attracts many foreign visitors with each year being assigned specific countries allowed to have their cultural pavilion during the festival. It includes site seeing, learning the history of Saudi Arabia, seeing Arabian horses, falcons, watch sword dancing and many other traditional features.
The Saudi Arabia people have maintained their cuisines that are similar to most Arabic foods as part of keeping their culture alive. One of the common things to find in their diet are dates that can be eaten as they are or sometimes mixed with flour to eat as a snack. The dates when eaten as a snack it is known as Dip for Dates or Haysa Al-Tumreya (Janin, 77). Dates have been eaten by the Saudi Arabian People for many years; from when they were nomadic pastoralists to the modern day in fast food restaurants.
Saudi Arabia holds the political issues under the monarchy type of government that is led by the King; who also heads the state. The decisions are made after consulting with the religious leaders and the princes in the Royal family. The Quran is considered as the constitution that indicates how they value religion in every aspect of their lives as they are governed by the Sharia Law. Political participation is prohibited for people outside the royal family (Janin, 101). However, in the past years, there has been a rise in some activists who attempt to change the form of government and political nature. The current monarch is King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, who took over the throne in 2015.
Saudi Arabia’s economy greatly depends on the petroleum export industry because it’s the largest oil exporter in the world. The government revenues are accounted for at 80% by the oil sector. The economic status continues to improve after the joined the World Trade Organization in 2005. The main objective of joining the World Trade Organization was to diversify their economy and promote foreign investment in both petroleum and non-petroleum sectors. They have achieved the foreign investment as many foreigners have based their investments in Saudi Arabia. The nation is considered economically safe due to the Oil and Petroleum industry. However, they are currently facing challenges from the internal Sunni-Shia and ISIS terror groups.
Work Cited
Janin, Hunt, and Margaret Besheer. Saudi Arabia. New York: Benchmark, 2003. Print.
