Also known as KSA, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi
país de Asia Occidental
Saudi Arabia is a large country in the Middle East that covers most of the Arabian Peninsula, making it the fifth-largest country in Asia and home to nearly 32 million people. It is significant globally because it is the only country with coastlines on both the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, and it contains Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
via Open-Meteo
Saudi Arabia is officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlakah al-ʿArabīyah as-Suʿūdīyah). The country takes its name from the House of Saud, the ruling royal family that has dominated the country's political landscape for more than three centuries. One of the world's few remaining absolute monarchs, the King of Saudi Arabia wields enormous political power: they are the head of the House of Saud, the head of the government, the supreme commander-in-chief of the Saudi military and choose their own successor.
thumb|Camels at the [[Riyadh|Janadriyah festival — no longer a viable means of long-distance transport]]
Internal travel permits are a thing of the past, so once you've gotten into Saudi Arabia, most of the country is your oyster. There are, however, some exceptions: The area around Mecca is off limits to non-Muslims; the exclusion zone is well signposted The city center of Medina used to be off-limits to non-Muslims, but the rules were relaxed in 2021; outside of Hajj season, non-Muslims may now enter the city center of Medina up to the perimeter fence around the Prophet's Mosque and take photos from the outside, though entry into the mosque compound is still forbidden. Those on Hajj visas are prohibited from leaving the area around Mecca and Medina (and transit points like Jeddah). Some remote areas, notably around the Iraqi and Yemeni borders, are restricted military zones. You're exceedingly unlikely to stumble into them by accident.
There is an abundance of things to see and explore in Saudi Arabia, from ancient ruins to stunning natural landscapes.
Entertainment in Saudi Arabia is very family-oriented. There are few activities for just couples or singles. Single men are not allowed in family areas: family beaches are partitioned from the bachelor beaches, for example. Women are expected to be accompanied by a male relative in public, although single women may be admitted into family areas.
Like in other Middle Eastern countries, food is traditionally eaten by hand in Saudi Arabia. The most important thing to remember is to use only your right hand (see Home etiquette below).
Unlike other businesses that kick out their customers at prayer time, most restaurants let diners hang around and eat behind closed doors through the prayer period. New customers are generally not allowed to enter until after prayer is over.
Arabia Saudita o Arabia Saudí, cuyo nombre oficial es Reino de Arabia Saudita o Reino de Arabia Saudí (en árabe, المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʿarabīya as-saʿūdīya), es un país de Asia ubicado en la península arábiga —Oriente Próximo—, cuya forma de gobierno es la monarquía absoluta. Limita con Jordania por el noroeste, con Irak por el noreste, con Kuwait, Emiratos Árabes Unidos, Catar y el golfo Pérsico por el este, con el mar Rojo por el oeste, y con Omán y Yemen por el sur, además de estar conectado con Baréin, a través de la calzada del Rey Fahd. El país posee 2 149 690 km² de superficie, y contaba con una población de más de 29 millones de habitantes en 2012. Su preponderancia en la exportación mundial de petróleo la ha convertido en una de las veinte economías más grandes del planeta. Es también denominada como «la tierra de las mezquitas sagradas» en referencia a la Gran Mezquita en La Meca y la Mezquita del Profeta en Medina, los dos lugares más sagrados del islam, a los cuales les está estrictamente prohibido el acceso a los no musulmanes. La Casa de Saud dio lugar al primer Estado saudí, el Emirato de Diriyah, que más tarde se derrumbó en la guerra otomano-wahabi entre 1811 y 1818 y el segundo Estado saudí, el Emirato de Néyed, que duró de 1824 a 1891. La monarquía moderna fue fundada por Abdelaziz bin Saud, quién realizó unas conquistas que iniciaron la unificación en 1902 con la toma de Riad, actual capital del país. El Estado saudí moderno comenzó en 1932 y el gobierno ha sido una monarquía absoluta y una teocracia desde sus comienzos, basada en una aplicación extremista de los principios del islam. Hoy en día representa una de las últimas seis monarquías absolutas del mundo. Se ha llamado al movimiento religioso wahabismo, dentro del sunismo, «el rasgo predominante de la cultura saudí». El reino en su política interior sigue estrictamente los preceptos islámicos, con una de las más rigurosas interpretaciones de la sharia o ley islámica. Se descubrió petróleo en 1938, convirtiendo a Arabia Saudita en uno de los mayores productores y exportadores del mundo, con unas reservas probadas solo superadas por las de Venezuela. El reino es un país de ingresos altos con un alto índice de desarrollo humano, y es el único país árabe que forma parte del Grupo de los 20. Sin embargo, la economía de Arabia Saudita es la menos diversificada de las presentes en el Consejo de Cooperación para los Estados Árabes del Golfo. La mayor parte de los derechos humanos y libertades fundamentales están seriamente restringidos en el país. Por ejemplo, los actos homosexuales son condenados habitualmente con la muerte, hasta junio de 2018 las mujeres no podían conducir vehículos y el derecho al sufragio femenino no se reconoció hasta el año 2011. A pesar de los últimos avances, los más importantes grupos de derechos humanos como Amnistía Internacional y Human Rights Watch denuncian constantemente la falta de protección a los derechos humanos en el reino. En el plano internacional, a pesar de ser un país donde el islam se aplica rigurosamente, mantiene relaciones tensas con otros países musulmanes como Siria o Irán, entre otros. Además, la monarquía saudí es un aliado vital tanto militar como petrolero de la Unión Europea, Japón y, especialmente, Estados Unidos. En enero de 2016 rompió sus relaciones diplomáticas con Irán luego de las protestas de ese país por la ejecución del clérigo chií Nimr Baqr al-Nimr.
2 mapped locations
Discovered by embedding cosine similarity (sentence-transformers MiniLM, 384-dim).
via REST Countries
via World Bank Open Data · CC BY 4.0
via Wikimedia Pageviews API
via PubMed
via Wikidata · CC0
With alcohol, nightclubs, playing music in public and mingling with unrelated people of the opposite sex all banned, it's fair to say that nobody comes to Saudi Arabia for the nightlife.
thumb|Desert resort, [[Red Sea Project]]
Hotels of all types are available throughout the Kingdom. Most tourist cities (i.e. Makkah, Madinah, Ta'if, Al Abha) will also have very affordable and spacious shigka-maafroosha (short-term furnished rental apartments). Shigka-maafroosha owners generally loiter in hotel lobbies. Often, they will approach civilized-looking people (generally families) and make an offer. Prices for shigka-mafrooshas and small hotels are always negotiable to a great degree. Smaller hotels will only accept cash, normally in advance.
Larger, more expensive hotels are abundant in all major cities. You can expect to pay north of US$200 for a weekday night at a good hotel in any of the big Saudi cities. In exchange, you usually get excellent service and the ability to work around some restrictions (e.g. restaurants that stay open through prayer hours and daytime room service during Ramadan).
Saudi Arabia's tourism megaprojects Neom, the Red Sea Project, and Al-Ula are rapidly sprouting up ultraluxury resorts, with price tags to match. If you can bear the heat, you can get good discounts in the summer low season.
Saudi Arabia is a safe country crime-wise; the country has one of the lowest crime rates in the world and you are unlikely to encounter problems.
At first, being in a fundamentalist Muslim country with very strict laws may feel scary and intimidating. As a tourist, you're not expected to know every law and rule in Saudi Arabia. So long as you respect local customs, you should be able to cope.
Although first-time visitors may be regaled with tales of beheadings and amputations, the full harshness of Saudi law is usually reserved for those actually seeking trouble.
For rules on clothing and mingling between sexes, see Respect below. Indecent clothing and mingling between unrelated men and women are criminal offences.
Saudi Arabia may be affected during times of heightened tensions in the Middle East (Israel, Iran, Lebanon), and there is often a heightened risk when travelling to or being within Saudi Arabia, during times of crisis. It is important to keep up to date with the latest news and updates from local authorities. Take shelter or remain indoors when told to.
Terrorist attacks have been considered very likely on Saudi Arabia by many countries.
There are no major health risks for traveling in Saudi Arabia: water is generally drinkable, and food is usually, but not always, hygienic. No vaccinations are required for general travel to the Kingdom, but for pilgrims joining the Hajj and its extraordinary concentrations of pilgrims from all corners of the globe, a comprehensive series of vaccinations is required as a condition for entry. See the Hajj article for details.
Smoking is the one sin that clerics haven't got around to banning yet, and consequently everybody smokes everywhere: hotel lobbies, airport lounges, shopping mall food courts, drivers in their taxis, etc. If this is a problem, be sure to request non-smoking rooms in hotels.
The Kingdom has a wide-reaching national health-care system, but the services provided by this program are quite basic. Private hospitals are often run with the participation of foreign partners. These facilities range from fairly rudimentary to very advanced and very expensive. Pharmacies are widely available, and prescriptions are not required for most medications. Psychoactive medications are tightly controlled and available only through government pharmacies.
thumb|Please, think before you act.
Saudis, North Africans, and other Middle Eastern Arabs share a common culture; therefore, what is considered good manners in the Arab world is applicable to Saudi Arabia.
The best way to stay out of trouble is to respect local conventions. Should you accidentally cause offense, don't panic, because you are not expected to know every cultural nuance. With a modicum of common sense and respect, you will be fine. If you don't know about something, just ask. People will be more than happy to explain.
As aforementioned, if you're not prepared to accept strict limitations on your behaviour and movement, you should not travel to Saudi Arabia.
Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Abstract from DBpedia / Wikipedia · CC BY-SA
via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0