Saudi Arabia occupies four-fifths of the Arabian peninsula. It is
bordered to the northwest by Jordan, to the north by Iraq and Kuwait, to the
east by the Gulf of Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman and to the
south by Yemen, to the west lies the Red Sea.
The Saudi government estimate is 2,217,949 square km of land. Other reputable
estimates vary between 2,149,690-2,240,000 km2. Less than 1 percent of the
total area is suitable for cultivation and in the early 1990s population
distribution varied greatly among the towns of the eastern and western coastal
areas, the densely populated interior oases, and the vast, almost empty deserts.
Saudi Arabia has a desert climate. In Jeddah it is warm for most of the year.
Riyadh inland, is hotter in summer and colder in winter, when occasional heavy
rainstorms occur. The Rub al Khali seldom receives rain, making Saudi Arabia one
of the driest countries in the world.