العربية السعودية (al-'Arabīyah as-Su'ūdīyah)¹

How is the land laid out?

This nation dominates the Arabian Peninsula, including all but the south, and part of the east. Beyond narrow, arid, coastal plains, mountains fringe the west; they do not reach 4,000 meters. Most of the rest of peninsula is a plateau, which is at best semi-arid, but is often harsh, sand or gravel, desert. It is cut by seasonally wet gullies (wadis), and sometimes mitigated by oases, like ar-Riyad.² The two largest deserts are an-Nafud in the north, and the vast Empty quarter (Rub al-Khali) in the south. In the east, the land falls to arid lowlands, which include salt flats (sabkhas).

Who lives there?

The majority, more than 17 in 20, speak dialects of Arabian Spoken Arabic. The rest, immigrants since the 20th century, speak a miscellany of languages. All of the Arabian Spoken Arabic speakers, and most of the immigrants, are Sunni Moslems.³

There are five cities with over one million people.

Two other important cities are الدر9ية (ad-Dir'iyah or Dir'iyah, Deraiya) and الاحساع (al-Aḥsa' or Al-Hasa or Hasa).

Other local topics

Tabūk, al-Madīnah, al-Bāhah, Makkah, Jizān and 'Asir Provinces
Jawf, Northern Frontier, Ha'il, Qasim, ar-Riyad and Najran Provinces
Eastern Province

Footnotes

1. al-'Arabiyah as-Su'udiyah in transliterated Arabic.
2. Or Riyadh.
3. There are also some Shi'ites.