Saudi Arabia profile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Saudi Arabia profile - Essay Example As in the case of many other Middle Eastern countries, majority of the land area are deserts with some rugged mountains in the southwest. Hot and humid climatic conditions prevail in Saudi throughout a year with an exception of only few months. 78.8% literacy is reported in Saudi as per the 2010 statistics. Saudi males are more literate (84.7%) than Saudi females (70.8%). Infant mortality rate is 11.57 deaths/1,000 live births according to the 2010 statistics. Women dominate in life expectancy rates in Saudi with 78 years against 74 years of the males. More than 35% of the Saudi workforce are from foreign countries and service sector is the major revenue source in Saudi (63%) followed by industry (25%) and agriculture (12%). 2010 statistics show that GDP of Saudi is $623 billion and annual growth rate is 3.8%. Per capita of Saudi population is one among the bests in the world with an attractive figure of $24,200. Gold and oil are the major natural resources or revenue sources of Saudi. Before the discovery of oil sources in Middle East, gold mining and fishing were some of the major revenue sources of Saudi. Hydrocarbons, uranium, coal, phosphate, and tungsten are some other natural resources of Saudi Arabia. Surface water sources provide 10% of the Saudi’s drinking needs whereas 84% provides by ground water sources. Desalinated seawater not only used for the drinking needs (5%), but also for generating electric power. Even though the climatic conditions are not so good for agriculture, dates, grains and vegetables are cultivated at some parts of Saudi Arabia. As in the case of majority of the other Middle Eastern countries, export of petroleum products is the major revenue source of Saudi Arabia. Petroleum and petroleum products export of Saudi worth around $253 billion whereas its imports (manufactured goods, transportation equipment, clothing and textiles, processed