Other important cities, with their estimated populations, include Jeddah (1,600,000), a port city on the Red Sea; Makkah (1,500,000), one of the great Muslim pilgrimage centers; Medina (1990 estimate, 500,050), a holy city and cultural center of Islam; and Dammam (early 1980s estimate, 200,000), an oil center on the Persian Gulf.

In the 1980s, two new large industrial centers, Al Jubayl, on the Persian Gulf, and Yanbu‘ al Bahr, on the Red Sea, were built at an estimated cost of more than $45 billion.

          



 

The Kingdom adopts the Islamic Calendar based on the Hijra year of 12 lunar months, consisting of 354 days. There are two great festivals in an Islamic year: the first is the Eid-al-Fitr holiday and the other is the Eid-al-Adha holiday.

          



Saudi Arabia's unit of currency is the riyal, which is divided into 100 halalah (3.75 riyals equal U.S.$1; 1996).

 

                          

          



Saudi Arabia has an expanding transportation network. In the early 1990s the country had about 151,532 km (about 94,162 miles) of roads and a total of 5.1 million motor vehicles. Saudi Arabia was served by some 876 km (544 miles) of operated railroad track, with the main line connecting Riyadh and Ad Dammam. The ports of Jeddah and Yanbu’ al Bahr are on the Red Sea and al Jubayl, Ad Dammam and Ras Tanura are major oil-exporting ports on the Arabian Gulf. Government run Saudi Arabian Airlines provides domestic and international flights. Major airports are at Dhahran, Jeddah and Riyadh.



          



Saudi Arabia has 13 daily newspapers, 3 of which are published in English. The government operates radio and television broadcasting services, and in the early 1990s about 4.7 million radios and 4.1 million television sets were in use. More than 1.6 million telephones were in operation at that time.
          



 The old cities of Saudi Arabia were built in styles and out of materials dictated by the climate and local resources. Areas by the Red Sea used coral taken from the reefs whilst the central and eastern regions mainly used adobe (mud).

The modern cites of Riyadh and Jeddah include dramatic buildings designed by the world’s leading architects. Saudi Arabia’s own architects now use elements of traditional design in new structures as part of the country’s commitment to revitalise and preserve its national heritage.
 

 

  
...