The country uses the Islamic (Hijrah), which dates from the emigration of the Prophet Muhammad from Makkah to Madinah. The weekend is Friday and Saturday. The 12 months of the Islamic lunar year are: Muharram, Safar, Rabi' Al-Awal, Rabi' Al-Akher, Jumada Al-Awal, Jumada Al-Akher, Rajab, Sha'ban, Ramadan, Shawwal. Dhu Al-Qadah , Dhu Al-Hajjah .

The Kingdom is located in southwest Asia, at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, extending from the Red Sea in the west to the Arabian Gulf in the east; it’s bordered on the north by Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait; on the south by Yemen and Oman; and on the east by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia’s geography is diverse, with forests, grasslands, mountain ranges and deserts. The climate varies from region to region. Temperatures can reach over 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the desert in the summer, while in the winter, temperatures in the north and central parts of the country can drop below freezing. Saudi Arabia gets very little rain, only about four inches a year on average.

Saudi Arabia’s agricultural development over the last three decades has been astonishing. Large areas of desert have been turned into agricultural fields – a major accomplishment in a country that receives an average of about four inches of rain a year, one of the lowest rates in the world. Today, Saudi Arabia exports wheat, dates, dairy products, eggs, fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables and flowers to markets around the world. Dates, once a staple of the Saudi diet, are now mainly grown for global humanitarian aid.

Both traditional and modern sports are popular in Saudi Arabia. The people of the Arabian Peninsula have enjoyed sports for thousands of years, including horse and camel racing, falconry and hunting with hounds. Today, modern sports are also popular – especially soccer. A special effort has been made to encourage sports and make them accessible to the public. Hundreds of facilities have been established throughout the Kingdom so that all Saudis can exercise regularly or enjoy popular spectator sports.

Since Saudi Arabia is an Islamic state, its judicial system is based on Islamic law (Shari’ah) for both criminal and civil cases. Muslims derive Shari’ah law primarily from the Holy Qur’an and secondarily from the Sunnah, the practices and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad during his lifetime. The third source is Ijma’, the consensus of opinion of Muslim scholars on the principals involved in a specific case occurring after the death of the Prophet. Qias, analogy, is the fourth source of law.

The energy sector is the backbone of the Saudi economy. The Kingdom possesses a quarter of the world’s proven oil reserves, and it is the world’s largest producer and exporter of oil. Saudi Arabia is also developing its additional energy resources – natural gas that once flared off oil wells is collected and used, and the Kingdom has become a producer of refined oil products and petrochemicals such as kerosene, diesel oil and gasoline. In addition, with the discovery of deposits of precious and semi-precious metals, Saudi Arabia expects to become a major exporter of minerals in the coming decades.

The establishment of a modern health care and social services system has been the Health & Social Services Department, one of Saudi Arabia’s most stunning successes. The Saudi health care network provides free care to the general public and some of the most sophisticated specialized care available anywhere in the world. The government also sponsors a wide range of social services programs aimed at ensuring that every citizen has a decent standard of living.

Saudi Arabia’s education system has gone through an astonishing transformation. When the Kingdom was established in 1932, education was available to very few people, mostly the children of wealthy families living in the major cities. Today, Saudi Arabia’s education system includes over fifty public and private universities, with more planned; some 30,000 schools; and a large number of colleges and other institutions. The system is open to all citizens, and provides students with free education, books and health services. While the study of Islam remains at its core, the modern Saudi educational system also provides quality instruction in diverse fields of arts and sciences. This diversity helps the Kingdom prepare its citizens for life and work in a global economy.