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| Saudi Arabia |
State on the Arabian Peninsula. The territory, according to various sources, is determined from 1.6 to 2.4 million square meters. km due to the lack of clearly defined borders in the south and southeast of the country. The population is 8.8 million (according to UN estimates for 1978), mostly Arabs, of which more than 2 million are Bedouin nomads and about 2 million are immigrants from other Arab countries, mainly from Yemen. The capital is Riyadh (770 thousand inhabitants, 1979). The state language is Arabic. Religion is Islam. Saudi Arabia, within its current borders, was formed in September 1932 after years of struggle to unite the principalities of the Arabian Peninsula into a single centralized state. The leading role in this struggle was played by the ruler of the principality of Najd - Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, who became the first king of Saudi Arabia. After the death of King Abdul Aziz (November 1953), the country was ruled by his sons - Saud, then Fsnsal, and from March 1975 Khaled became king. Saudi Arabia is an absolute theocratic monarchy. The head of state, the king, exercises legislative and executive power. He is simultaneously the Prime Minister, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Chief Justice. The government is formed mainly from members of the royal family. At the royal court, there is an Advisory Council, which acts only with recommendations when considering certain issues. The activities of political parties and organizations are prohibited. The internal policy of the ruling family is mainly aimed at preserving the monarchy and the old Sunni religious rites. Any attempts aimed at changing the existing regime are brutally suppressed in the country. Nevertheless, in Saudi Arabia there has recently been a growing movement of the public, mainly the military and the intelligentsia, for the democratization of the economy in the country and the weakening of the ties of the ruling circles with American imperialism. Since 1958, the Saudi Arabian government has proclaimed a policy of "positive neutrality" as its official foreign policy. In fact, it has repeatedly acted as a conductor of imperialist policy in the Arab East, in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Adhering to the positions of Arab nationalism, Saudi Arabia allocates funds to some Arab states - victims of Israeli aggression - and to individual Palestinian organizations, while striving at the same time to oppose them to the revolutionary wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization and progressive forces in Arab countries. Saudi Arabia has come out in support of political and economic sanctions against the Sadat regime in Egypt, which concluded a separate "peace" treaty with Israel, and then severed diplomatic relations with Egypt. In relations with Arab and other Muslim states of the world, over the past years, Saudi Arabia has been trying to find a common platform for cooperation on a religious-Islamic basis. According to the Western press, for this purpose Riyadh provides financial assistance (in the amount of up to $ 10 billion a year) to about 50 states. Saudi Arabia is a participant in most inter-Arab meetings and conferences, a member of the League of Arab States. The backbone of the economy is oil production (provides about 90% of government revenues, 98% of the value of exports and over 87% of GDP). Saudi Arabia ranks first in the capitalist world in terms of proven oil reserves (approximately 24 billion g) and its production (510 million tons in 1979). 95% of the total oil production falls on the American monopoly Arabien American Oil Company (ARAMCO). Concession agreements with US companies that are part of ARAMCO cover more than 2/3 of the country's territory, and their validity period is established until 2005. Since the beginning of 1975, the government of Saudi Arabia owns 60% of ARAMCO's shares. Since 1977, negotiations have been under way to transfer the remaining shares of this company to it. The American companies Getty Oil and American Independent Oil (in the former Neutral Zone) and the Japanese company Arabien Oil (coastal waters) also operate. In 1979, Saudi Arabia's revenues from oil exports, according to Western European economists, amounted to more than $ 45 billion. Since 1962, the government has been operating in the country, the General Directorate of Oil and Mineral Resources (PETROMIN), whose task is to develop the national. oil industry. In connection with the discovery in recent years of deposits of iron and a number of non-ferrous metals, the government allocates significant funds for the creation of the mining industry and the creation of a developed infrastructure. However, the country's economy (with the current level of its development and the absence of highly qualified personnel) is not able to absorb all the profits from oil. Some of them are invested in foreign banks and enterprises (by the beginning of 1980, more than $ 40 billion had been invested in the United States alone). Due to the lack of fresh water, only 0.3% of the land area is cultivated. The land belongs mainly to the royal family, tribal leaders and religious organizations. Peasants lease land on enslaving terms. Dates, wheat, barley, corn, millet, sorghum, rice, coffee, alfalfa and vegetables are grown. Livestock - the traditional occupation of the Bedouin nomads - is represented by the breeding of camels, sheep, goats. Large poultry farms have been set up in a number of regions, and fishing is developed in the coastal zone. The length of the paved roads is about 18 thousand km. There is only one rail. the Riyadh - Khufuf - Dammam road (over 500 km). Its own sea transport, including a tanker fleet, is being created with the participation of Japanese and American capital. The air service is operated by a private company, Sauda Arabien Airlines. The monetary unit is the Saudi rial. 4.145 Saudi. rial = 1 dollar (1979). The main export items are crude oil and partly oil products; import - almost all types of industrial goods and up to 50% - food. Trade partners: England, USA, Japan, Italy, Germany, Lebanon and other countries. With the state's huge revenues from oil, the standard of living of the working masses remains low. About 90% of the population is illiterate. In 1979/80 fin. The government allocated only 10% of the state budget expenditures for education and vocational training. At the same time, over a third of all budgetary funds were allocated for the maintenance of the armed forces and special services.
