Abdullah Khalid Country Project Saudi Arabia History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/history_of_saudi_arabia (History of Saudi Arabia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ibn_saud As a state, Saudi Arabia has only existed since 1932, or eighty one years. This is a very short time span for a nation, however in terms of human habitation, the land that is now Saudi Arabia goes back as early as twenty thousand years ago. Saudi Arabia, through its history has been the center of two major events that affected human history. In the 6 th and 7 th centuries it was the hearth for Islam, and recently it has become the worlds number one exporter of oil. In 1932 the country known Saudi Arabia was formed by Abdul Aziz Al Saud. To this day, the Al Saud family is the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. In 1902 Ibn Saud, as Abdul Aziz was known for a long time, began his conquest of Saudi Arabia in his home city of Riyadh. He then moved on to conquer most of central Saudi Arabia. This region was called the Najd, or upland in Arabic. Later he continued conquering by in 1925 conquering the rest of the Arabian peninsula known as Hejaz. In 1932 the nation was declared Saudi Arabia. His son Saud replaced him, however, was replaced shortly by Faisal, due to unpopularity among the royal family. Under Faisal, the nation went under a period of modernization and prosperity due to oil wealth, this time was a time of industrialization in the country. Faisal's reign was cut short however, as he was assassinated. After Faisal came King Khalid, who continued to aid the growing nation. After which came King Fahd. Under whom Saudi Arabia became the greatest oil producing nation in the world. In 2005, King Fahd was succeeded by King Abdullah who still rules today. King Abdullah has been responsible for many changes modernizing aspects of Saudi government. Geography:
Saudi Arabia is located on the Arabian Peninsula in South Western Asia. It is bordered by Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and Israel. It is also bordered by the Arabian sea, the Red Sea, and the Persian gulf. Saudi Arabia is mostly composed of dry desert lands. That is why prior to the discovery of oil, it was a very poor nation as it had very little viable farmland. Saudi Arabia is one of the most urbanized nations precisely due to the amount of uninhabitable land in the country. Therefore, all people will gravitate to the few habitable locations leading to a high percentage of urban populations. http://www.undp.org.sa/sa/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&itemid=5 (Facts, Geography)
Facts: Saudi Arabia is officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Capital city of Saudi Arabia is Riyadh. The official language of Saudi Arabia is Arabic The official religion of Saudi Arabia is Islam The currency of Saudi Arabia is the Saudi Riyal, which is 3.75:1 to a U.S Dollar (See economy) The government of Saudi Arabia is a monarchy with elected council leaders to represent the people The government of Demographics: The population of Saudi Arabia is approximately twenty five million people The annual growth rate of the population is 2.4% a year. The life expectancy of Saudi Arabia is approximately 73 years The fertility rate, or births per woman is 4.3, which is unusually high especially in a nation where most pregnancies are successful. The IMR is 20 deaths per 1000, which is about 2 percent of live births. The literacy rate in Saudi Arabia is about eighty three percent.
Economy: The economy of Saudi Arabia is based on the production and distribution of oil. Saudi Arabia is the greatest oil exporter in the world. Prior to the discovery of oil, Saudi Arabia was very poor as there is very little viable farmland. The major exports of Saudi Arabia are Oil, Iron Ore, Gold, Copper, and Natural Gas. The current GDP of Saudi Arabia is 804,000 in Saudi Riyals Toponymy:
Saudi Arabia comes from the founder of the Kingdom, Ibn Saud, who named it after himself. In the capital city of Riyadh, the main street is named King Fahd Road, after the late king of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh means place of gardens. Now this is a very interesting name as it relates to how it became a major city. Riyadh receives more rainfall on average then the rest of Saudi Arabia. People may have settled here first because it was an oasis in the desert, a date orchard. This shows that people gravitate to the cities because that is where the land is most habitable. http://www.wordtravels.com/cities/saudi+arabia/riyadh (Info on Riyadh) Multiple choice questions: What is the capital city of Saudi Arabia? a. Mecca b. Medina c. Jerusalem d. Riyadh What is the official language of Saudi Arabia? a. Saladin b. Arabian c. Arianism d. Islam e. Arabic What is the largest export of Saudi Arabia?
a. Sand b. iron c. oil d. wheat Who is the founder of Saudi Arabia? a. Mohammad b. Mustafa Ibn Al Aziz c. Ibn Saud d. Abdullah Khalid What is the currency of Saudi Arabia? Sand dollars Saudi dollars Riyals Arabic Rupees Dinars New Zealand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/history_of_new_zealand Scientists believe that New Zealand was discovered by the Polynesians about eight hundred years ago. These Polynesians developed a distinct culture called the Maori culture. Several aspects of this culture have been adopted by the people of New Zealand to create a culture unique to New Zealand, a combination of European and Maori cultures. On December 13 th, 1642 the first voyager set forth to New Zealand. His name was Abel Tazman, but he did not further explore the islands. It took about a hundred years, but sailors began to frequent the islands more and more. James Cook was the first
explorer to circumnavigate the islands. As English sailors became more regular visitors interactions between the natives increased. In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between England and Maori chiefs. This agreement gave the islands control to the Crown of England but granted the Maori all the same rights as English citizens. However, these ideals were strayed away from as the Maori felt invaded by the new and strange Europeans who seemed to fiddle the Maori out of their lands leaving them impoverished. Due to New Zealand being islands, they serve as perfect ports. New Zealand developed a trading economy. It also strayed away from England and today is much free of the influence of the crown. However, it is still close allies with England, the United States, and Australia. Geography:
http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcnewzealand.htm Facts: ECONOMY, DEMOGRAPHY, GOVERNMENT New Zealand is consists of two islands known as the North and South Islands It is a set of islands in Oceania, South East of Australia. In terms of size New Zealand is about the size of Wyoming. In area New Zealand is 268, 620 Km2. New Zealand has a temperate climate, but it has sharp regional shifts. 13.59% of the land is arable in New Zealand. On about 7 percent of this land there are permanent crops. 5 percent of arable land remains unsown.
Due to the small size of the nation and the limited percentage of farmland, New Zealand turned towards more of a merchandising and a trading economy. The currency of New Zealand is the Kiwi Dollar. It is worth about 80 cents of a U.S dollar. Some natural hazards that are worth noting are earthquakes and some volcanic activity. In fact, this past June there was a severe Earthquake that set the economy back loads and cost billions of dollars. About 80 percent of New Zealand's population lives in cities. These cities include Auckland and Wellington. Fun fact: Wellington is the southernmost capital in the world. Population: The approximate population of New Zealand is 4.5 million people Age structure: 0-14 years: 21.4% (male 441,836/female 421,065) 15-64 years: 66.9% (male 1,356,095/female 1,343,728) 65 years and over: 11.7% (male 206,650/female 266,087) (2005 est.) Median age: total: 33.65 years male: 32.92 years female: 34.4 years (2005 est.) http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcnewzealand.htm The population growth rate of New Zealand is about 1.02 percent. Birth rate: 13.9 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) Death rate: 7.53 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 3.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.) Infant mortality rate: total: 5.85 deaths/1,000 live births male: 6.7 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.66 years male: 75.67 years female: 81.78 years (2005 est.) Total fertility rate: 1.79 children born/woman (2005 est.) Tables from: http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcnewzealand.htm The government of New Zealand is a Parliamentary Democracy. The capital is Wellington. Though Auckland is the largest city. The Parliament makes laws. There is an elected Director, which oversees the parliament and can overrule them occasionally. What is the capital of New Zealand? Tampa Auckland Sydney Wellington Where is New Zealand? Northern Europe Southern Africa Oceania
Asia What is the currency of New Zealand? Kiwi Dollar Murray Piece Galleon Wellings What is the largest city in New Zealand? Sydney Auckland New Wilshire Harrisburg What type of government does NZ have? Monarchy Democracy Parliamentary democracy