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Saudi Arabia: Cities
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Saudi Arabia's population as of 2005 is estimated to be about 26.4 million, including about 5.6 million resident foreigners. Until the 1960s, most of the population was nomadic or semi-nomadic; due to rapid economic and urban growth, more than 95% of the population now is settled. The birth rate is 29.56 births per 1,000 people. The death rate is only 2.62 deaths per 1,000 people. Some cities and oases have densities of more than 1,000 people per square kilometre (2,600/sq mi).
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Saudi financier Osama Bin Ladin is reportedly a major bank-roller of terrorists and is said to want to rid Saudi Arabia of American forces. He is believed to be in Afghanistan under the protection of the fundamentalist Muslim Taleban militia. Saudi Arabia revoked his citizenship in 1994.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy should use his January 13-14 visit to Saudi Arabia to raise human rights concerns with Saudi’s King Abdullah, Human Rights Watch said today. The Saudi government denies its citizens basic rights to free speech, assembly and association, commits abuses with impunity, and systematically discriminates against migrant workers, women and religious minorities.
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A minaret of a mosque is seen at the left, foreground, of Mina tent city, which is set up for hajj pilgrims just outside the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Jan. 30, 2004. The pilgrimage is required once in the lifetime of every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Despite close cooperation on security issues, the United States remains concerned about human rights conditions in Saudi Arabia. Principal human rights problems include abuse of prisoners and incommunicado detention; prohibitions or severe restrictions on the freedoms of speech, press, peaceful assembly and association, and religion; denial of the right of citizens to change their government; systematic discrimination against women and ethnic and religious minorities; and suppression of workers' rights.
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