The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an independent and absolute hereditary monarchy comprising the former sultanate of Nejh, the old kingdom of Hejaz, Asir and El Hasa, occupies four-fifths of the Arabian peninsula. The kingdom has an area of 830,000 sq. mi. (2,149,690 sq. km.) and a population of 21.66 million. Capital: Riyadh. The economy is based on oil, which provides 85 percent of Saudi Arabia?s revenue. ,Mohammed united the Arabs in the 7th century and his followers founded a great empire with the capital at Medina. The Turks established nominal rule over much of Arabia in the 16th and 17th centuries, and in the 18th century divided it into principalities. ,, ,The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was created by King Ibn-Saud (1882-1953), a descendant of earlier Wahabi rulers of the Arabian peninsula. In 1901, he seized Riyadh, capital of Sultanate of Nejh, and in 1905 established himself as Sultan. In 1913, he captured the Turkish province of Hasa; took the Hejaz in 1925 and by 1926 most of Asir. In 1932 he combined Nejh and Hejaz into the single kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Asir was incorporated into the kingdom a year later.,, ,One of the principal cities, Mecca, is the Holy center of Islam and is the scene of an annual Pilgrimage from the entire Moslem world.,, Rulers:,,, ,Abd Al-Aziz Ibn Sa?ud, AH 1334-1373/1926-1953 AD,, ,Sa?ud Ibn Abdul Aziz, AH 1373-1383/1953-1964 AD,, ,Faisal, AH 1383-1395/1964-1975 AD,, ,Fahd, AH 1402- /1982 AD-,, Monetary System:,,, ,1 Riyal = 20 Ghrish,,