Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a union of two regions, Nejd and Hejaz. In the 18th century, Nejd was an autonomous region governed from Diriya, the stronghold of the Wahhabis, a puritanical Islamic sect. It subsequently fell under Turkish rule but in 1913 Abdulaziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Saud defeated the Turks and also captured the Turkish province of al Hasa. In 1920 he captured the Asir and in 1921 he added the Jebel Shammar territory of the Rashid family. In 1925 he completed the conquest of the Hejaz. Great Britain recognized Abdulaziz as an independent ruler by the Treaty of Jeddah on 20 May 1927. The name was changed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Sept. 1932. Although commencing before the Second World War, oil exploitation developed strongly with the support of the USA after 1945.