Saudi Arabia is a country of paradoxes. While it is incredibly barren, it is well on its way to being self-supported agriculturally. While it has no rivers or permanent streams, it has twenty-five percent of the world's proven oil supply. With all of these natural resources, but a lack of basic necessities (such as an abundant water supply), it is almost as if Saudi Arabia is jumping from the nineteenth century directly into the twenty-first, with the advent of technologies to ease the previous strains.

In 1981 Saudi Arabia had the same GDP per capita as the U.S. The Saudi economy has declined while the U.S.'s has soared, but standards of living in both countries are more similar then would appear, due to the fact that the Saudi government is, in essence, a socialist monarchy. Many services are extended to Saudi citizens that would be unheard of in the U.S. For instance, there is national health care and free schooling throughout college. In addition, the government covers all of the Hajj pilgrims health needs, free of charge.

Less then six decades ago, the Saudi government was dependent upon the Hajj pilgrims as the main source of national income. Today, over ninety percent of the economy is based on the exportation of oil. This has been a mixed blessing for the Saudi government; with the declining oil prices during the eighties the Saudi government started operating on a deficit. Today, while the Saudi government is taking great strides to balance its economy, it still loses $2.5 billion every time the price of a barrel of oil drops a dollar.

Saudi Arabia is in the heart of the Middle East. As you can see in the map below, it is bordered by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the North and Qatar, U.A.E., Oman, and Yemen to the South. It has extensive coastlines on both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf which have given the country a decided advantage in the shipping industry, especially crude oil.

The government has realized the need to help the population advance at the same rate as the economy and in a period from 1969-1993, it "opened an average of one elementary school per day, an intermediate school every three days, and a high school every six days" according to The Washington Report on the Middle East. All of the schooling is free, and the government will actually pay for college, even if it is out of the country.

Because of the strong economy and the successful government programs to provide more than the bare minimum in services for its citizens, the country has experienced a great deal of immigration, mostly from other Islamic states. Because Saudi Arabia is an exclusively Muslim nation, the great majority of immigrants have been Muslims from poorer Islamic countries. The push-pull dynamics that poorer economies, such as Bangladesh and Indonesia, have exerted on Saudi Arabia have been impressive. Currently, foreign born workers outnumber Saudi workers two to one. Most of these new immigrants have done fairly well for themselves in Saudi Arabia, enjoying a standard of living unreachable in many of their home countries.

Often, one of the most debilitating differences between immigrants and their new communities is the difference in religious preferences. In Saudi Arabia, this has not been the case. Islam is the official religion of Saudi Arabia, and the only one that can be practiced publicly within its borders. Saudi Arabia is ruled by Islamic law, which is enforced by the Mutawwa'iin, or religious police. This has caused some problems with Western tourists who were not willing to abide by the laws of the land. But the majority of Saudi residents seem to be pleased with their presence.

Overall, Saudi Arabia is trying to diversify its economy so the nation won't be at the whim of the oil market. While great strides have been made, there are still many more to go to lose oil dependence.