Saudi Arabia



The country of the Islamic holy sites. Also, the sacred homeland of The Prophet Muhammad and the birthplace of Islam. Home of the world's biggest tourist mecca... Mecca (now you know how the word came into English).

The country is an absolute monarchy, founded by Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud at the end of World War I, who wanted to unite all the vast land around the ancestral home of his family. With the passage of time, however, there has been a lot of bickering among members the royal family. Most of that has cooled down with time, too, but given the old age of the only people who could really inherit the throne in the near future, expect more squabbles in the next decade or two.

Saudi Arabia has been a long-time ally of America, buying military equipment from them and allowing them to use the country as a launching platform for Operation Desert Storm against Iraq. However, they didn't support America in the most recent invasion of Iraq.

Popularly, Saudis are seen as extremely conservative and devoutly religious, sometimes to the point of fanaticism. The country is well known for its massive oil reserves and sparse desert, being something of a Qurac in fiction. Because of its historical significance as the homeland of the Arabs, including several nomadic tribes (such as the famous Bedouin people), Saudis are sometimes seen as Proud Warrior Race Guys. The Saudi state backs the Palestinians in the Arab-Israeli Conflict; for this reason, it does not recognize Israel. Reports of anti-Semitic propaganda being widely distributed and taught in schools have led to complaints on several occasions.

A note on the Saudi flag from The Other Wiki: do NOT change the orientation of the white stuff. Seriously, don't. This of course means that if you plan on hanging it vertically, you need to buy another flag with the writing still going properly right to left, and a properly-made flag is actually folded over so that the writing is seen going the right way, no matter what angle you look at it. The caption translates what the writing is; it's something of a big deal for Muslims in general.