Saudi is quite possibly the strangest country in the world. In many ways, Saudi Arabia is more medieval than the quite cosmpoliton actual medieval Islamic world - and yet at the same time the influence of vast quantities of petroleum money and its erstwhile Western allies conspires to drag the whole country into the modern world. Mercedez Benzes and camels. American oilmen and Morality Police. Bedouins and international jet-setters.
Because the state religion is the ultra-conservative Wahabbi school of sunni thought - a sort of Islamic Hardshell Baptism which Saudi shares with the Taleban in Afghanistan - the official tone of the country can often veer towards an almost hysterical level of orthodoxy. By comparison, Iran, where by now the average man on the street could care less, is a liberal free-thinker's paradise. At the same time, the royal family, which now numbers at least in the thousands, are immune from every rule they make, and make very little effort to conceal their habit of out-decadenting the infidels.
Saudi Arabia issues no tourist or transit visas, and when a Westerner is in the country at all, it's usually to live in the country-within-a-country of American military bases and Saudi Aramco compounds. Doing business in Saudi is difficult due to the constant meddling, nepotism, and favoritism of the royals. Foreign women in particular tend not to linger long in Saudi; Saudi Arabia does not issue or honor driver's licenses for women, and even foreign women are nominally required to dress to Wahabbi standards of modesty outside foreign compounds(think headscarves and usually veils), on pain of beating by the Morality Police.
There is almost certainly a great deal of resentment towards the royal family by Saudi commoners, and many people I know that have spent time in the country feel that in the absence of a strong American military presence, the 'ibn Sauds would be deposed very quickly. Nobody's quite sure if this would mean a turn towards even more conservative Islam, in the style of the Taleban and native son Osama bin Laden, or a weakening of the bonds of religion which already make the country a virtual theocracy. Everybody agrees that it would be violent.
Nejd The emirate of Nejd, in the centre of Arabia and with capital at Riyadh, was always independent, and was unified by Wahhabi emirs around 1800. Sources sometimes disagree slightly about years, even into the 1900s. This is (I think) Eastern Nejd, which conquered an emirate of Western Nejd in 1892.
Hejaz Hejaz is the coastal country containing Mecca. It was taken by Egypt at the beginning of the nineteenth century then by Turkey in 1845. In the Arab Revolt of 1916 it became independent under the Sharif, the ruler of Mecca.
Saudi Arabia's ports grew as separate entities without much standardization though their multi-century history. For many years, they were similar to the stereotype in Lawrence of Arabia. They, like all ports were designed to handle breakbulk goods only. In the 1970s, the Saudi government started to restructure the port system. They were re-engineered to handle containerization and the growing non-oil Saudi economy. In 1976, a centeral Ports Authority was created to administer the ports. Tariffs, handling rates and even equipment were standardized across the kingdom's six major ports. The ports are now standardized completely and employ almost exclusivly Saudi (male) nationals. The pilotage is exclusivly composed of Saudi citizens in good social standing.
Saudi Arabia has six major ports. Two are in the Persian gulf and four are in the Red Sea. The ports are capable of handling all types of cargo. Crude oil is handled mainly by privately owned terminals.
The six ports are:
The US military has an interesting relationship with the kingdom and its ports. The US military has yet to ship any materials or soldiers into Saudi ports in preparation for a second gulf war. Saudi Arabia has so far forbade it. Instead, the military is using Kuwaiti and UAE ports and bases.
Saudi Arabia exports mainly oil. There are many miles of pipelines carrying crude oil, natural gas, and refined products. The Arabian American Oil Company is similar to Alyeska in Alaska. This conglomerate owns the Saudi oil depots. It was started by Standard Oil, later BP and other oil companies bought into it, and in 1973, the Saudi government aqquired a 25 percent stake in the company. In 1988 it became Saudi Aramco, and included pipelines, oil depots, ships, and all the neccissary infastructure. Oddly, a south Korean company has a large stake in Aramco.The Price of Oil, by Jennifer details supply and demand issues for crude and refined petrolium quite well.
The Aramco conglomerate includes the following major components:
Sources: Personal knowledge of shipping http://www.ports.gov.sa/ -the Saudi ports authority. http://www.saudiaramco.com/ -Saudi Oil Company
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