ARABIAN PENINSULA..

Location and Size of the Kingdom

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia comprises about four-fifths of the Arabian Peninsula, a land mass constituting a distinct geographical entity, bordered on the west by the Red Sea, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the east by the Arabian Gulf.

The Kingdom itself, which occupies approximately 2,250,000 square kilometers (868,730 square miles) is bounded on the north by Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait; on the east by the Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates; on the south by the Sultanate of Oman and Yemen; and on the west by the Red Sea.

Between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait there are two adjacent areas of neutral territory (the Neutral Zone) which, since 1966 (1385/86 AH), have been divided between the two countries, each administering its own portion. Another Neutral Zone, between the Kingdom and Iraq, existed until 1975 (1394/95 AH) when it was agreed that the zone should be equally divided between the two parties.

Located between Africa and mainland Asia, with long frontiers on the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf and with the Suez Canal near to its north-west border, the Kingdom lies in a strategically important position.