Audio Transcript: The History of Saudi Arabia 🏜️

For thousands of years, the Arabian Peninsula was home to nomadic tribes who travelled the desert in search of water and trade. The two holy cities of Mecca and Medina made the region important across the Islamic world, and pilgrims came every year to perform the Hajj.

In 1744, a local ruler named Muhammad ibn Saud and the scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab formed an alliance in the town of Diriyah. This created the first Saudi state. Over time it grew, shrank, and was rebuilt, often clashing with the powerful Ottoman Empire that controlled much of the region.

The modern country was shaped by one man: Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. In 1902 he recaptured the city of Riyadh, and over the next thirty years he united the central region of Najd with the western region of Hejaz. In 1932, he declared the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh as its capital.

Then, in 1938, everything changed. Huge reserves of oil were discovered beneath the desert. What had been one of the poorest regions in the world quickly became one of the richest, and oil money transformed the country's cities, roads and economy in a single generation.

Key Vocabulary

• Peninsula — a piece of land almost surrounded by water.
• Nomadic — moving from place to place instead of living in one fixed home.
• Pilgrimage / Hajj — a religious journey; the Hajj is the journey to Mecca.
• Alliance — an agreement to work together for a shared goal.
• To unite — to join separate parts into one.
• Reserves — a supply of something (like oil) kept for future use.