Coutry profile of Saudi Arabia (Essay Sample)

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Introduction
Saudi Arabia is an Arab state located in Asia. The Middle East nation is the second largest Arab speaking country after Algeria. Riyadh is the capital city of the country, and serves both as commercial and political city. According to 2010 census, Saudi Arabia has a population of approximately 27 million people with 8.4 million people being foreigners (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). Saudi Arabia is ruled by the King, who is also the head of state. When religion is taken into consideration, Saudi Arabia is the birth place of Islam religion and thus a large proportion of the majority are Muslims. The Domination of Islam is further compounded by shrines located in Medina and Mecca. Geographically, Saudi Arabia is a desert with extreme hot temperatures. Other diverse geographical features are grassland, forests and mountain ranges. The official languages spoken in Saudi Arabia are Arab. There are three dialects under the Arab language and these are Gulf Arabic, Nejdi Arabic and Hejazi Arabic. Others are Tagalog, Ardu, Rohubgya, Egyptian Arabic, and the Saudi sign language (Janin & Besheer, 2003).
Economic Analysis and population trends
Then Saudi Arabia economy is based on oil export and is largely controlled by the government. Saudi Arabia has 16% of the global petroleum reserves and is ranked as the biggest exporter of petroleum and its products (Janin & Besheer, 2003). When budget revenues are taken into account, the revenue from petrol is about 80% while it has a 45% impact on the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). For the group under 15%, there are 1.04 males for every female, 1.03 males for every female for a population group of 15-64 years while that above 65 years is 1.03 males for every female (World Population Review, 2014). As per 2013, Saudi Arabia GDP was 3.6% (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). Additionally, the export earnings from petroleum is 90 % (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014).The government of Saudi Arabia is encouraging private sector growth to transform the oil dependent economy into a diversified one. The efforts of diversification emphasizes on telecommunication, petrochemical sectors, exploration of the natural gas, and power generation (Buchele, 2008).
Saudi Arabia has six million foreign workers who are instrumental in the development of Saudi Economy especially service and oil sectors. However, the government is striving to minimize the levels of unemployment of its citizens especially the youth most of whom do not have technical skills and education levels required by the private sector. As such, the government has increased its spending in education and job training to offer the economy requisite human resources (Janin & Besheer, 2003).
Basing on the 2012 census, Saudi Arabia population was 29,195,895, which was placed on the 43rd position in the global population (World Population Review, 2014). However, the current population is approximately 29.6 million. The Saudi Arabia birth rate is 19.01 per 1000 people while the overall fertility rate of each woman in 2.26 children (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). This was based on the population census of 2012 and it is believed that the number of deaths and births have been increasing over the years. The current estimate state that there are 98000 deaths and 569000 births every year (World Population Review, 2014). The population of Saudi Arabia is subdivided into different subgroups of 0-14 age group, 15-64 and above 65 years age groups (Zuhur, 2011) . The median of the 0-14 age group is 32.4%, the 15-64 age is 64.8% while that of above 65 is 2.8% (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014) .When sex ratio is considered, there are 1.05 for every female at the time of birth. For the group under 15%, there are 1.04 males for every female, 1.03 males for every female for a population group of 15-64 years while that above 65 years is 1.03 males for every female (World Population Review, 2014). The mean ratio of total population is 1.37 males for every female (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). It is predicted that the population of Saudi Arabia will rise in future and by 2030, the population is likely to be 36.73 million (World Population Review, 2014).
Social and Cultural Analysis
Saudi Arabia culture and society is influenced by Islamic teachings. Approximately 85% of Saudi Arabia citizens are Sunni while the sheer are about 10% of the total Islam practicing population (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). The dominant form of the Sunni is called Wahhabism and traces its routes from Arabian Peninsula in 18th century and was founded by Muhhamed Wahhab. Basing on human rights watch, there is systematic discrimination subjected to Shia in the justice system and education. Additionally, the Shia is discriminated against in employment and festivals such as Ashura, which are not allowed to be conducted publicly. Although there are people from different religions such as Christians and Hebrews, they are not allowed to practice their religion. Additionally, conversion from Islam to other religions carries a death sentence in Saudi Arabia (Long, 2005).
Eating pork, attendance of theatre and cinemas, and taking of alcohol are illegal. During the prayer times, all businesses close to enable people to attend prayers and only few hotels and restaurant are allowed to work. Both Muslims and non Muslims are required to observe Ramadhan and thus those caught smoking, eating and drinking in public may be imprisoned (Buchele, 2008).
Saudi Men clad on traditional attire called a thobe, that is suited to the hot Saudi Arabia climate and express equality. White thobes is worn during the hot weather while wool thobes are worn during the cold weather. During special events, men wear Mishlah or Bisht over Athobe. In the case of women, their clothes are decorated with metallic thread, coins, tribal motifs and appliqués. Women are supposed to dress modestly in the public (Long, 2005).
The education system of Saudi Arabia is free for all. The system of education comprises of intermediate, secondary schools and elementary schools. The education system is largely Islam. The rate of literacy is relatively high with males being at 94% and 81.3% being the female (Central Intelligence Agency,2014). Classes are usually segregated based on gender as the sexes are not allowed to intermingle freely (Janin & Besheer, 2003).
The time concept of Saudi Arabia is not as rigid as that employed by the west. Meetings are usually loosely scheduled and interruptions are likely to occur during negotiations. When negotiating with a Saudi, it is imperative to engage in informal communication about each other before discussing details of the business. Additionally, trust must be established in order to successfully get into a contract. Based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, it is evident that Islamic culture has a great influence in communication and negotiations approach adopted by Saudi businesses (Heinrichs, 2002).
The management style employed by companies in Saudi is autocratic system in which leadership is from the top to bottom and that strict instructions are given to employees (Long, 2005).
Political/Legal Analysis
Saudi Arabia, which is ruled by a king, is stable. The issue to be considered is the leadership style and since the King is the head of state and government, cases of power struggle are minimal. Political vulnerability can be minimized if the company desists from engaging in and funding political activities especially when there are rivalries. The government through its diversification efforts strives to ensure that investors have the best environment for their business. Saudi Arabia favors free trade and thus cases of protectionism do not exist or are not detected (Buchele, 2008).
The legal system in Saudi Arabia is governed by Sharia law as proscribed in the quran. The royal decree may also be a source of law. Business and commerc...