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The Saudi Arabia Portal – بوابة المملكة العربية السعودية

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Saudi Arabia's Location

Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia and the Middle East. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest country in Asia and the largest in the Middle East. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. The capital and largest city is Riyadh; other major cities include Jeddah and the two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina. With a population of almost 32.2 million, Saudi Arabia is the fourth most populous country in the Arab world. (Full article...)

Khalid Muhammad Abdallah al-Mihdhar (Arabic: خالد المحضار, romanizedKhālid al-Miḥḍār; also transliterated as AL Mihdhar; May 16 1975 – September 11, 2001) was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of the five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks.

Al-Mihdhar was born in Saudi Arabia. In early 1999, he traveled to Afghanistan where, as an experienced and respected jihadist, he was selected by Osama bin Laden to participate in the attacks. Al-Mihdhar arrived in California with fellow hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi in January 2000, after traveling to Malaysia for the Kuala Lumpur al-Qaeda Summit. At this point, the CIA was aware of al-Mihdhar, and he was photographed in Malaysia with another al-Qaeda member who was involved in the USS Cole bombing. The CIA did not inform the FBI when it learned that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi had entered the United States, and al-Mihdhar was not placed on any watchlists until late August 2001. (Full article...)
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News

9 August 2024 – Saudi Arabia–United States relations
The Biden administration partially lifts a three-year-old ban on American weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
12 July 2024 –
The International Olympic Committee announces that Saudi Arabia will host the inaugural Olympics Esports Games in 2025. (ESPN)
10 July 2024 – Russia–Saudi Arabia relations, International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War
Bloomberg reports that Saudi Arabia warned the G7 earlier this year that it would sell off Eurobonds and French bonds if the G7 proceeded with the seizure of US$280 billion in Russian frozen assets to give to Ukraine. (The Kyiv Independent)

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A picture of the mosque from the south with the city of Medina in the background

The Prophet's Mosque (Arabic: ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلنَّبَوِي, romanizedal-Masjid al-Nabawī, lit.'Mosque of the Prophet') is the second mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina, after that of Quba, as well as the second largest mosque and holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, in the Saudi region of the Hejaz. The mosque is located at the heart of Medina, and is a major site of pilgrimage that falls under the purview of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Muhammad himself was involved in the construction of the mosque. At the time, the mosque's land belonged to two young orphans, Sahl and Suhayl, and when they learned that Muhammad wished to acquire their land to erect a mosque, they went to Muhammad and offered the land to him as a gift; Muhammad insisted on paying a price for the land because they were orphaned children. The price agreed upon was paid by Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, who thus became the endower or donor (Arabic: وَاقِف, romanizedwāqif) of the mosque, on behalf or in favor of Muhammad. al-Ansari also accommodated Muhammad upon his arrival at Medina in 622. (Full article...)

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Sources

  1. ^ Sawe, Benjamin (2017-04-25), Tallest Mountains In Saudi Arabia, Worldatlas.com, retrieved 2019-01-14
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