At One Place

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia
Capital Riyadh
2,149,690 km² · 36,973,555 people (2025) · Saudi riyal

The Rub' al Khali, the Empty Quarter, is the largest continuous sand desert in the world at about 650,000 km² — bigger than France. Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers or lakes at all, which is true of only a handful of countries. It holds roughly a sixth of the world's proven oil reserves.

The facts

Capital
Riyadh
Area
2,149,690 km² — 830,000 sq mi
Population
36,973,555 (2025)
Density
17.2 people per km²
Currency
Saudi riyal (SAR, ر.س)
Official language
Arabic
Time zone
UTC+03:00
Calling code
+966
Drives on the
right
ISO codes
SA · SAU
Continent
Asia

How it compares

By area
13 of 200
By population
43 of 200

Population is the only figure on this page that dates — it is a 2025 estimate and will drift. Area, capital, currency, languages, calling code and driving side change rarely or never.

Countries of a similar size

Country Area (km²) Population
Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,344,858 112,832,473
Greenland 2,166,086 56,831
Saudi Arabia ← 2,149,690 36,973,555
Mexico 1,964,375 131,946,900
Indonesia 1,904,569 285,721,236

Common questions

What is the capital of Saudi Arabia?
Riyadh
What currency does Saudi Arabia use?
The Saudi riyal (SAR).
How big is Saudi Arabia?
2,149,690 km², or 830,000 square miles — 13 of 200 by area.
Which side of the road does Saudi Arabia drive on?
The right.

Related pages

Sources

  1. The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (Public domain (US Government))
  2. World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (CC BY 4.0)

How these figures are compiled and checked