This also includes the well-known Saudi offshore portion of the Persian Gulf which was the focus of much interest and debate during the first Gulf War in early 1990's as a result of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
Geologically, these oil fields "are mostly the result of what is known as extensional block faulting" in ancient sedimentary rock layers (i.e., sandstone and shale) "in the crystalline Pre-Cambrian basement (or subfloor)" which runs approximately along a north-to-south axis deep beneath the Arabian desert. This gigantic structure "underlies the world's largest oil field Ghawar and other major oil fields, such as Khurais, Mazalij and Abu Jifan (Rickard, 156). To the trained geographer/geologist, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia in the region of Al-Dahna with its as Summan Plateau, greatly eroded with deep gorges, is very indicative of oil reserves lying far beneath the surface, extending to depths of some 11,000 feet (Rickard, 157).
As previously pointed out, the production of crude petroleum and related products dominates the Saudi economy. In 1962, Prince Faisal "announced his program for using the kingdom's ever-increasing oil revenues to modernize the country's agricultural, industrial and infrastructure bases" (the Middle East, 398) which inevitably led to the creation of one of the world's largest and most economically influential oil providers. Beginning roughly in 1970, the development of the Saudi Arabian economy was wholly dependent on a series of five-year plans, all of which focused on "different means by which the kingdom could transform its relatively undeveloped, oil-based economy into a modern industrial state" (the Middle East, 398).
These five-year plans have obviously created one of the most powerful and self-sufficient economies in the Middle East. Taken as a whole, "oil wealth has increased the standard of living of most Saudis," yet due to a growth in population over the last twenty years or so, the Saudi government has found it increasingly difficult to maintain and improve the standard of living for a good portion of its people,...
Approximately 4.5 million have main telephone lines; almost 20 million have mobile cellular telephones; and more than 6.25 million have radio sets (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor 2004). More than 5 million own television sets, 4.7 million people use the internet, and there are around 22 internet service providers. Saudi Arabia has 213 airports; 8 heliports; 1.392 km railways; 59 marine ships. The average consumption of electricity by
Lack of accountability, transparency and integrity, ineffectiveness, inefficiency and unresponsiveness to human development remain problematic (UNDP). Poverty remains endemic in most Gulf States with health care and opportunities for quality education poor or unavailable, degraded habitats including urban pollution and poor soil conditions from inappropriate farming practices. Social safety nets are also entirely inadequate and all form part of the nexus of poverty that is widely prevalent in Gulf countries.
Country Analysis - Jordan & Saudi Arabia Country Analysis: Jordan Labor -- Jordan suffers from chronic high rates of unemployment, poverty, and a huge budget deficit. Since 1999, significant economic reforms have been implemented, included a trade regime, elimination of fuel subsidies, and the privatization of state-owned companies. This has resulted in job creation and has attracted some foreign investment. Jordan's labor force was estimated at 1.719 million in 2010, distributed across
Similarly, while the arrangements made by the British lasted a relatively short timeframe, the dividing up of land necessary to mark off territory for such constitutional authorities had a more permanent effect. In Iraq, for example, the grouping of ethnic Kurds with Sunni and Shi'a Arabs within the same monarchy territory proved disastrous, as continuing ethnic strife led to the eventual dissolution of the state and the rise of
So too does the modest recovery of a portion of oil value in the first half of 2009, which saw a more consistent gain in cost due to the shifting impact of the American dollar and the Euro. As a recent report from the Dow Jones Newswires denotes, "Oil gained some ground earlier, propped up by a weaker dollar, after a report showing that consumer confidence was rising in
While on one hand, the Nile gets the highest discharge from rainfall on the highlands of Ethiopia and upland plateau of East Africa, located well outside the Middle East region; on the other hand, discharge points of the other two rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, are positioned well within the Middle East region, prevailing mostly in Turkey, Syria along with Iraq. In other areas, recurrent river systems are restricted to
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