Riyadh

Not to be confused with Arabic name Riyad or traditional Moroccan house, riad.
For other uses, see Riyadh (disambiguation).

Riyadh
الرياض
Capital city
Official seal of Riyadh
Seal
Riyadh is located in Saudi Arabia
Riyadh
Location of Riyadh within Saudi Arabia
Riyadh is located in Asia
Riyadh
Riyadh (Asia)
Riyadh is located in Earth
Riyadh
Riyadh (Earth)
Coordinates: 24°38′N 46°43′E / 24.633°N 46.717°E / 24.633; 46.717
Country Saudi Arabia
ProvinceRiyadh Province
GovernorateRiyadh Governorate
Established1746; 278 years ago (1746)
Founded byDahham ibn Dawwas
Government
 • BodyRiyadh Municipality
 • Governor of RiyadhFaisal bin Bandar Al Saud
 • Mayor of RiyadhFaisal bin Abdul Aziz bin Ayyaf
Area
1,973 km2 (762 sq mi)
Elevation
[1]
612 m (2,008 ft)
Population
 (2022)[2]
7,009,100
 • Rank1st
 • Density3,600/km2 (9,200/sq mi)
 • Metro
7,820,551
GDP (PPP, constant 2015 values)
 • Year2023
 • Total$428.7 billion[3]
 • Per capita$55,800
Time zoneUTC+03:00 (AST)
Postal Code
(5 digits)
Area code+966 011
HDI (2021)0.900[4] – very high
Websitealriyadh.gov.sa

Riyadh (/riːˈjɑːd/ ree-YAHD;[5] Arabic: الرياض, romanized: ar-Riyāḍ, standard pronunciation: [ar.riˈjaːdˤ], Najdi pronunciation: [er.rɪˈjɑːðˤ]; lit. 'the Meadows') is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia.[6] It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. The current form of the metropolis emerged as an offshoot of the eponymous walled town following the dismantling of its defensive fortifications in the 1950s, after which the city underwent several phases of expansion and urbanization.

It is the largest city on the Arabian Peninsula, and is situated in the center of the an-Nafud desert, on the eastern part of the Najd plateau. The city sits at an average of 600 meters (2,000 ft) above sea level, [7] and receives around 5 million tourists each year, making it the forty-ninth most visited city in the world and the 6th in the Middle East. Riyadh had a population of 7.0 million people in 2022, making it the most-populous city in Saudi Arabia, 3rd most populous in the Middle East, and the 38th most populous in Asia.[8]

The first mention of the city by the name Riyadh was in 1590, by an Arab chronicler.[9] In 1745, Dahham ibn Dawwas, who was from the neighboring Manfuha, seized control of the town. Dahham built a mudbrick palace and a wall around the town, and the best-known source of the name Riyadh is from this period, thought to be referring to the earlier oasis towns that predated the wall built by Ibn Dawwas.[10] In 1744, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab formed an alliance with the Emir of Diriyah, Muhammad bin Saud, and they took Riyadh from Deham. However their state, now known as the First Saudi State, collapsed in 1818. Turki ibn Abdullah founded the Second Saudi State in the early 19th century and made Riyadh his capital in 1825. However, his reign over the city was disrupted by a joint Ottoman– Rashidi alliance. Finally, in the early 20th century, 'Abdulaziz ibn Saud, known in the west simply as Ibn Saud, retrieved his ancestral kingdom of Najd in 1902 and consolidated his rule by 1926 with the final Saudi conquest of Hejaz,[11] subsequently naming his kingdom 'Saudi Arabia' in September 1932[11] with Riyadh as the capital.[12] The town was the administrative center of the government until 1938, when Ibn Saud moved to the Murabba Palace. In the 1950s, the walls were dismantled and Riyadh metropolis outgrew as an offshoot of the walled town.

Riyadh is the political and administrative center of Saudi Arabia. The Consultative Assembly (also known as the Shura Council), the Council of Ministers, the King and the Supreme Judicial Council are all situated in the city. Alongside these four bodies that form the core of the legal system of Saudi Arabia, the headquarters of other major and minor governmental bodies are also located in Riyadh.[13] The city hosts 114 foreign embassies, most of which are located in the Diplomatic Quarter in the western reaches of the city.

Riyadh also holds economic significance, as it contains the headquarters of many banks and major companies, such as the Saudi National Bank (SNB), Al-Rajhi Bank, SABIC, Almarai, STC, and Samba Financial Group. Highway 65, known locally as the King Fahd Road, runs through some of these important centers in the city, including the King Abdullah Financial District, one of the world's largest financial districts, the Faisaliyah Center and the Kingdom Center. Riyadh is one of the world's fastest-growing cities in population and is home to many expatriates.

The city is divided into 15 municipal districts, which are overseen by the Municipality of Riyadh headed by the mayor; and the Royal Commission for Riyadh, which is chaired by the Governor of the Province, Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud. As of July 2020, the mayor is Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Mohammed bin Ayyaf Al-Muqrin.[14] Riyadh will host Expo 2030, becoming the second Arab city to host after Dubai in 2020.[15][16]

  1. ^ "Elevation Finder". www.freemaptools.com. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  2. ^ "بوابة الهيئة - الصفحة الرئيسية". portal.saudicensus.sa (in Arabic).
  3. ^ "TelluBase—Saudi Arabia Fact Sheet (Tellusant Public Service Series)" (PDF). tellusant.com. Tellusant, Inc. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Sub-national HDI – Subnational HDI – Global Data Lab".
  5. ^ "Riyadh". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
  6. ^ Gardham, Richard (28 December 2022). "The largest cities in Saudi Arabia (and their investment strengths)". Investment Monitor. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Geographic Location of Riyadh". Riyadh Development Authority. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  8. ^ "هيئة تطوير مدينة الرياض توافق على طلبات مطورين لإنشاء 4 مشاريع سياحية وترفيهية" (in Arabic). 4 April 2019. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  9. ^ Cybriwsky 2013, p. 258.
  10. ^ Al-Oteibi 1993, p. 163.
  11. ^ a b Farsy 1990, p. 15.
  12. ^ Facey 1992, p. 271.
  13. ^ Moon, Carol. "LibGuides: A Guide to Saudi Arabia Politics: 1.Government of Saudi Arabia". slulibrary.saintleo.edu. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Prince Faisal bin Abdulaziz appointed as Riyadh mayor by royal decree". Arab News. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Saudi capital Riyadh to host World Expo 2030". Arab News. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Saudi Arabia to Host World Expo 2030, in Victory for Crown Prince". the newyork times.com. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.