The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية , Al-Mamlaka al-Arabiyya as-Saudiyya ) is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south, with the Persian Gulf to its northeast and the Red Sea to its west.
The Kingdom is sometimes nicknamed "the lands of the two holy mosques", a reference to Makkah and Medina, Islam's two holiest places. In English, it is most commonly referred to as Saudi Arabia, often as just Saudi by many English-speaking expatriates in the kingdom, or, less commonly (as in international football events or in its national press) as KSA or SA. Arabia is sometimes used to refer to the nation, but the term can also refer to the entire peninsula and its varied nations, and sometimes the entire Arab world, and is thus ambiguous. The Arabic short form is usually as-Saʻūdiyya / السعودية .
Saudi Arabia is the world's leading petroleum producer and exporter. Oil accounts for more than 90% of exports and nearly 75% of government revenues, facilitating the creation of a welfare state, which the government has found difficult to fund during periods of low oil prices. The Kingdom is also one of the few states that comprise the Cradle of Humanity.
