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Saudi Arabia
SOCIETY
Population: Figures vary; 1992 Saudi census,
published December 1992, gave total population of 16.9 million,
of whom 12.3 million Saudi nationals, 4.6 million resident foreigners.
Annual rate of growth in 1992 was 3.3 percent.
Ethnic Groups and Languages: All Saudis are
Arab Muslims, as are over half the foreigners. In 1990 foreign
work force included large numbers of Egyptians, Yemenis, Jordanians,
Bahrainis, Pakistanis, Indians, and Filipinos, in that order.
Arabic language of all Saudis.
Religion: Strict Wahhabi interpretation of Sunni
Islam, the official faith of about 95 percent of Saudis. Remainder
are Shia, most of whom reside in vicinity of Al Ahsa and Al Qatif
in Eastern Province. Public worship by non-Muslims prohibited.
Education and Literacy: Education system experienced
massive growth in 1970s and 1980s. Attendance not compulsory.
Females accounted for close to 44 percent of public school student
total of 2.6 million in 1989. About 130,000 students in 1989 enrolled
in nonvocational institutions of higher learning, 9,000 in vocational
institutions; about 4,000 enrolled abroad. Literacy estimated
at 62 percent of those over age fifteen in 1990, 73 percent for
males and 48 percent for females.
Health: Infant mortality declining, twenty-one
per 1,000 births in Ministry of Health hospitals in 1990. Immunization
of infants and young children compulsory. Health care facilities
underwent huge expansion in 1970s and 1980s. Official policy to
provide comprehensive medical care free or at nominal fee. Introduction
of epidemic control system in 1986 eliminated cholera, plague,
and yellow fever. Incidence of malaria and bilharzia reduced to
1.6 and 1.9 percent respectively of total 1988 population. Despite
trachoma campaigns, disease remained a major cause of blindness.
Data as of December 1992
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