Saudi Arabia

The state-building process of Saudi Arabia ended in 1932. Since then, the country has been a unified sovereign kingdom under the Saud dynasty. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is by far the largest state of the Arabian Peninsula. The country borders with Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait to the north, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and the Persian Gulf to the east, Yemen and Oman to the south and the Red Sea to the west. The population is about 35 million and the official language is Arabic.

Under the leadership of the Saud family, the country has historically played a pivotal political, diplomatic, religious and cultural role within the Islamic and Arab world. This is also due to the presence in the country of some of the main Muslim holy places, such as the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. The Kingdom is visited by millions of pilgrims from all over the world each year, making religious tourism a major source of revenues for the Saudi Government.

After the discovery of the first oil fields in 1938 and the consequent boom of the hydrocarbon industry, the Kingdom quickly became one of the richest countries in the region. As a key oil producer and reliable partner for Western powers – mainly the United States – Saudi Arabia has strengthened its diplomatic and political status, positioning itself as an important mediator in the Near East. In recent years, the country has invested in economic diversification programmes, reviewing its diplomatic relations and international investments. A G20 member, Saudi Arabia is an important commercial and economic power and a relevant trade partner for Italy, both in terms of exports and of imports. Total annual trade between the two countries was $ 9,52 billion in 2021. In 2020, Saudi Arabia ranked 26^th among Italy’s top import countries, while Italy ranked seventh among Saudi Arabia’s top export countries. Over the last few years, relations between Riyadh and Rome have progressively grown stronger. This has led to the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding for Bilateral Strategic Dialogue between Italy and Saudi Arabia in January 2021.