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                           SAUDI ARABIA

Geo~raphv and Climate

      Saudi Arabia is a large country.  It occupies most of the
Arabian Peninsula, an area about the size of the United States
east of the Mississippi River.   Its exact size is uncertain
because many if its boundaries are not firmly defined.   It is
about 2,217,949 square km.  The vast majority of its territory is
desert.

      Saudi Arabia has three great deserts.  The Nafud in the
north along the Saudi borders with Jordan and Iraq.   The Ad Dahna
runs from northern Saudi Arabia along the Saudi-Iraqi neutral
zone south through the center of the country.   The third and
largest desert is the Rub Al Khali.   The Rub Al Khali is over
half million square km in area and is located along the Saudi's
southern border with Yemen and Oman.

      Western Saudi Arabia, along the Red Sea, is made up of two
mountain ranges, the Hijaz in the north, and the Asir in the
south.  Although both ranges are low, the Hijaz rises between
2,000 and 6,000 feet and the Asir, up to 9,000 feet.   Both are
rocky and steep, especially on the western sides.   On the eastern
sides, both slope gradually down to an extensive rocky plateau
called the Najd.   The Najd extends east to the center of the
Arabian peninsula where it meets the desert, Ad Dahna.

      East of the Ad Dahna is another rock plateau, the Summan
Plateau.   Lower in elevation than the Najd, the Summan Plateau
gradually drops in elevation to the flat coastal plains along the
Persian Gulf.

      Saudi Arabia has a desert climate characterized by extremely
high temperatures during the day and sharp drops in temperatures
at night.   The temperature along the coastal regions near the Red
Sea and the Persian Gul~ is moderated by the presence of these
bodies of water.   In these areas, the temperature seldom rises
above 100 degrees F, but the relative humidity is unusually high.
Inland, on the rocky plateaus of Najd and Summan, as well as in
the deserts, the tempearture can reach as high as 130 degrees F.
The heat gains intensity immediately after sunrise and dissipates
at sunset, producing relatively cool nights.   The almost
nonexistent humidity of the central plateaus and deserts,
combined with relatively low temperatures, can make nights on the
Arabian Peninsula seem bitterly cold.

      For most of the country, rainfall is slight and erratic. A
region's entire annual rainfall may come in one torrential
downpour.   For this reason, most of the country's scarce water
supply comes from springs and artesian wells.   In the central
portion of Saudi Arabia, Najd and the three deserts' natural
wells and springs are few and scattered.   Water must be hauled or


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