Greece vs Saudi Arabia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Greece vs Saudi Arabia - Essay Example tion of the country.1 The country has a huge workforce that is comprised of foreign nationals who work alongside the Saudi nationals and it has been estimated that this number of foreigners increased from 4,563,000 in the year 1985 to a total of 5,300,000 in the year 1990.2 The country is a kingdom and before the year 1932, the Arabs were divided into different geographical regions such as the Nejd, Hejaz and Al Hasa regions and it was Ibn Saud who conquered the various dis-united regions ad declared himself the king of the United Saudi Arabia in the year 1932. 3 The petroleum deposits that have taken Saudi Arabia to the heights of its current prosperity were discovered in the year 1936. Most of the population belongs to a strict sect of Islam known as the Wahhabis. The cultural and social conditions of the country seem to be much talked about, yet still veiled mystery as the people are extremely conservative and follow the Sharia (Islamic Law) with strict adherence. A very big reason that the Saudi workforce comprises of so large a number of foreign residents is the fact that until the last decade there were very few places where Saudi national could obtain higher education in their own country. Due to this reason, the country has a huge workforce which comprises of foreign nationals. Recently, in the last decade or so, the government has started spending huge amounts of money on developing its own national workforce, which is an avenue which was always neglected previously. The oil that the country produces plays a huge role in its economy. Statistics confirm that the budget revenue is derived mainly out of oil sales and it accounts for 80% of the over all budget. It also makes up a large chunk of the country’s GDP at a contribution of nearly 45 %. It can easily be said that with 90% of the its earnings coming out of oil export, Saudi Arabia is an economy which is highly dependent on its natural resources. Although the current falling prices of oil and the