<P> The area of modern - day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four distinct regions : Hejaz , Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia ( Al - Ahsa ) and Southern Arabia ( ' Asir ) . The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud . He united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh , the ancestral home of his family , the House of Saud . Saudi Arabia has since been an absolute monarchy , effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines . The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called `` the predominant feature of Saudi culture '' , with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade . Saudi Arabia is sometimes called `` the Land of the Two Holy Mosques '' in reference to Al - Masjid al - Haram ( in Mecca ) and Al - Masjid an - Nabawi ( in Medina ) , the two holiest places in Islam . As of 2013 , the state had a total population of 28.7 million , of which 20 million were Saudi nationals and 8 million were foreigners . As of 2017 , the population is 33 million . The state 's official language is Arabic . </P>
<P> The area of modern - day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four distinct regions : Hejaz , Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia ( Al - Ahsa ) and Southern Arabia ( ' Asir ) . The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud . He united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh , the ancestral home of his family , the House of Saud . Saudi Arabia has since been an absolute monarchy , effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines . The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called `` the predominant feature of Saudi culture '' , with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade . Saudi Arabia is sometimes called `` the Land of the Two Holy Mosques '' in reference to Al - Masjid al - Haram ( in Mecca ) and Al - Masjid an - Nabawi ( in Medina ) , the two holiest places in Islam . As of 2013 , the state had a total population of 28.7 million , of which 20 million were Saudi nationals and 8 million were foreigners . As of 2017 , the population is 33 million . The state 's official language is Arabic . </P>
when was the kingdom of saudi arabia established
when was the kingdom of saudi arabia established
1932
1932