The following lists events in the year 2019 in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

Salman Salman may refer to: People * Salman (name), people with the name Places in Iran * Salman, Khuzestan, a village in Khuzestan Province * Salman, alternate name of Deh-e Salman, Lorestan, a village in Lorestan Province * Salman, Razavi Khorasa ...

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

Mohammad bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the '' de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He is the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, ...

Events

January

* 5 January - Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun was detained by Thai authorities whilst transiting through Bangkok airport, en route from Kuwait to Australia. She was attempting to flee her family and seek asylum in Australia because she says they subjected her to physical and psychological abuse and is concerned that she could face execution if deported back to her native Saudi Arabia.

February

* 5 February 2019 - The Saudi satellite SGS-1 was launched. *11 February - Crown Prince

Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the ''de facto'' ruler of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Sa ...

, officially inaugurated King Abdullah Port, the first fully privately owned, developed and operated port. * 23 February - Princess

Reema bint Bandar Al Saud Reema bint Bandar Al Saud (; born 15 February 1975) is the current List of ambassadors of Saudi Arabia to the United States, Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, a position her father had also previously held. Appointed by Salman of Sa ...

was named Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States, making her the first woman envoy in the country's history.

March

* 1 March - Through a royal decree, King

Salman of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; born 31 December 1935) has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. He is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. He assumed the thron ...

revokes the citizenship of

Hamza bin Laden Hamza bin Laden (9 May 19892017/2019) was a Saudi-born key member of al-Qaeda. He was a son of Osama bin Laden. On 14 September 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he was killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation on the Durand Li ...

, Osama bin Laden's son, who works in the

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

terrorist organization. * 27 March -

Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- lar ...

signs share purchase agreement to acquire 70% majority stake in

SABIC Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (), known as SABIC (), is a Saudi chemical manufacturing company. 70% of SABIC's shares are owned by Saudi Aramco. It is active in petrochemicals, chemicals, industrial polymers and fertilizers. It is the second ...

from the

Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia The Public Investment Fund (PIF; ) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of billion. It was created in 1971 for the purpose of investing funds on be ...

for $69.1 billion in one of the biggest deals in the global chemical industry.

April

* 1 April - Crown Prince

laid the foundation stone for the establishment of the Air War Center. * 21 April - Four heavily armed attackers were killed in a failed terrorist attack on a

Mabahith The General Directorate of Investigations (), commonly known simply as the Mabahith, is the secret police agency of the Presidency of State Security in Saudi Arabia, and deals with domestic security and counter-intelligence. The officers of the ...

building in

Zulfi Az Zulfi (also Zulfi, Zulfy City or Al Zulfi or Az Zilfi) is a city in Riyadh Province in central Saudi Arabia, about 260 kilometres northwest of Riyadh. It is connected by Roads 418 and 535 which both link with the main Highway 65 which conne ...

, north of

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

May

* 30–31 May - Saudi Arabia hosted three historical summits in

Makkah Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above sea level. Its metropo ...

; the GCC Summit, the Arab Summit, and the

Organization of Islamic Cooperation The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC; ; ), formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1969. It consists of 57 member states, 48 of which are Muslim-majority. The Pew Forum on ...

Summit. * Makkah Document (2019) was declared in

June

* 12 June 2019 - The Abha International Airport was attacked by the

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

-based Houthi rebels using a cruise missile.

August

* 1 August - Saudi Arabia allowed women to travel abroad, register a divorce or a marriage, and apply for official documents without the consent of a male guardian. *11 August - The total number of pilgrims participated in 2019's

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

season is 2,489,406. *17 August - Yemen's Houthi movement attacked

Shaybah Shaybah, also called as Zararah, is a settlement dominated by a major crude oil production oil site, the Shaybah oil field, in Saudi Arabia, located approximately from the northern edge of the Rub' Al-Khali ("Empty Quarter") desert. It is about ...

natural gas liquefaction facility by drones causing a small fire with no injuries. *21 August - Ibtisam Al-Shehri is the first woman who was appointed as a spokeswoman for the

Ministry of education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. *30 August - a new ministry for Industry and Mineral Resources was established.

September

*14 September -

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- l ...

oil facilities in

Abqaiq Abqaiq () is a city in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, located in the desert 60 km southwest of the Dhahran-Dammam-Khobar metropolitan area, and north of the Rub' al Khali, Rub' al-Khali, the second lar ...

and

Khurais Khurais oil field () is an oil field in Saudi Arabia that went online on June 10, 2009, adjacent to the world's largest, the Ghawar trend. The Khurais field, with an area of 2,890 km2 and 127 km long, is located about 250 km southw ...

were targeted by a drone attack causing large fires but no casualties. *27–27 September - Saudi Arabia formally announced the issuance of the tourist visa to visitors from 49 countries for a fee of $80. The visa can be either obtained online (eVisa) or on arrival. *29 September - Houthi rebels claimed they have captured thousands of Saudi troops in fighting in

Najran Najran ( '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Najran Province. Today, the city of Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As of the 2022 census, the city population was 381,431, wi ...

October

* 29–31 October - The annual

Future Investment Initiative The Future Investment Initiative Institute, or FII Institute, is a non-profit organisation run by the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund. The Future Investment Initiative was announced in September 2017 by Saudi A ...

(FII) was held in Riyadh.

November

* 3 November -

announced a plan to list its initial public offering (IPO) in the domestic stock exchange (Tadawul) which expected to be the world’s biggest listing. * 5 November - Yemen government and separatists sign power sharing deal in Riyadh. *20 November - Saudi Arabia was elected to the executive board of UNESCO for 2019-2023. *22 November -

Reema Juffali Reema Juffali, also spelt either as Reema Al Juffali or Reema Al-Juffali (; born 18 January 1992), is a Saudi Arabian amateur race car driver who competes in the International GT Open with her own team, Theeba Motorsport. She is the first-ever ...

became the first woman Saudi racing driver to compete in an international racing competition in Saudi Arabia. *27 November - Saudi Arabia was elected to the membership of UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

References

{{Year in Asia , 2019 2010s in Saudi Arabia Years of the 21st century in Saudi Arabia