Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in Saudi Arabia () are the largest community of expatriates in the country, with most of them coming from the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

and most recently,

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Overview

Indians as migrant workers first began to arrive in modern-day

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 ...

in relatively small numbers from the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

soon after the discovery of oil in 1938, but their migration numbers skyrocketed exponentially after the

1973 energy crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after E ...

and subsequent oil boom. However, migration to Saudi Arabia dropped dramatically after reaching its peak in 2014 due to the introduction of the Nitaqat scheme in 2011, the acceleration of the

2010s oil glut The 2010s oil glut was a significant surplus of Petroleum, crude oil that started in 2014–2015 and accelerated in 2016, with multiple causes. They include general oversupply as Unconventional (oil & gas) reservoir, unconventional US and Canadi ...

by early 2016, and the launch of Saudi Vision 2030.

History

India and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to manage and organize the recruitment of domestic workers in January 2014. Between then and April 2016, 500,000 Indians moved to Saudi Arabia for employment. The agreement includes a provision which stipulates that sponsors must pay a guarantee of US $2,500 for each Indian worker they recruit.

Demographics

The following table shows the estimated population of Indians in Saudi Arabia since 1975.

Education

Indian curriculum schools in Saudi Arabia include:

Dammam

* International Indian School, Dammam (Largest school in

and the

MENA The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...

) * Dunes International School * Al Khozama International School

Riyadh

* International Indian School, Riyadh (First school to serve

Indian diaspora Overseas Indians (ISO 15919, ISO: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are people of Indian descent who reside or originate outside of India (Including those that were directly under the British Raj). Acc ...

) * New Middle East International School, Riyadh * International Indian Public School, Riyadh * Al-Yasmin International School,

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 ...

Al Alia International Indian School Al Alia International Indian School (AAIIS) () is a K–12 international school, private foreign school in the Al Malazz, Riyadh, al-Malaz neighborhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Established in 2003 by Thomas Chandy, the school serves the local Indi ...

Yara International School Yara International School (YIS) () is a K–12 International school, private foreign school in the Al Dirah, Riyadh, ad-Dirah district of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, located next to Qasr Al Hokm (Riyadh Metro), Qasr Al Hokm station in the former cam ...

Jeddah

* Talal International School,

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

* International Indian School Jeddah

Buraidah

* International Indian School Buraidah

Jubail

* International Indian School, Al-Jubail

Notable Indian Saudi Arabians

* Abdulbasit Hindi, Saudi Arabian footballer of distant Indian origin * Awaiz Patni, Group CFO - Bugshan Investment

References

{{Indian diaspora