The provinces of Saudi Arabia, also known as regions (), are the 13 first-level

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

s of the

Kingdom of 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 ...

History

After the

unification of Saudi Arabia The unification of Saudi Arabia was a military and political campaign in which the various tribes, sheikhdoms, city-states, emirates, and Monarchy, kingdoms of most of the central Arabian Peninsula were conquered by the House of Saud, or ''Al ...

, the kingdom was divided into four provinces: the '

Asir Province Asir, officially the Aseer Province, is a province of Saudi Arabia in southern Arabia. It has an area of , and an estimated population of 2,024,285 (in 2022). Asir is bounded by the Mecca Province to the north and west, al-Bahah Province to the ...

, Al Hasa' Province, the Hejaz Province and the Najd Province.

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued Royal Order A/92 on March 2, 1992, known as Law of the Provinces, which provided for the division of the kingdom into 13 provinces. Subsequently, the five previous provinces were divided into thirteen regions, called provinces (''manātiq''), each governed by administrative bodies called the emirates of the provinces (''imārāt al-manātiq''). The provinces form the first-level administrative division of the Organization of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and are further divided into 136

governorate A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions ...

s (''muḥāfaẓāt''), which are the second-level division, which are further subdivided into 1,347 municipal-level units (''marakiz''), and further subdivided into villages (''qura'') and neighborhoods (''ahya'').

Government

Each province is governed by an ''

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

'' (provincial governor), who is assisted by the deputy ''emir,'' called ''nā'ib.'' The persons holding these positions are appointed by the

King of Saudi Arabia The king of Saudi Arabia, officially the king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (; ''Malik al-Mamlakat al-ʿArabiyat as-Suʿūdiyya''), is head of state and of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi ...

. The ''emir'' is given the rank of minister, while the deputy ''emir'' is given the rank of excellence.

List

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Provinces of Saudi Arabia Subdivisions of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 1 Saudi Arabia 1 Provinces, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia geography-related lists

History

Government

List

See also

References

External links