''Aramco World'' (formerly ''Saudi Aramco World'') is a bi-monthly magazine published by

Aramco Services Company 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 ...

, a US-based subsidiary of

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 ...

, the state-owned oil company 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 ...

. The first issue of the magazine appeared in November 1949. The bimonthly magazine is published in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The magazine began as an internal company publication, but was expanded to a general interest format with distribution beyond company employees in the first decade of its existence. Published in English under the close editorial supervision of the Saudi authorities, the magazine was in particular intended to foster a sense of belonging at Aramco for employees and their families, as well as to more generally promote the company's interests. Its coverage focuses on the Arab world as a whole, albeit with an emphasis on perspectives thought to be of interest to its primarily American intended audience.

History

''Aramco World'' was founded in 1949 in New York as a publication of the Arabian-American Oil Company (now Saudi Aramco). Originally published to inform American Aramco employees of company activities, the magazine's coverage was expanded over the following decade to a more general interest format, modeled after contemporary US magazines such as ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' and ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'', and covering a wide variety of topics related to the Arab world and oil industry. In 1964, it moved its headquarters to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, and relocated again in 1975 due to the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

. Under the close editorial control of the Saudi government, the magazine serves as a public relations effort to promote a "favorable business climate" for the oil industry and in particular to foster a sense of belonging at the company for American employees and their families, as well as to curb negative sentiment against the company both from both employees and the public. The magazine is noted for its inclusion of full-color visual features, and its coverage of film production in Lebanon during the magazine's Beirut residency is a noteworthy resource for area studies, albeit with significant biases towards the interests of US audiences.

Selected articles

* * Free access to digitized copies of the magazine's back issues (1960-2022) are available through the magazine's website.

References

External links

* Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Business magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1949 Magazines published in Saudi Arabia Magazines published in Houston Petroleum magazines Saudi Arabian diaspora in the United States Saudi Aramco {{trade-mag-stub