Riyadh – City and Province
The name Riyadh refers to both the capital and one of the 13 provinces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Province of Riyadh (منطقة الرياض Manṭiqat ar-Riyāḍh) – also referred to as Al Wosta – is located in the center of the country. With inhabitants of over 9,000,000 (2023), it is the Kingdom’s second largest province in terms of both area (behind the Eastern Region) and population (after the Mecca Region).
Over three-quarters of the province’s residents live in the capital. Few cities in the world have developed as extraordinarily rapidly over the past one hundred years as the City of Riyadh. Whereas at the beginning of the last century Riyadh was still a village about one square kilometer in size, today it is a city with an area of about 1,600 square kilometers, which means that the city has literally exploded within a century.
Riyadh is the largest city in the entire Arabian Peninsula with nearly 8,000,000 inhabitants (as of 2021). This makes it also the second most populous city in the Arab world after Cairo in Egypt. The city has become one of the most important in the Middle East. But that’s not all: The Saudi state’s plans call for Riyadh to grow to 15 to 20 million inhabitants by 2030. About a third of the inhabitants are non-Saudi.
Highlights
Furthermore, Riyadh is the political and administrative center of Saudi Arabia and the seat of the country’s central government authorities. In addition, Riyadh is becoming increasingly important economically, as it is the headquarters of many banks and large companies.
Life in Riyadh – despite its externally perceptible development – is still influenced by the religion of Islam, which is “lived” in the city’s more than 4,000 mosques. The large mosques in particular give the individual neighbourhoods of the city their urban character. The vast majority of the city’s Muslims follow their Sunni faith. The city’s inhabitants still follow specific social norms, of which a latent separation of the sexes in public life is still observable, and which – very importantly – include the privacy of the family.
Still relevant to daily life are the numerous bustling shopping centers. The many souks (marketplaces) and shopping malls attract the inhabitants of the city, which underlines the intense feeling of liveliness of the city.
Let yourself be driven by the worlds of entertainment and business. Riyadh comes up with huge entertainment shows, concerts and festivals, especially during the winter season, such as the Riyadh Season (more on that later). In any case, it is worth visiting the city not only as a businessman or woman, but also as a tourist.
Historical landmarks to sites that illustrate the city’s – as well as the country’s – transition into a modern society with an increasing affinity for the latest technology. An already large cultural offer of museums, galleries is constantly expanding, but is already so comprehensive that a short trip must be limited to a few „flagships“.
Do not miss – if possible – the charm of the desert and the formations of the Tuwayq Escarpment and other destinations in the immediate vicinity of Riyadh.
In the suburb of Ad Diriyah of Riyadh, you can discover the cradle of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with its historical treasures hidden in old palaces that encompass the founding moments.
The bustling city is home to luxurious restaurants, cafés with distinctive service and refined international dishes, as well as local restaurants that will tempt you with authentic flavours and a blend of spices from Saudi culture.
Discover the most important things about them on the following pages – enjoy browsing!
