2 | Modern Saudi Arabia a uniform “land of sand,” in reality, the desert in its traditionally understood form occu- pies only about one-third of the country. The rest is made of various oases, wadis, steppe, mountain systems, and the Hijaz countryside that resembles the Mediterranean. Saudi Arabia has two distinct mountain ranges: the Mountains of Hijaz on the Red Sea coast and the Asir range in the south. Geograph i cally, the kingdom can be divided into five areas: (1) Central Arabia, or Najd, where the capital of Riyadh is located (2) the Hijaz, which includes the provinces of Mecca and Medina (3) the Asir Moun- tains neighboring Yemen (4) Eastern Arabia, or al-Hasa, which contains most of Saudi oil reserves and (5) Northern Arabia, which geograph i cally constitutes a part of the Great Syrian Desert. Today, the majority of Saudis live in four populated areas: Najd, Hijaz, al-Hasa, and Asir. An important aspect of Saudi Arabia’s geography, which has made a profound impact on its society and culture, is its inaccessibility from the rest of the world, created by various factors, such as long impassable stretches of desert, seacoasts, and high moun- tain ranges. For instance, Najd was one of the most physically isolated permanently inhabited places on earth prior to the discovery of oil. Over the centuries, this geo graphical isolation greatly influenced how Saudi Arabia views itself and the world. Further Reading Suhail, Mohammad. Introduction to General Geography and Water Resources of Saudi Ara- bia. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2016. Thompson, Andrew. Origins of Arabia. Fitzroy Dearbourn, 2000. Vincent, Peter J. Saudi Arabia: An Environmental Overview. Taylor & Francis, 2008. Asir The mountainous region of Asir, which literally means “Difficult Country” in Arabic, lies in the southwest of Saudi Arabia, between the Hijaz in the north and Yemen in the south. Saudi Arabia gained control of Asir as a result of the Treaty of Taif, signed to end the Saudi-Yemeni War in 1934. As the mountains increase in elevation southward, the region resembles Yemen more than the rest of the kingdom. Its highest peak is Jabal Sawda, the “Black Mountain,” which exceeds 9,800 feet. Further south, the eastern side of the mountains border the Rub al-Khali Desert. Seasonal monsoon rains in higher elevations provide sufficient water for farming. Asir receives more rain than other parts of the country—up to 20 inches of rain annually—and is an important agricultural region, which produces wheat, coffee, cotton, indigo, ginger, fruits, and vegetables. The area’s geography and climate also create favorable conditions for raising diff erent kinds of livestock. Asir’s topography, with its rocky slopes and isolated plates, historically pro- vided protection for local tribes from invaders. This region contains four Saudi provinces, among which the Asir Province is the largest. Its capital, Abha, located to the southeast of the Black Mountain, was the
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