ABSTRACT

Until the mid-twentieth century the territories that today comprise Saudi Arabia were sparsely populated, with coastal settlements and small trading towns in the interior and some agricultural settlements - such as the Hofuf oasis of Al-Hasa - in the east and the mountainous region of Asir in the southwest. Before oil the entire population of the area was less than one million; by 2000, though still sparsely populated, Saudi Arabia had one of the highest rates of population increase in the world. This had inevitable consequences for employment, with a great deal of media comment, official documentation and even more academic writing regarding the issue in terms of job creation and the need for a so-called Saudi-isation of the workforce, a process that refers to the replacement of expatriate workers by local citizens.