ABSTRACT
Saudi Arabia's geography and economy place it prominently in international rankings. Saudi Arabia is a young nation, founded in 1932 on a core area dating from earlier in the century. It was born of a special combination of circumstances and has adhered to many of the traditions that were an integral part of its raison d'etre. In the early months of 2011, the beginnings of protest appeared, especially in the same social media that had been so prominent in Egypt. This discontent derived from several factors present in the kingdom—discontent among the young about their employment prospects, dissatisfaction about the glacial pace of long-promised reforms, and the resentments within the sizable Shii minority in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has three principal population nuclei and several outliers, all separated by empty or sparsely settled desert. Most populous is Najd, the Saudi heartland.
