The Provinces of Saudi Arabia, also known as Regions, and officially the Emirates of the Provinces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (), are the 13
first-level administrative divisions of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
History
After the
unification of Saudi Arabia
The Unification of Saudi Arabia was a military and political campaign in which the various tribes, sheikhdoms, city-states, emirates, and kingdoms of most of the Arabian Peninsula were conquered by the House of Saud, or ''Al Saud''. Unifica ...
, the kingdom was divided into seven administrative-territorial entities: the '
Asir Province,
Al Hasa' Province, the
Hejaz Province, the
Najd Province, the
Rub' al-Khali Province and the
Shammar Province
The tribe of Shammar ( ar, شَمَّر, Šammar) is a tribal Arab Qahtan confederation, descended from the Yemeni tribe of Tayy as they originated in Yemen before migrating into present day Saudi Arabia, It is the biggest branch of Tayy tribe. I ...
.
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فهد بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Fahd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', ; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was a Saudi Arabian politician who was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia fro ...
issued Royal Order A/92 on March 2, 1992, known as the Regions' System, which provided for the division of the kingdom into 13 emirates. Subsequently, the five previous provinces were divided into thirteen geographic regions, called provinces (''manātiq'') and administrative regions, called the emirates of the provinces (''imārāt al-manātiq''). The emirates form the first-level administrative division of the
Organization of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and are further divided into 136
governorates (''muḥāfaẓāt''), which are the second-level division,
which are further subdivided into 1,347 municipal-level units (''marakiz''), and further subdivided into villages (''qura'') and neighborhoods (''ahya'').
Government
Each emirate is governed by an ''
Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
'' (Provincial Governor), who is assisted by the deputy ''emir,'' called ''nā'ib.'' The persons holding these positions are appointed by the
King of Saudi Arabia
The king of Saudi Arabia is the monarchial head of state and ruler of Saudi Arabia who holds absolute power. He is the head of the Saudi Arabian royal family, the House of Saud. The king is called the "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" (), a ...
. The ''emir'' is given the rank of minister, while the deputy ''emir'' is given the rank of
excellence.
List of the Emirates of the Provinces of Saudi Arabia
See also
*
ISO 3166-2:SA
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Provinces of Saudi Arabia
Subdivisions of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia 1
Saudi Arabia 1
Regions, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia geography-related lists