Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in Saudi Arabia ar, الهنود في السعودية, translit=al-Hunūd fī as-Saʿūdīyah, lit=) are the largest community of expatriates in the country, most of them coming from the states of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

and most recently,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Overview

Indians as migrant workers first began to arrive in modern-day

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

in relatively small number from the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

soon after the discovery of oil in 1938, but had their migration skyrocketed exponentially after the

1973 energy crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

and subsequent

oil boom An oil boom is a period of large inflow of income as a result of high global oil prices or large oil production in an economy. Generally, this short period initially brings economic benefits, in terms of increased GDP growth, but might later lead ...

. However, migration to Saudi Arabia dropped dramatically after reaching its peak in 2014 due to the introduction of

Nitaqat Saudization ( ar, السعودة), officially known as Saudi nationalization scheme, or Nitaqat ( ar, النطاقات), is the newest policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia implemented by its Ministry of Labor and Social Development, whereby Sa ...

scheme in 2011, acceleration of

2010s oil glut The 2010s oil glut is a significant surplus of crude oil that started in 2014–2015 and accelerated in 2016, with multiple causes. They include general oversupply as unconventional US and Canadian tight oil (shale oil) production reached crit ...

by early 2016 and the launch of

Saudi Vision 2030 Saudi Vision 2030 ( ar, رؤية السعودية ٢٠٣٠ ''ruʾyah al-suʿūdiyah'') is a strategic framework to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, in ...

History

India and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to manage and organize the recruitment of domestic workers in January 2014. Between then and April 2016, 500,000 Indians moved to Saudi Arabia for employment. The agreement includes a provision which stipulates that sponsors must pay a guarantee of US $2,500 for each Indian worker they recruit.

Demographics

The following table shows the estimated population of Indians in Saudi Arabia since 1975.

Education

Indian curriculum schools in Saudi Arabia include:

Dammam

International Indian School, Dammam International Indian School Dammam (IISD) (formerly Indian Embassy School Dammam) is an English-medium K-12 Indian school in Saudi Arabia led by Mahenaz Farid. It is the largest school in the MENA region by number of students. Most of its 14000+ s ...

Riyadh

International Indian School, Riyadh International Indian School Riyadh (), formerly the Embassy of India School, Riyadh is a K–12 English-medium community-based foreign school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, run by the Indian embassy. Established in 1982 with assistance from then In ...

* New Middle East International School, Riyadh * International Indian Public School, Riyadh * Al-Yasmin International School,

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

Al Alia International Indian School Al-Alia International Indian School (AAIIS) () is a K–12 Single-sex education, gender-isolated English medium, English-medium Community education, community-based international school, private foreign school in the Al Malazz, Riyadh, al-Malazz n ...

Yara International School Yara International School (YIS) (), simply sometimes Yara (), is a K–12 Single-sex education, gender-isolated English-medium Multicultural education, multicultural international school in the Al Dirah, Riyadh, Deerah district of Riyadh, Saudi ...

Jeddah

* Talal International School,

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

International Indian School Jeddah The International Indian School Jeddah, ( ar, المدرسة الهندية العالميه بجدة; hi, अंतर्राष्ट्रीय भारतीय विद्यालय जेद्दा) formerly known as the Embassy o ...

Buraidah

* International Indian School Buraidah

Jubail

* International Indian School, Al-Jubail

Notable Indian Saudi Arabians

* Abdulbasit Hindi, Saudi Arabian footballer of distant Indian origin *Awaiz Patni, Group CFO - Bugshan Investment

References

Ethnic groups in Saudi Arabia

India–Saudi Arabia relations Indian diaspora Ethnic groups in the Middle East {{Saudi Arabia-stub