Saudi Arabia tourist information

Saudi Arabian culture revolves almost entirely around the religion of Islam. Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, are located in the country. Every day, five times a day, Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of mosques which dot the country. The weekend consists of Thursday and Friday. The public practice of any religion other than Islam, including Christianity and Judaism, the presence of churches, and open possession of Christian religious materials are outlawed in Saudi Arabia. Islam's holy book the Qur'an is Saudi Arabia's constitution, and Shari'ah (Islamic law) is the foundation of its legal system.

One of Saudi Arabia's most compelling folk rituals is the Ardha, the country's national dance. This sword dance is based on ancient Bedouin traditions: drummers beat out a rhythm and a poet chants verses while sword-carrying men dance shoulder to shoulder. Al-sihba folk music, from the Hijaz, has its origins in Arab Andalusia, a region of medieval Spain. In Mecca, Medina and Jeddah, dance and song incorporate the sound of the al-mizmar, an oboe-like woodwind instrument. The drum is also an important instrument according to traditional and tribal customs.

Saudi Arabian dress is strongly symbolic, representing the people's ties to the land, the past, and Islam. The predominantly loose and flowing, but covering garments reflect the practicalities of life in a desert country as well as Islam's emphasis on conservative dress. Traditionally, men usually wear an ankle-length shirt woven from wool or cotton (known as a thawb), with a shimagh (a large checkered square of cotton held in place by a cord coil) or a ghutra (a plain white square made of finer cotton, also held in place by a cord coil) worn on the head.

For rare chilly days, Saudi men wear a camel-hair cloak (bisht) over the top. Women's clothes are decorated with tribal motifs, coins, sequins, metallic thread, and appliques. However, Saudi women must wear a long cloak (abaya) and veil (niqab) when they leave the house to protect their modesty. The law does not apply to foreigners at such a high degree, but both men and women are told to dress modestly.

Islam forbids the eating of pork and the drinking of alcohol, and this law is followed strictly throughout Saudi Arabia. Arabic unleavened bread, or khobz, is eaten with almost all meals. Other staples include cooked lamb, grilled chicken, felafel (deep-fried chickpea balls), shawarma (spit-cooked sliced lamb), and fuul (a paste of fava beans, garlic and lemon). Traditional coffee houses used to be ubiquitous, but are now being displaced by food-hall style cafes. Arabic tea is also a famous custom, which is used in both casual and formal meetings between friends, family and even strangers. The tea is black (without milk) and has herbal flavoring that comes in many variations.

Public theatres and cinemas are prohibited, as Wahabbi tradition deems those institutions to be incompatible with Islam. However, in private compounds such as Dhahran and Ras Tanura public theaters can be found, but often are more popular for local music, arts, and theatre productions rather than the exhibition of motion pictures. Recently plans for some cinemas that will allow Arabic cartoons to be featured in cinemas for women and children were announced. Videos and DVDs of popular American movies are legal and widely available.

The cultural heritage is celebrated at the annual Jenadriyah Cultural festival.

The efforts of both local organizations and the government have resulted in a greater appreciation among young Saudis of the Kingdom's rich heritage, and ensure that its cultural and artistic treasures will be cherished by future generations. Meanwhile, by investing in sports facilities, it seeks to encourage recreational activities as part of a healthy lifestyle.

For thousands of years, the people of the Arabian Peninsula have been at the geographic, commercial and cultural crossroads of the world. As early as 3,000 BC, the people of the western region of the peninsula were part of a far-reaching commercial network extending to south Asia, the Mediterranean and Egypt. The discovery some 1,900 years ago of the cyclical pattern of trade winds known as the monsoon increased the importance of the peninsula. Trade flourished, with merchants of the peninsula acting as the vital link between India and the Far East on the one side and Byzantium and the Mediterranean states on the other. Interaction with other cultures of east and west over the centuries enriched the ancient traditions and culture of the people of the peninsula.

The introduction of Islam to the Arabian heartland in the seventh century AD further strengthened the region's cultural heritage. Within a century, Islam spread west to the Atlantic Ocean and as far east as the Indian subcontinent and China. With Makkah as its core, the Islamic world witnessed a flowering of culture, the sciences and the arts unparalleled in human history. Every year for the past fourteen centuries, Muslim pilgrims from around the world have traveled to Islam's holiest sites in Makkah and Madinah, helping further enrich the culture of the people of the peninsula.

With the formation of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, King Abdulaziz bin Abdelrahman Al-Saud directed his efforts to preserving and perpetuating Arab traditions and culture. His legendary dedication to this cause was emulated by his sons and successors at a crucial time when the nation was entering an era of rapid economic development.

Modernization & Culture That Saudi Arabia has successfully preserved and strengthened its cultural heritage while achieving the spectacular development and modernization of the past three decades is testimony to the resilience of Saudi culture and the nation's determination to cherish and protect it. Today amid the bustle of life in the 21st century in modern Saudi society contemporary Saudi writers look to the past for inspiration. Popular musicians incorporate ancient rhythms and instruments into their modern music and painters capture traditional scenes.

The accelerating pace of development in the 1970s, however, led Saudi leaders to take additional steps to preserve the nation's cultural and artistic heritage. When the General Presidency of Youth Welfare (GPYW) was established in 1974, one of its main functions was to strengthen an understanding and respect for the nation's culture and arts among young people: this function was taken over by the Ministry of Culture and Information in April 2003.

In 1974, the Department of Museums and Antiquities was formed in the Ministry of Education. Today, in addition to the National Museum in Riyadh there are major museums in each of the Kingdom's thirteen provinces, and many smaller ones, some of them privately-owned.

Al-Janadriya The Kingdom also organizes annually one of the most important cultural festivals in the Arab world, the National Festival of Heritage and Culture in al-Janadriyah region, Riyadh. The festival has become a crossroad where poetry, intellect, culture, art, theater, heritage and history meet.