GCC Member States

The Kingdom of Bahrain consists of 33 islands located in the Arabian Gulf in the area between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar, with an area of 780 square kilometers. The capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain is its largest city, Manama. Which has a distinctive global and Arab tourism and cultural reputation, and it was chosen as the capital of Arab culture in 2012, the capital of Arab tourism in 2013, and the capital of Asian tourism in 2014. Bahrain is proud of being a pole to which human energies seek from around the world, due to its multiculturalism and ethnicities, in addition to the low cost of living and the availability of educational and health services. It is currently inhabited by nearly one million two hundred thousand people, distributed between citizens and residents. It is also considered an important economic and financial center in the region, where major financial institutions in the world meet. The Kingdom of Bahrain has an economic future vision towards the year 2030 that aims to make Bahrain's economy more sustainable. The history of human settlement in the group of islands that meet under the banner of the Kingdom of Bahrain now dates back 4000 years, as different civilizations followed Bahrain beginning with the Dilmun civilization and then Tylos, Awal and the Islamic civilization

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia occupies the largest part of the Arabian Peninsula and is located in the far southwest of the continent of Asia, where it is bordered to the west by the Red Sea, to the east by the Persian Gulf, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, the State of Qatar, and to the north, the State of Kuwait, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Iraq, and to the south, the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Yemen . The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia occupies four fifths of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area estimated at more than 2,250,000 km. The Kingdom’s climate is continental, hot, summers, cold winters, and rains in winters . The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is honored by the presence of Islamic holy sites in Makkah and Madinah, where it embraces the Sacred House of God and the Mosque of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the Kingdom of the government and people is proud of serving the guests of the Most Merciful, pilgrims and Umrah performers . The Kingdom is the first in the world in oil production and reserves, fifth in natural gas reserves, and ninth in natural gas production. Industry in Saudi Arabia is related to oil and natural gas, and the most important industrial products are: cement, steel bars, ethylene, fodder, ethylene glycol, industrial ethanol, ethylene dichlor, stearin, caustic soda, and others. Agriculture is also witnessing remarkable progress in recent years, as the agricultural sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia achieved an increasing developmental renaissance that led to an increase in agricultural GDP from 990 million riyals in 1970 to 38.3 billion riyals at current prices for this year at an annual growth rate of 11%. Wheat, barley, white corn and sesame, in addition to vegetables, the most important of which are tomatoes, melons, potatoes, cucumbers and melons. The total production of dates reached 16 million tons annually .

Population :

27.173 million

Official Language :

Arabic

National Day of the Kingdom :

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia celebrates its National Day on the first day of Libra, corresponding to September 23.

The Kingdom’s currency :

The basic unit of the Kingdom’s currency is the Saudi riyal, and the US dollar is equivalent to 3.75 riyals.

Weekend :

Friday and Saturday

The most important cities of the Kingdom :

Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, Hail, Al Baha, Buraydah, Tabuk, Jizan, Dammam, Sakaka, Arar, Najran

Geographical location and area

The State of Kuwait is located in the northwestern corner of the Arabian Gulf, bordered by Iraq from the north and northwest, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the south and southwest, as well as by the Persian Gulf to the east. By virtue of its location, it is considered a natural outlet to the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula, which has earned it a commercial importance for a long time. It was called Kuwait as a diminution of the word Kot, which is a building like a fortress in which weapons are stored and where soldiers settle. Kuwait has nine islands: Failaka, Bubiyan, Maskan, Ribah, Awah, Umm al-Maradim, Umm al-Naml, Kabir and Qaruh Island. The area of the State of Kuwait is 17,818 square kilometers. Religion Islam is the main religion of the State of Kuwait. the climate Due to Kuwait's location in the desert geographic region, its climate is of a continental type, which is characterized by long, hot, dry summers, and short warm winters that sometimes rain, and dusty winds blow during the summer months.

Governorates of Kuwait

Kuwait is divided into six governorates:

• Capital Governorate
• Jahra Governorate
• Hawalli Governorate
• Farwaniya Governorate
• Mubarak Al - Kabeer Governorate
• Ahmadi Governorate

The Sultanate of Oman is located in the far southeast of the Arabian Peninsula and extends between latitudes 40, 16 and 20, 26 degrees north and between longitudes 50, 51 and 40, 59 degrees east, and overlooks a coast that extends more than 3165 kilometers starting from the far southeast, where The Arabian Sea and the entrance to the Indian Ocean, extending to the Sea of Oman until it ends at Musandam in the north, overlooking the strategic Strait of Hormuz, where the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Oman's borders are linked with the Republic of Yemen in the southwest, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the west, and the United Arab Emirates in the north. It is followed by a number of small islands in the Sea of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, such as Salama and Banatha, and in the Arabian Sea such as Masirah Island and the group of Al Hallaniyat Islands. Oman has an area of about 309,500 square kilometers. The geography of Oman is characterized by the presence of the Hajar mountain range that extends from the Ras al-Jabal area in Ras Musandam (where the Strait of Hormuz is located at the gate of the Arabian Gulf) to the cape al-Maqd, an extension of the Arabian Peninsula from its southeast overlooking the Indian Ocean, in the form of a large arc heading from the northeast to the Sultanate To its southwest, it reaches a maximum height of 3000 meters in the Jabal Al Akhdar region. In the Governorate of Musandam, the mountains rise to 1,800 meters above sea level, and some call the head of Musandam the tropical Norway for the many sea alleys surrounded by rocks and twisted entrances, and the Strait of Hormuz is located between the Omani and Iranian coasts, but the navigable part is located on the Omani side. The highest area in the Hajar Mountains is (Jabal Shams) in the Ad Dakhiliyah Governorate, as it is 3 thousand meters above sea level. On the coast of the Arabian Sea, the Sultanate of Oman extends 560 km, where monsoon rains fall on about one hundred and thirty kilometers of it, and it includes a coastal plain with a width ranging between eight to ten kilometers, in which the city of Salalah and other states such as Mirbat, Sadah, Rakhyut and Dhalkout are located, and the coastal beaches are rich. In Dhofar Governorate, there is abundant fish wealth, foremost of which is sardine, the surplus of which is used as animal feed and fertilizer for crops. As for the Dhofar Mountains region, it extends from east to west, with a length of about 400 km, from off Al-Hallaniyat Islands to the borders with the Republic of Yemen, and has mountainous areas that form one continuous chain. The most prominent of which is Jabal Samhan in the east and the Moon Mountains in the west. The width of these mountains does not exceed 23 km and the maximum height of them is 2500 meters. There are 75 km of these mountains covered with greenery starting from June to September of each year - the autumn season - as this region is distinguished from the rest The regions of the Arabian Peninsula are affected by the monsoons coming from the southwest in the autumn season, in which the Governorate of Dhofar turns into a distinct resort that causes rain and spreads pastures, and frankincense trees grow on some parts of it, which had a popular trade for which this region was famous and was the source of its wealth in ages The ancient ones also burst from them with springs that flow with water throughout the year.

Location :

The State of Qatar is a peninsula located in the middle of the western coast of the Arabian Gulf. Among the most important islands belonging to Qatar are the Halul Islands, Shira'awa, and Al-Ashat.

Landforms:

Its lands consist mainly of a flat rocky surface covered by some plateaus and limestone hills in the Jebel Dukhan region in the west and the Jebel Fuwairat region in the north. This surface is characterized by the abundance of lagoons, bays, basins and depressions called (Riyadh), in the north and central regions, which are considered the most fertile lands of Qatar where natural plants abound.

Area :

Qatar occupies an area of 11,521 square kilometers.

Population :

The population of Qatar is about one million and 800 thousand (according to the 2012 census). Almost 83% of them live in Doha and its main suburb, Al Rayyan.

Capital :

Doha

The language:

Arabic is the official language of the country, but English is also widely used.

Religion:

Islam is the official religion of the State of Qatar, and Islamic Sharia is the main source of legislation in the country.

The climate:

The climate of Qatar is desert, hot in summer, warm in winter, and there is rarely rain.

Major cities :

Doha (the capital), Al Wakrah, Al Khor, Dukhan, Al Shamal, Mesaieed, Ras Laffan and others.

Currency :

Qatari riyal (1 riyal = 100 dirhams).

The riyal is linked to the US dollar (US $ = 3.65 Qatari riyals).

National Day :

It is celebrated on the eighteenth of December every year, in commemoration of Sheikh "Jassim Bin Muhammad Al Thani" - the founder of the State of Qatar.

Public holidays :

National Day, December 18 of each year.

Eid Al-Fitr, from 28 Ramadan to Shawwal 4 (according to the Hijri calendar).

Eid al-Adha, five days from 9 to 13 Dhu al-Hijjah (according to the Hijri calendar).

National Sports Day, on Tuesday of the second week of February every year.

Flag of the State of Qatar :

The national flag of the State of Qatar has a bright red color, pierced by a white color, and it has nine heads pierced in the burgundy part.

Official working hours :

Ministries and government departments: from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon.

Private companies and institutions: from eight in the morning to twelve in the afternoon, and from four in the afternoon to eight in the evening.

The official weekend in Qatar is on Friday and Saturday.

Local time :

Three hours added to Greenwich Mean Time.

Electric current :

240 volts at 50 Hz. Plugs: 3-pin square pin socket, and 2-pin round pin socket.