Saudi Arabia Capital

Up through the 1940s, Riyadh was a city that was small and isolated. This started to change as the city grew into a large metropolitan area towards the end of the 1940s. King Saud sought to make the capital a more modern city. Examples from American cities were used to design new neighborhoods, making use of the grid pattern for its urban design.

The grid pattern started to be used in Riyadh in 1953. Between 1974 and 1992, Riyadh experienced a consistent growth rate of 8.2 percent per annum. In 1987, the city of Riyadh had 1,389,000 people. In 2016, there were 6,506,700 people living in Riyadh. This reflects the continues rapid growth of this city.

Like many places, Riyadh serves as a primate city of its nation. Riyadh is the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is the main administrative center for Saudi Arabia, as well as the financial and commercial center of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh's political, financial, commercial, and economic power is unmached by any other city within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh's location was a consequence of its geography. In a nation where water is precious, Riyadh was founded because of its proximity to what few water resources there were. Its location in the center of Saudi Arabia could be considered a fitting location for being a capital city. There have been those throughout history that would argue that the capital of a nation should be located in a central location, accessible to the majority of the population. If this measure is used in terms of where a capital city should be, then Riyadh's geographic location can be seen as a decent location for the capital of Saudi Arabia.