Local Diversity Facts and Figures

Saudi Arabia is a vast country. Its area is two and a quarter million square kilometers, or roughly one-quarter of the area of the European continent.  The Saudi economy is almost entirely dependent on a single source of income that is oil, which makes it susceptible to fluctuations in the price of oil, according to local, national, and international conditions.
However, the Kingdom’s economy is at present heading in the direction of diversification of sources of revenue.  The rate of growth of the Kingdom’s population is one of the highest in the world at roughly 3%.  At the same time, the percentage of citizens less than twenty-four years of age is more than 62%.  The number of high school graduates has increased many times during the past fourteen years. In the period AH 1413-1428 (1993-2008), for example, the number of high school graduates increased by 443%.  The geographical distribution of population centers and difference in their age groups poses a challenge to institutions of higher learning.  The huge increase in the number of high school graduates has created a tremendous gap between the demand for higher education and the supply offered by higher education institutions.