Riyadh Province

Riyadh Province is one of the thirteen administrative regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and includes the capital Riyadh. It is the headquarters of government entities and international organizations in the Kingdom. It is the Kingdom's second-largest administrative region and the first in terms of population.

Riyadh Province is located in the center of the Kingdom, bordered from the east and northeast by the Eastern Province, from the north by al-Qassim Province, from the south by Najran and Aseer provinces, and from the west by Makkah al-Mukarramah Province and part of al-Madinah al-Munawwarah Province. The city of Riyadh is its administrative capital, the seat of its emirate, the urban center in the province, and the Kingdom's most populous city.

Riyadh Province is located above the Najd plateau, and the province’s highest altitude is six hundred m above sea level. In the far east of the plateau lies the famous Tuwaiq mountain range, extending for one thousand km from the north of az-Zulfi Governorate to the ar-Rub' al-Khali (Empty Quarter) desert in the south. Forty canyons branch out from the mountain range, and there are a number of cities, villages, and centers.

The province’s climate varies from one province to another depending on its topography, which is generally a dry continental climate, hot in summer and cold in winter, and usually sees scant rain during the winter.

The area of Riyadh Province is 380,000 km, equivalent to 19.4 percent of the total area of the Kingdom. Although Riyadh's name is synonymous with its administrative capital, the capital Riyadh makes up less than 1 percent of its territory. Therefore, it is the most densely populated Saudi governorate, with one-sixth of the population of the Kingdom living in the capital, Riyadh, and 63.73 percent of the province's inhabitants.

Riyadh Province has a population of 8,591,748 people and is the fourth most populous province in the Kingdom in terms of population density at eighteen persons per km, with an annual population growth rate of 2.703 percent, the highest in the Kingdom after Makkah al-Munawwarah Province.

Riyadh Province was administratively constituted in 1992. Twenty-two governorates fall under its geographical and organizational scope—the most compared to any other province in the Kingdom—in addition to the city of Riyadh, its administrative capital. The province’s governorates are: Diriyah, al-Kharj, al-Duwadimi, al-Majma'ah, al-Quwayʿiyah, Wadi al-Dawasir, al-Aflaj, az-Zulfi, Shaqra, Howtat Bani Tamim, al-Ghat, Afif, al-Salil, Dhruma, al-Muzahmiya, Ramah, Thadeq, Huraymila, al-Hariq, Marat, al-Dilam, and al-Rein, joining 504 centers. Al-Salil Governorate is the province’s largest governorate in terms of area and the third in all of the Kingdom. Prince Faisal Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is the province's governor, appointed by a Royal Order on January 29, 2015. On April 22, 2017, Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was appointed deputy governor of Riyadh Province with excellent rank.

Tuwaiq Mountains. (The Ministry of Culture)

Automobiles are the main means of transport between the governorates of Riyadh Province. The local population in the administrative capital is twenty km away from the nearest governorate, Diriyah, whereas the farthest province in the province, Wadi al-Dawasir, is 613 km away. The King Khalid International Airport is located north of the administrative capital, Riyadh, serving some twenty-six million passengers annually. In addition, the Riyadh Metro Project connects eighty-five stations in the capital to serve high-density neighborhoods or places of interest, including government entities, covering a distance of 176 km.

Represented in the capital, Riyadh, Riyadh Province is seen as a model smart city. Across all of the Kingdom, the province brims with promise, as 2,980 projects are located on its territory in the following sectors: services, utilities, housing, transport, roads, environment, and economic development, with a total value of about SAR264 billion, including mega projects included in the plans of Saudi Vision 2030. The most notable of these are King Salman Park in central Riyadh, the largest park in the world; the 135 km-long Sports Boulevard Project connecting the east of the city of Riyadh to its west; the Green Riyadh Project, which covers 30.35 percent of the area of the capital; and the Riyadh Art Project, which is designed to transform Riyadh into an open art exhibition.

Aerial image of mud houses in Diriyah governorate. (SPA)

Historically, Riyadh draws its importance from the fact that two historic capitals fall within its borders: Diriyah, the capital of the First Saudi State, and Riyadh, the capital of the Second Saudi State and the Kingdom. In addition, Riyadh has a historical and geographical connection with the Sultanate of Najd, whose borders are reflected in the current geographical scope of Riyadh and from which efforts were launched to reunify the rest of Saudi Arabian territory.

Riyadh Province still retains relics of ancient Najdi architecture, especially in al-Turaif District of Diriyah Governorate, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the world's largest mud city, which contains palaces and an archaeological city next to the Diriyah Oasis. Riyadh Province also contains historic landmarks that, together with their historical significance, represent tourist attractions, most notably: al-Bujairi Quarter, the historical scientific center of Diriyah; Masmak Fortress, the oldest historical forts in the Kingdom and currently an open museum with archaeological artifacts dating back around 147 years; and al-Murabba Palace, the seat of founding King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud.

King Saud University in the capital Riyadh. (SPA)

Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University in the capital Riyadh. (SPA)

Among all the provinces of the Kingdom, Riyadh has the lion’s share with respect to the number of public universities. The province is home to eight public universities, two of which were ranked among the world's top 1,000 universities in 2021, according to the QS World University Rankings: Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University and King Saud University in the capital Riyadh. Five universities are located in the administrative capital, while the others are spread over the remaining governorates.