When people think of the Middle East and the Arab world, many think of Saudi Arabia. The nation has arrived on the world stage in many aspects of society and has now become one of the most influential and popular nations in the Arab world. The geographical location of this nation is in the Persian Gulf, while Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait share the northern border, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates share the eastern border, and finally Yemen and Oman share the southern border . The nation as a whole has almost 29 million citizens, of which approximately 90% are Arab and 10% Afro-Asian (World Fact Book). The nation's capital is Riyadh, the official language is Arabic, the religion is Islam and a gross domestic product of over 700 billion dollars. The nation is not only known for its economic power, but also because it is considered the origin of Islam and contains Mecca and Medina. These holy places are called Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi respectively, while Mecca is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and the first revelation of the Quran and Medina is the burial place of Muhammad (Al-Rasheed , History ). Saudi Arabia as a nation began when it was founded in 1933 by Abdulaziz Al Saud, however the nation is much older than that with signs of human activity up to 20,000 years ago. The original nation was a collection of urban commercial centers, however when the prophet Muhammad was born in the late 16th century many tribes of the peninsula joined forces to create an Islamic religious community. When the Prophet died in 632, the small group of tribes expanded under Muslim rule and conquered many lands. Meanwhile, what was then Arabia became the hub of the Muslim world, and the... center of the paper... 2013. Print.“Arab Revolt: Country by Country”. BBC News. BBC News, 16 December 2013. Web. 14 April 2014. .Cordesman, Anthony H. Saudi Arabia enters the twenty-first century: the political, foreign policy, economic and energy dimensions. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003. Print. “Saudi Arabia Market Description.” (nd): n. page WAR. WAR. Network. 14 March 2014.. "Saudi Arabia: statistics and information". Central Department of Statistics and Information. NP and Web. April 14, 2014. "World Fact Book: Saudi Arabia." Central intelligence agency. Central Intelligence Agency and Web. April 12. 2014. .