Unification of the Kingdom

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The Unification of the Kingdom is celebrated in Saudi Arabia every year on 23rd September. It commemorates the unification of Al-Hasa, the Nejd and the Hejaz to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 23rd September 1932.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen with coastlines on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

It is often called "the land of the two holy mosques" (a reference to Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest places) and is commonly referred to as Saudi Arabia, sometimes as just Saudi (by expatriates in particular) and by the initials KSA in many international sporting circles, such as when competing in football’s World Cup.

From the end of the 7th century, Saudi Arabia was a collection of separate kingdoms. The emergence of a Saudi state began in central Arabia in 1744. One of the regional rulers, Muhammad bin Saud (now seen as the founder of the House of Saud), joined forces with an Islamic cleric and reformer, Muhammad Abd Al-Wahhab, to create a new political entity.

This alliance, formed in the 18th Century, remains the basis of Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today. It has combined political (and later economic) astuteness and the Wahhabi form of Islamic theology to overcome all the problems that the House of Saud has faced. The fortunes of the Saud family have risen and fallen several times, as successive Saudi rulers have contended with Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and other Arabian families for control of the Arabian peninsula.

The Saudi state was founded by the late King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (known internationally as Abdul Aziz bin Saud). He started his quest in 1902, at the age of only 22, when he re-captured Riyadh, the Al-Saud dynasty's ancestral home and chosen capital, from the rival Al-Rashid family. Continuing his conquests, Abdul Aziz subdued Al-Hasa, Al-Qatif, the rest of Nejd, and the Hejaz between 1913 and 1926.

On 8th January 1926 Abdul Aziz bin Saud became the King of Hejaz. On 29th January 1927 he took the title King of Nejd (his previous Nejdi title was Sultan). By the Treaty of Jedda, signed on 20th May 1927, the United Kingdom of Great Britain recognised the independence of Abdul Aziz's realm, then known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd.

On 23rd September 1932 the three principle regions of Al-Hasa, the Nejd and the Hejaz were unified to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Any visitor to the country will note that it is huge, and both the terrain and climate are hostile – physical communications are extended and difficult even with modern forms of transport. Abdul Aziz’s achievements when the only mode of internal transport was horse or camel have to be admired by anyone who studies the matter closely.

Because of the nature of Saudi society, its customs and practices, celebrations are always muted within the Kingdom.