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50 free Saudi Arabia trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Fifty questions on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the country that covers most of the Arabian Peninsula, holds Islam's two holiest cities and sits on the world's second-largest oil reserves. Geography covers Riyadh, Jeddah, the Hejaz and Najd, the Rub' al Khali, Jabal Soudah, a land of 2,000 dormant volcanoes and no permanent rivers, and the Red Sea reefs. History runs from the Nabataean tombs of Hegra and the birth of Muhammad in Mecca, through the 1744 pact between Muhammad bin Saud and Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the sack of Karbala, the Ottoman-Egyptian destruction of Diriyah, Ibn Saud's 1902 recapture of Riyadh, the Ikhwan, the 1932 unification, oil at Al-Ahsa in 1938, the 1973 embargo, the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure, the Gulf War and the reforms of Vision 2030. Culture and modern rounds cover the shahada flag, the Kaaba and the Hajj, the riyal, kabsa, the thawb and ghutra, the religious police, women driving since 2018, cinemas reopening, Neom, Aramco, dates and camels, and a football team that has beaten Belgium and Argentina at World Cups. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the kingdom, its cities, rulers and institutions, and the sentence that establishes it is quoted under each explanation. Suits a pub quiz, a Middle East studies class or a pre-Hajj primer.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the Middle East and ranks where in the world by area?
Twelfth-largest
About 2.15 million square kilometres, covering the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and bordering seven countries plus the Red Sea and the Gulf.
Q 02Which king founded the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 after campaigns that began in 1902?
Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud)
He united the west, the centre and parts of the east and south; the kingdom is the third Saudi state after those of 1727-1818 and 1824-1891.
Q 03In 1902 Ibn Saud launched the third Saudi state by recapturing which city?
Riyadh
The Al Rashid of Jabal Shammar had driven the Al Saud out in 1891; the Masmak fort raid became the founding legend of the kingdom.
Q 04The 1744 alliance underpinning Saudi rule paired the emir of Diriyah with which religious reformer?
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
It was sealed at Diriyah; the reformer's descendants, the Al ash-Sheikh, still lead the religious establishment.
Q 05The First Saudi State, the Emirate of Diriyah, was destroyed in 1818 by forces of which ruler?
Mohammed Ali Pasha of Egypt
The emirate had sacked Karbala in 1802 and taken Mecca in 1803; the much smaller Emirate of Nejd rose from the ashes in 1824.
Q 06Which Wahhabi-inspired tribal army helped Ibn Saud conquer the holy region before turning against him?
The Ikhwan
Founded in 1912, they wanted to raid British-protected Transjordan, Iraq and Kuwait and were crushed after a two-year struggle.
Q 07Vast oil reserves were discovered in Saudi Arabia in which year?
1938
Found in the Al-Ahsa region on the Gulf coast; full development began in 1941 under the US-controlled Aramco.
Q 08Saudi Arabia bought out the American interests in Aramco in which year?
1980
By 1976 the kingdom was the world's largest oil producer; Aramco stood for Arabian American Oil Company.
Q 09What is the world's largest contiguous sand desert, covering Saudi Arabia's southeast?
Rub' al Khali
The 'Empty Quarter' spans some 647,500 square kilometres; the kingdom is the largest country with no permanent rivers.
Q 10Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the world lacking what?
Permanent rivers
Ephemeral wadis carry occasional floods; four-fifths of its fossil groundwater had been used up by 2012.
Q 11What is the highest point in Saudi Arabia, in the southwestern Aseer region?
Jabal Soudah
It reaches 3,015 metres; the southwest is the one region with monsoon rains and green terraces.
Q 12Saudi Arabia is home to more than 2,000 of what geological feature?
Dormant volcanoes
The Hejaz lava fields, or harrat, form one of Earth's largest alkali basalt regions.
Q 13The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born in about 570 CE in which city?
Mecca
He later united the peninsula's tribes; the Hejaz is often called the cradle of Islam.
Q 21What is the currency of Saudi Arabia, divided into 100 halala?
The riyal
The halala was introduced in 1963, replacing a system of 20 qirsh to the base unit.
Q 22According to the 1992 Basic Law, what serves as Saudi Arabia's constitution?
The Quran and the Sunnah
No political parties or national elections are permitted; the king must comply with Sharia.
Q 23Saudi judges generally follow which school of Islamic jurisprudence, noted for literalism?
Hanbali
Sharia is uncodified and there is no binding precedent, so judges reason independently and verdicts vary.
Q 14The cube-shaped Kaaba at the heart of the Masjid al-Haram determines what for Muslims worldwide?
The direction of prayer
Called Baytullah, the House of God, it was rebuilt several times, most famously by Ibrahim and Ismail according to tradition.
Q 15The Prophet's Mosque in Medina, built by Muhammad in 622 CE, is important as what?
His burial site
Its foundation in the first year of the Hijrah makes it one of the oldest mosques anywhere.
Q 16Roughly how many pilgrims perform the Hajj each year, creating a large number of temporary Saudi jobs?
About two million
The pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam; a general tourist visa for non-Muslims only arrived in 2019.
Q 17In 930 which sect pillaged Mecca and carried off the Black Stone?
The Qarmatians
The Isma'ili-Shi'ite group dominated the Gulf for much of the 10th century until the Uyunids overthrew them.
Q 18From the 10th to the early 20th century the two holy cities were run by a local ruler called what?
The Sharif of Mecca
Hussein bin Ali, the last of them, led the 1916 Arab Revolt with British backing and briefly reigned as King of Hejaz.
Q 19What is written on the green flag of Saudi Arabia above the sword?
The shahada
The Islamic creed is rendered in Thuluth script; both sides of the flag are identical so it reads correctly right-to-left from either face.
Q 20On the Saudi flag, what does the sword symbolise?
Safety and justice
The green stands for Islam; the current design has been official since 1973.
Q 24Which 1979 event led the government to hand more power to the religious establishment?
The seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca
Islamist radicals held the sanctuary; the same year's Iranian revolution added to the alarm, and cinemas were soon closed.
Q 25Saudi Arabia's religious police, who enforced dress codes and prayer attendance, are known as what?
The Mutaween
Also called the Haia, they were stripped of powers to pursue, question or arrest suspects in 2016.
Q 26In which year did Saudi Arabia finally allow women to drive?
2018
Women were also admitted to stadiums that year, and the guardianship rules were partly relaxed for over-21s in 2019.
Q 27The first public cinema in 35 years opened in Saudi Arabia in which year?
2018
Cinemas had been shut in the 1980s Islamic revival; the plan is for over 2,000 screens by 2030.
Q 28The reform programme launched to diversify Saudi Arabia away from oil is called what?
Vision 2030
Tourism, entertainment and megaprojects like Neom are its flagship bets; COVID and oil slumps strained it in 2020.
Q 29The Neom megaproject, including 'The Line', lies in which province?
Tabuk
Its planned area is 26,500 square kilometres in the far northwest, near the Gulf of Aqaba.
Q 30Saudi Arabia is the only Arab country in which international grouping?
The G20
It is classed a high-income economy and its GDP is the largest in the Arab world.