Riyadh
01
Jeddah and Mecca
02
Al-Jubayl, Al-Dammam and Al-Khobar
03
Yanbu
04
Mobile
05
Saudi Arabia’s phone system is provided by a private company, Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC). Landlines cover all major centres in the country. In addition the Global System for Mobiles (GSM) covers 45 Saudi cities and towns and all major highways. Internet connections are widely available, though content may be censored more than most places. International Direct Dialling (IDD) is generally available. The kingdom’s telephone country code is ‘966’ while the main city codes are:
|
01 |
|
02 |
|
03 |
|
04 |
|
05 |
The following emergency contact numbers apply:
|
999 |
|
998 |
|
997 |
Finding a Phone Number
Saudi Arabia publishes an English language phone book, but extracting information from it is no easy task. The telephone book lists the name of the owner of the house rather than the occupant. This makes it almost impossible to find the telephone number of an expat.
In the classified section of the telephone book, there are some interesting entries. International consulting companies like British Aerospace are listed under ‘O’ for organisations whereas international companies like Seimens are listed under ‘C’ for companies. Organisations like the United Nations are listed under ‘E’ for establishments.
Using a Saudi phone book takes perseverance and imagination.’
—Source: Susan Mackay. The Saudis
Accommodation arrangements, including phone connection and payment of phone bills, for almost all guest workers staying in the country are almost always the responsibility of the employer. A guest worker would not normally be expected to or be authorised to arrange phone connections for landlines. Like other utilities, phone bills will normally be sent to and paid for by employers.
Most employers include full health care in the employment package. For those outside this arrangement, Saudi Arabia has a few top hospitals, but except for routine ailments, provision of health care services is expensive. Most embassies advise you to include medical insurance in your arrangements prior to entry in the country.
A list of hospitals in Saudi Arabia may be obtained at the following webpage: http://www.gulfmd.com. Click “Hospitals in Middle East”, then choose “Saudi Arabia” from the list.
Saudi nationals receive free dental treatment. Dental clinics are housed within general hospitals or as stand-alone clinics. Specialist dental hospitals are also available. For outlying districts and remote villages, mobile dental clinics are provided.
Most regions in the country have access to international schools. Riyadh and Jeddah host American, British and French/German schools aimed at the expat community. For a complete list of schools available in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, you can consult the International Schools website:
Opinions amongst expats differ on the value of language schools for those who want to learn Arabic. Our general view is that most language schools are geared to teaching Classical Arabic, with a strong focus of interest on the Qur’an, not only for its language, but also for its general philosophy. Most likely, most expats would prefer to be learning conversational Arabic devoid of heavy religious overtones. An alternative to schools is to hire a private tutor. Skills of private tutors vary enormously. You will probably have to hire and fire a few to find someone compatible with your needs. Generally the recommended profile, at least for a start, is a non-Saudi Arabic speaker, either a non-Saudi Arab or an Arabic-speaking Third Country National. Details of people offering such services for your particular regional area in Saudi Arabia are liberally listed on the Internet and also in English-language newspapers such as Arab News.
Expats visiting Saudi Arabia may obtain support from inkingdom expat clubs. People, particularly women, who live in compounds tend to develop a large variety of common interest groups within their common living areas. Other expat groups are more widely spread. For those who wish to contact expat groups prior to travelling to Saudi Arabia and perhaps exchange some views in advance of going there, try:
http://www.expatexchange.com/net.cfm?networkid=97
For those living in Riyadh, the American Community of Riyadh (ACR) offers a wide range of activities for the whole family. It is open to the whole international community.
Opportunities for participating in volunteer work in Saudi Arabia are very limited due to the various restrictions on travel and working for anyone other than your designated employer. If you are a woman living in Riyadh, you can contact the charity organisation Corona Ladies of Riyadh via email at coronainriyadh@yahoo.co.uk
There are two nationally circulated English-language newspapers in the country: Arab News and Saudi Gazette.
A number of English-language magazines are in circulation as well, presenting the Arab point of view. It is worth taking a look at one or two of the English-language Saudi newspapers and the magazines to get a more Arab slant on the news than that presented by the pro-Israeli viewpoint of most of the Western press.
Copies of magazines imported into the country are scrutinised by censors. Girlie magazines of the Playboy ilk are banned in Saudi Arabia and thereby acquire scarcity value. Copies of Playboy and Penthouse may change hands for about US$ 100. Western magazines, particularly news magazines like Newsweek or The Economist are sometimes banned for carrying politically incorrect articles. For less serious misdemeanours, offending magazines may be allowed to go on sale provided that every copy of whatever article offends the Saudi censor is either cut out or blacked out by a marker pen-wielding minor bureaucrat. According to sceptics on this subject, thousands of such government salaried imams are employed on censoring magazines as a contribution to solving the unemployment problem.
The marker pen form of censorship is, incidentally, particularly ineffective. Not only does it draw attention to an article you might otherwise have missed, the text is quite legible if the article is held up to the light. If you find a magazine that contains a column that has been blacked out by a marker pen, you can assume that underneath the censor’s handiwork lies an article of interest.
Bringing Information to Your Attention
Browsing through a library in Saudi Arabia, the author’s attention was attracted by some Textra colour highlighting in the Guinness Book of Records under the heading ‘The World’s Biggest Bribe’. A Middle Eastern Prince taking his extraordinary dues on some defence company contract held the record. But for the activities of the censor, this snippet might have been missed.
Religious texts are also banned, particularly those that could be construed by Customs officials or the Mutawa’een as undermining the Islamic faith. Books of Common Prayer and the Bible fall into this category. It is not a good idea to include Christian books, Bibles or other seditious material in your luggage when entering Saudi Arabia.
CIA Factbook
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sa.html
US Department of State: Consular Information Sheet
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1012.html
Saudi Embassy
(For more detailed information, click on the relevant section in the menu on the left.)
US Department of State
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3584.htm
Lonely Planet Guide
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/saudi-arabia
Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia)
Library of Congress
(Federal Research Division/Country Studies) http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/satoc.html
Arab Countries: Saudi Arabia
http://www.hejleh.com/countries/saudi.html
British Broadcasting Corporation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/
Zawaj.com
http://www.zawaj.com/links.html
There are many websites that advertise jobs in Saudi Arabia, particularly in the healthcare industry. If you are an accompanying spouse, the Women’s Skills Bureau is a nonprofit organisation that advertises jobs for foreign women living in Riyadh, at http://www.wsb-ksa.com/”
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour) http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18288.htm
Country Pages: Saudi Arabia
http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/saudi-arabia
(For a year by year overview of the Human Rights Development in the country, click on the respective year on the right of the page.)
Amnesty International: Saudi Arabia
At the time of this book’s latest update, the organisation has no presence in the kingdom.
