Saudi Arabia occupies four-fifths of the Arabian peninsula. It is bordered to the northwest by Jordan, to the north by Iraq and Kuwait, to the east by the Gulf of Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman and to the south by Yemen, to the west lies the Red Sea.

The Saudi government estimate is 2,217,949 square km of land. Other reputable estimates vary between 2,149,690-2,240,000 km². Less than 1 percent of the total area is suitable for cultivation and in the early 1990s population distribution varied greatly among the towns of the eastern and western coastal areas, the densely populated interior oases, and the vast, almost empty deserts.

Saudi Arabia has a desert climate. In Jeddah it is warm for most of the year. Riyadh inland, is hotter in summer and colder in winter, when occasional heavy rainstorms occur. The Rub al Khali seldom receives rain, making Saudi Arabia one of the driest countries in the world.