Riyadh is the capital of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, located in the Nejd region. It is situated in the centre of the Arabian peninsula on a large plateau and is home to over 3,500,000 people (14% of the nation's population). Riyadh covers more than 600 square miles.
The city lies in Saudi Arabia's 'central corridor' of development along with Buraydah and Al Kharj in the Ar Riyad administrative division. The other areas of concentrated population are two coastal areas - around Jiddah and Mecca on the Red Sea, and around Hufur and Dharan on the Arabian Gulf.
The city is divided into 17 branch municipalities under the control of the Riyadh Municipality and the Riyadh Development Authority, chaired by Riyadh Province Governor Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz.
Although in a highly arid area the city does receive some rainfall. Five dams store the runoff. There are also 96 wells and 290 miles of pipe bringing huge volumes of water from desalination plants on the Gulf.