BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Riyadh on Saturday for a three-day state visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The following are some basic facts about Saudi Arabia:

    Situated on the Arabian Peninsular, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia faces the Persian Gulf in the east and the Red Sea in the west. It borders Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.

    Saudi Arabia covers an area of 2.25 million square kilometers. It has a population of 22.67 million, of whom about 4 million live in the capital Riyadh.

    The kingdom is the cradle of Islam. In the 7th century A.D., successors of Prophet Mohammed established the Arab Empire, which expanded to Europe, Africa and Asia in the following century.

    In 1932, King Abdul-Aziz bin Saud unified the Arabian Peninsula and founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

    Mecca, where Prophet Mohammed was born, is the first holy site of Islam. Millions of Muslims from across the world gather in Mecca for pilgrimage every year.

    Saudi Arabia has the richest oil resource in the world with a prospected reserve standing at 261.2 billion barrels, accounting for 26 percent of the world's total. It is also the biggest crude producer and its annual oil output hits 400 million to 500 million tons. Oil products make up more than 90 percent of the kingdom's exports.

    The kingdom is also abundant in natural gas with prospected gas reserves reaching 6.75 trillion cubic meters.

    In recent years, Saudi Arabia has made great efforts to diversify its economic structure and has developed non-oil sectors such as mining, light industry and agriculture.

    In 2004, the kingdom registered 11,800 U.S. dollars in per capita gross domestic product (GDP).

    China and Saudi Arabia have a long history of friendship. Followers of Prophet Mohammed came to China in the 7th century A.D. to spread Islam. Zheng He, a great Chinese navigator in the Ming Dynasty, sailed to Saudi Arabia as part of his trips to Southeast Asia, West Asia and East Africa between 1405 and 1433. Enditem