oases-in-saudi-arabia Photos

Saudi Arabia is the largest Arabic country in the Middle East, and the biggest oil exporter in the world. The country boasts the world’s largest oil resources. It also is home to the two most sacred islamic sites, Mecca and Medina.

Geographically, Saudi Arabia is dominated by the Arabian Desert, with Rub’al Khali at its centre – one of the world’s widest uninterrupted stretches of sandland (according to some sources, the widest one). Extremely dry and hot in summer, and with huge differences in temperature between the extremely hot days and cold nights, this is one of the most extreme habitats and only few species of plants can survive here.

In this difficult environment, the population do their best to survive, by irrigating as many spots as possible and turning them into small farms. Humans’ struggle with this extreme environment is most suggestively illustrated by the imppressive huge desert landscape spotted with green circles, but also by already dry ones.