Tuberculosis in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the third-largest country in the Middle East by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the third-largest Arab country. It is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman in the southeast, and Yemen in the south. It is also connected to Bahrain by the King Fahad Causeway. The Persian Gulf lies to the northeast and the Red Sea to its west. The size of Saudi Arabia is approximately 2,149,690 square kilometers (830,000 sq mi). The total population is 27,136,977 as of the April 2010 census (18,707,576 Saudi nationals and 8,429,401 non-nationals). Until the 1960s, most of the population was nomadic or semi nomadic; due to rapid economic and urban growth, more than 95% of the population is now settled. Some cities and oases have densities of more than 1,000 people per square kilometer (2,600/mile2). Saudi Arabia's population is characterized by rapid growth and a large cohort of youth.