National Day in Saudi Arabia

September 23 is National Day in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The day commemorates the unification of the country on this day in 1932. Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, is governed using the principles of the Koran. Eating pork, alcoholic beverages, and even cinemas are prohibited. The country occupies around 80 percent of the Arabian Peninsula, contains the Muslim shrines of Mecca and Medina, and is home to approximately 28 million residents.

^{(photo courtesy of the CIA Fact Book)}