Saudi Arabia’s regional governors

King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud’s choice of his son Turki Bin Abdullah to be the new Riyadh governor has widely been seen as strengthening his line (GSN 970/1). The king now has sons governing the two largest regions in the country, which together account for just over 50% of Saudi Arabia’s total population of 26.1m (according to a 2010 census). Since March 1992, Saudi Arabia has been divided into 13 regions, subdivided into governorates and then districts. The governor – or emir – of each region has the status of minister and reports to the Ministry of Interior.