Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is a country built on two things: oil and faith. It is the guardian of Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam, which draw over 15 million pilgrims annually for the Hajj and Umrah. It sits on top of the world's second-largest proven oil reserves and has been the planet's largest oil exporter for decades. These two facts alone make Saudi Arabia one of the most consequential countries on Earth, regardless of what you think of its politics.

But the Saudi Arabia of the 2020s is not the Saudi Arabia of even ten years ago. Vision 2030, the kingdom's transformation plan, is rewriting the country at a speed that makes your head spin. Women now drive. Cinemas have reopened after a 35-year ban. Tourism visas exist for the first time. NEOM, a $500 billion futuristic mega-city being built from scratch in the desert, is the most ambitious construction project in human history. Whether it all works remains to be seen, but the scale of ambition is undeniable.

Beyond the headlines, Saudi Arabia is a vast country - the largest in the Middle East, roughly the size of Western Europe. The Empty Quarter in the south is the largest sand desert on Earth. AlUla in the northwest holds the stunning Nabatean tombs of Hegra, Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Hejazi coast along the Red Sea has coral reefs rivaling the Great Barrier Reef. The country is far more geographically diverse than most people imagine.