Riyadh Province

Riyadh Province
منطقة الرياض
Map of Saudi Arabia with Riyadh highlighted
Coordinates: 23°0′N 45°30′E / 23.000°N 45.500°E / 23.000; 45.500
Country Saudi Arabia
CapitalRiyadh
Governorates20
Government
 • GovernorFaisal bin Bandar
 • Deputy GovernorMohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz
Area
 • Total
380,000 km2 (150,000 sq mi)
Population
 (2022 census)
 • Total
8,591,748
 • Density23/km2 (59/sq mi)
GDP
 • TotalUS$243.8 billion (2022)
Post Code
(5+4)-Digit
ISO 3166 codeSA-01
Websitewww.riyadh.gov.sa

The Riyadh Province (Arabic: منطقة الرياض Manṭiqat ar-Riyāḍ) is a province of Saudi Arabia, located in the geographic center of the country and the center of the Arabian Peninsula. It has an area of 380,000 km2 (150,000 sq mi) and with a 2022 population of 8,591,748, it is the second-largest region by area, behind the Eastern Province and the largest by population. The capital governorate of the province is the Riyadh Governorate and it is named after the capital of the kingdom, Riyadh, which is the most populous city in the region and the kingdom, with a little less than two-thirds of the population of the region residing within the city. The province was governed for nearly five decades by Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz from 1963 to 2011 shortly before he became the Crown Prince in 2012. Currently, it is governed by Prince Faisal bin Bandar.

Other populous cities in the region include Al Ghat, Dawadmi, Afif, Zulfi and Majma'ah. Approximately half of the region's area is desert, and it only borders other regions of the kingdom; it has no international borders. The region borders, clockwise from the north, the Eastern Province, Najran Province, ʽAsir Province, Mecca Province, Medina Province and the Al-Qassim Province. It is one of the seven regions of the kingdom that do not have a coastline.