Riyadh (Arabic: الرياض ar-Riyāḍ) is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Ar Riyad Province and belongs to the historical region of Nejd. It is situated in the centre of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau and is home to over 4,260,000 people (around 20% of the nation's population).
The city lies in Saudi Arabia's 'central corridor' of development along with Buraidah to the north and Al Kharj to the south. The other areas of concentrated population are two coastal areas - around Jiddah and Mecca on the Red Sea, and around Jubail and Dhahran on the Persian Gulf. Riyadh is located at 24°42'42" North, 46°43'27" East (24.711667, 46.724167).
The city is divided into 17 branch municipalities under the control of the Riyadh Municipality and the Riyadh Development Authority, chaired by Governor of Riyadh Province, Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz. The mayor of the city is Abdul Aziz ibn Ayyaf Al Migrin.
Although located in a highly arid area the city does receive some rainfall. Five dams store the runoff. There are also 96 wells and 290 miles (467 km) of pipe bringing huge volumes of water from desalination plants on the Persian Gulf.