July 23 (Reuters) - Here is a look at oil-producing Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia after protests there triggered by the arrest of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on sedition charges.
* GEOGRAPHY
-- The region includes most of the desert Rub' al-Khali (the Empty Quarter) and extends southward from a neutral zone jointly administered with Kuwait to undefined borders with Yemen and Oman. It is bounded by Kuwait to the north, the Gulf to the east and the Riyadh region to the west.
* RELIGIOUS DIVIDE
-- The region is home to more than 2.5 million Saudis, according to the government's 2004 census. With Shi'ites making up more than a third of this population, the region boasts the largest concentration of the minority community in the kingdom.
-- The Shi'ite community in Eastern Province is divided into two main areas, Qatif and al-Ahsa. Qatif is an oasis district on the Gulf coast north of the provincial capital Dammam and consists of farming and fishing villages.
-- Al-Ahsa is southeast of Dammam, in the middle of the desert, and is a major oasis.
-- The Qatif community has been seen in past decades as more politically active than the al-Ahsa community and has been the focal point of protests. The arrested cleric was regarded here as a leading radical among Saudi Shi'ites.
-- Reacting to Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, Saudi Shi'ite leaders mobilised youth to directly challenge the Saudi monarchy, voicing grievances about religious and community oppression. Significant civil unrest occurred.
-- The leaders of that movement then went into exile. In 1993, King Fahd promised Shi'ite leaders a relaxation in political restrictions in exchange for their ending active opposition from abroad.
-- The relative quiet that prevailed for several years afterwards grew out of that agreement, with Shi'ite leaders acknowledging that violence was unlikely to yield results.
-- The leader of that original protest movement, Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar, remains the prime religious authority for Shi'ites in Saudi Arabia. However, some more radical clerics like Nimr have gained a following, arguing the government will not keep its promises without Shi'ites taking direct action.
-- Shi'ites complain their religious ceremonies are banned or interfered with by Sunni authorities. They say their places of worship are not authorised by the government and frequently closed down. This is despite Saudi Arabia permitting observance of the Shi'ite commemoration of Ashura in 2004 - an important early measure for Shi'ites gaining more recognition.
-- Last year however, authorities closed at least nine places of worship in Khobar and the al-Ahsa region, the U.S. government said in a report in November 2011.
* OIL AND WEALTH
-- Eastern Province is home to most of Saudi Arabia's oil production. According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Saudi Arabia contains approximately 260 billion barrels of proven oil reserves - plus 2.5 billion barrels in the Saudi-Kuwaiti shared "Neutral" Zone, all amounting to around one-fifth of proven, conventional world oil reserves.
-- Although Saudi Arabia has around 100 major oil and gas fields, over half of its oil reserves are contained in only eight fields in Eastern Province, including the giant 1,260-square mile Ghawar field, the world's largest oilfield, with estimated remaining reserves of 70 billion barrels.
-- Qatif is near the main oil export hub at Ras Tanura. Al-Ahsa sits on top of Ghawar which itself produces 5 million barrels per day (bpd) in total, just under half of Saudi Arabia's target production capacity of 12 million bpd.
-- Saudi Arabia's economy remains heavily dependent on crude oil. Oil export revenues have accounted for 80-90 percent of total Saudi revenues and above 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
-- Many Shi'ites in Eastern Province work in the oil industry, especially at state giant Saudi Aramco and therefore have little interest in disrupting oil flows and their livelihood. Protesters have so far never targeted oil fields and energy flows.
-- In 2007 Saudi Arabia began setting up a new armed force, to number around 35,000, to protect strategic oil sites in the Eastern Province. The force was set up in close collaboration with the United States.
Sources: Reuters/International Crisis Group/
East Oil & Gas Review (Reporting by Angus McDowall and David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; editing by Mark Heinrich) ((david.cutler@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7968; Reuters Messaging: david.cutler.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ))
Keywords: SAUDI SHI'ITE/PROTESTS EASTERN
