July 23 (Reuters) - Here is a look at some of the most significant Shi'ite Muslim demonstrations in Saudi Arabia since 1979:

* OVERVIEW

- Shi'ites in the Sunni Muslim-dominated kingdom say they have struggled to get government jobs or university places, their neighbourhoods suffer under-investment, and their places of worship are often closed down. The government denies the accusations, pointing to King Abdullah's move in 2003 to include them in a "national dialogue" and the decision in 2004 to let them hold their annual Ashura commemoration. Small and sporadic protests have occurred in Eastern Province, where the oil sector is concentrated and where most of the kingdom's Shi'ites live.

* SIGNIFICANT PROTESTS

1979 - Reacting to revolutionary events across the Gulf in Iran as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini replaced the toppled Shah, Saudi Shi'ite leaders mobilised youth to directly challenge the Saudi elite, voicing feelings of religious and community oppression. Significant civil disobedience followed.

2006 - In August, several protests in favour of the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, closely allied with Iran, took place in Qatif in Eastern Province, witnesses said. Demonstrators held up the yellow Hezbollah banner and photos of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and torched Israeli flags.

- The kingdom, which fears the rising influence of Shi'ite power Iran, had denounced Israel's military campaign against Lebanon and called for a ceasefire, but also accused Hezbollah of provoking the 23-day-long war.

2009 - Hundreds of Shi'ites staged protests as police hunted for preacher Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who in March had breached a taboo by suggesting in a sermon that his community could one day seek their own separate state.

2011 - Dozens of Shi'ites gathered in February in Qatif to demand the release of fellow prisoners held for long periods without trial. A week earlier, Saudi authorities had released three prisoners after Shi'ites in a town neighbouring Qatif, Awamiya, staged a small protest, according to resident Shi'ites.

-- In March, Saudi police fired in the air to disperse around 200 protesting Shi'ites in Qatif, and three people were injured in the melee on the eve of a day of protests called for on social media, witnesses and activists said.

-- In October, Saudi Arabia said that clashes that injured 14 people including 11 policemen in the Eastern province were the work of an unnamed foreign power - usually code for Iran.

-- In November four men were shot dead by security forces after exchanges of fire near police checkpoints in Qatif, the Interior Ministry said.

2012 - In January, the kingdom ordered the arrest of 23 Shi'ites in Eastern Province accused of being responsible for unrest that had led to shootings and protests. The same month a man was shot dead in Awamiya in an exchange of fire with security men, Saudi authorities said.

-- In February, a man was killed and three injured when police fired to disperse demonstrators in Awamiya.

-- In March unknown gunmen shot and wounded three members of the Saudi security forces who were patrolling in Awamiya.

-- In July, Saudi Arabia said three men were killed in protests in Awamiya following the arrest of Nimr. He was previously detained for several days in 2004 and 2006, his brother said. The cleric represents a more radical strain among Saudi Shi'ites, who feel the community's established leaders have failed to make headway with ending what they see as systematic discrimination.

(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit: additional reporting by Angus McDowall; 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