Culture

King Fahd Stadium Places of worship

The city has over 4,300 mosques

In the city's municipal cemeteries, graves are not permitted to have tombstones, but in March 2012 local authorities approved a project to mark each grave using electronic devices. Spokesman Sulaiman Al-Bathi explained: "This will put an end to the old methods used by families, relatives and friends to identify the graves of their loved ones".

Cuisine

Like other Saudi cities, the Nejdi dish kabsa is the most traditional meal in Riyadh. The Yemeni dish mandi is also a popular meal, particularly as a lunchtime meal. Fast food is also popular in the city, with several multinational chains.

Museums and collections

In 1999 a new central Museum was built in Riyadh at the eastern side of the King Abdul Aziz Historical Centre. This National Museum of Saudi Arabia combined several collections and pieces that had up till then been scattered over several Institutions and places in Riyadh and the Kingdom. For example the meteorite fragment known as the "Camel's Hump" that was on display at the King Saud University in Riyadh became the new entry piece of the National Museum of Saudi Arabia.

The Royal Saudi Air Force Museum or Saqr Al-Jazira is located on the East Ring Road of Riyadh between exits 10 and 11. It contains a collection of aircraft and aviation-related items used by the Royal Saudi Air Force and Saudia.

Media See also: Riyadh TV Tower

Riyadh is served by four Arabic, two English and one Malayalam language newspapers, Asharq Al-Awsat (which is owned by the city governor), Al-Riyadh, Al-Jazeera and Al-Watan. The Saudi Gazette and Arab News are in English. Gulf Madhyamam is in Malayalam language. Television stations serving the city area include Saudi TV1, Saudi TV2, Saudi TV Sports, Al-Ekhbariya, ART channels network. Arabic is the main language used in television and radio but radio broadcasts are also made in different languages such as French, or English; other languages are also used by cable, satellite and other speciality television providers. The Riyadh TV Tower is a 170 m (560 ft) high television tower with an observation deck overlooking Riyadh. Construction was begun on the tower in 1978 and finished in 1981. It is considered part of the Ministry of Information.

Sports

Football is the most popular sport in Riyadh. The city hosts four major football clubs, Al-Hilal, which has a reputation for being the most widely supported club in Saudi Arabia, was established in 1957 and has won thirteen championships in the Saudi Premier League. Al-Nasr club is another team in the top league. It was established in 1955, and has been named champion of the Saudi League five times. Another well-known club, Al Shabab, which was established in 1947 and holds seven championships. There is also Al-Riyadh Club, which was established in 1954, as well as many other minor clubs.

The city also hosts several large stadiums such as King Fahd International Stadium with a seating capacity of 70,000. The stadium hosted the FIFA Confederations Cup three times, in the years 1992, 1995 and 1997. And also the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 1989.

Language See also: Najdi Arabic

The Riyadh city area has a distinctive regional speech pattern called the Najdi dialect. It is often considered to be one of the most recognizable accents within the Arabic language. Najdi Arabic is widely spoken in the desert regions of central and eastern Saudi Arabia. English is also widely spoken and is understood by many residents of Riyadh.