Saudi Arabia is not the only country in the world that does not have a permanent river - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 8, 2022
A post is being shared on social media claiming that Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that does not have a river flowing within it. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Saudi Arabia is the only country not having a permanent river flowing within it.
Fact: A significant number of desert countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Libya, Yemen and a few very small islands and states like the Bahamas, Malta and Monaco do not have permanent rivers flowing within them. Saudi Arabia is not the only country that does not have a permanent river. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched to check the details of the countries that do not have permanent rivers, we found the details in articles published by the ‘World Atlas’ and the ‘Graphic Maps’ websites. According to the list provided by these websites, 19 different countries in the world do not have permanent natural rivers. A significant number of desert countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Libya, Yemen and a few very small islands and states like the Bahamas, Malta and Monaco do not have a permanent river flowing within them.
When we searched for further sources, we found details of the total renewable surface water resources available in different countries across the globe on the ‘Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) website. According to the ‘AQUASTAT’ survey results provided on the FAO website, Arab countries like UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and a few island countries like the Bahamas, and Bahrain have less total renewable surface water resources compared to Saudi Arabia.
FAO in an article stated the ten poorest countries in terms of water resources per inhabitant are Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Maldives, Malta, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The ‘Assessment of water resources and water availability in the world’ published by Prof I. A. Shiklomanov also stated that the freshwater resources in a few other Arab countries are very much lesser than that of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is a desert country with no permanent rivers or lakes and very little rainfall. But there are over a dozen countries that do not have permanent rivers like Saudi Arabia.
To sum it up, Saudi Arabia is not the only country in the world that does not have a permanent river.