Indians in Saudi Arabia
Indians in Saudi Arabia are the largest community of expatriates in Saudi Arabia. India and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to manage and organize the recruitment of domestic workers in January 2014. Between then and April 2016, 500,000 Indians moved to Saudi Arabia for employment. The agreement includes a provision which stipulates that sponsors must pay a guarantee of US $2,500 for each Indian worker they recruit.[3]
Total population | |
---|---|
4,100,000[1][2] ~13.22% of Saudi Arabia's population (2017) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Jubail, Jizan | |
Languages | |
Malayalam • Tulu • Urdu • Hindi • Marathi • Telugu • Kannada • Tamil | |
Religion | |
Majority: Islam Minority: Hinduism • Sikhism • Jainism • Zoroastrianism • Buddhism • Christianity • Judaism • Baháʼí | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Indian diaspora |
Demographics
The following table shows the estimated population of Indians in Saudi Arabia since 1975.
Year | Population |
---|---|
1975 | 34,500[4] |
1979 | 100,000[4] |
1983 | 270,000[4] |
1987 | 380,000[4] |
1991 | 351,000[4] |
1999 | 700,000[4] |
2000 | 1,000,000[4] |
2004 | 1,300,000[5] |
2015 | 3,000,000[3][6] |
2017 | 4,100,000[1][2] |
Religion
Slightly less than one-third of the Indians in Saudi Arabia are Muslims, mainly from Kerala.[7] Gada nagri established for Indians Workers Gada, are a Muslim community or caste found in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana
Education
Indian curriculum schools in Saudi Arabia include:
- International Indian School, Dammam
- International Indian School Jeddah
- International Indian School, Al-Jubail
- International Indian School, Riyadh
- New Middle East International School, Riyadh
- International Indian Public School, Riyadh
- Yara International School, Riyadh
- Al-Yasmin International School , Riyadh
- Talal International School , Jeddah
Notable Indian Saudi Arabians
- Abdulbasit Hindi, Saudi Arabian footballer of distant Indian origin
See also
- India – Saudi Arabia relations
References
- "How Saudi Arabia's 'Family Tax' Is Forcing Indians To Return Home". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- "Indians brace for Saudi 'family tax'". Times of India. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- "500K Indian workers arrive in 16 months". Arab News. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- "Report of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspo" (PDF). indiandiaspora.nic.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- "Arab versus Asian migrant workers in the GCC countries" (PDF). p. 10.
- "PM Modi's Saudi Agenda Big On Oil And Indian Workers". NDTV. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
- Ian Talbot, A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas, Yale University Press, 2016, chapter 3