Saudi Arabia is divided into 13 provinces. Each province has a governor, a
deputy governor, and a provincial council.
These councils deliberate on the needs of their province, work on the
development budget, consider future development plans, and monitor ongoing
projects. The governor and deputy governor of each province serve as chairman
and vice-chairman of their respective provincial council. Each council consists
of at least ten private citizens. As with the Majlis Al-Shura, members of the
council participate in committees that focus on various issues of interest to
the province. The councils issue reports that are submitted to the Minister of
the Interior, and then passed on to the appropriate government ministries and
agencies for consideration. The provincial council system is the result of
bylaws established by King Fahd in 1992. These bylaws divided the country into
13 provinces and defined their administrative structure, how they would be
administered, and the responsibilities of the governors and other regional
officers. In 1993, King Fahd named 210 members to the provincial councils. In
2005, municipal elections were held for half of the members of each of the 178
municipal councils in the Kingdom. The remaining half of the council members
and the mayor are appointed
