Pioneers in any profession, relatively few Saudi women have entered the work force—despite a boom in education created by the kingdom’s oil wealth—and usually in fields where they won’t come into contact with men. Baby boys are another matter: Dr. Hanan Ali al-Subeai examines a newborn at Airbase Military Hospital in Dhahran. Her ghata, or head covering, is considered a veil.
—From “Women of Saudi Arabia,” October 1987, National Geographic magazine
Flush with wealth from its oil fields, Oman has catapulted from an Arabian Peninsula backwater to a modern nation while managing to keep many of its traditions alive.
Peer behind the veil and enter the lives of Saudi Arabian women in this photo gallery that explores how these women of tradition are adapting as their society modernizes.
