Cultural life in the new Sa’udi kingdom flourishes, primarily in the Hejaz, which is the center for newspapers and radio.

Although the kingdom retains its fundamentalist, puritanical principles, the Saudis tolerate some of the practices that had taken root in the Hejaz and other areas as the result of foreign contacts.

The ban on music, for example, is progressively circumvented by the radio, which the Saudis employ as a tool to unite the kingdom and increase military efficiency.

The primary basis of the kingdom's revenues—the pilgrimage, customs duties, and taxes—continue to decrease as a result of the world economic depression of the 1930s.