RIYADH – Of the 162,880 marriage contracts issued by courts in the Kingdom in 2011, 1,988 contracts were issued to Saudi women who tied the knot with non-Saudi males while 2,640 contracts were issued to Saudi men marrying non-Saudi women, according to a recent Ministry of Justice report. The report, according to the Al-Hayat newspaper, noted that the Makkah Region led with 584 contracts of the number of marriage contracts issued to non-Saudi men marrying Saudi women. Riyadh and the Eastern Province came second and third at 543 and 490 contracts respectively. Al-Baha Region recorded the lowest number of marriage contracts (4) between Saudi women and non-Saudi men. In Tabuk, five such marriage contracts were registered whereas in Al-Jouf Region, the number was eight, said the report. Yemeni men topped the list of non-Saudi men marrying Saudi women at 456, followed by Kuwaitis (351), Qataris (247), Syrians (149), Emiratis (124), Egyptians (111), Lebanese (66), and Pakistanis (46), noted the report. Eight Americans, seven British, two Europeans and three Turkish nationals married Saudi women. Of the 2,640 marriage contracts issued to Saudi men who married non-Saudi women, 1,076 contracts were issued to Yemeni women, 218 to Lebanese women, 193 to Syrian women, and 113 to Palestinians women. Makkah Region recorded the highest number of contracts at 1,357, followed by Riyadh at 621, Madinah at 232, and the Eastern Province at 179. — SG
