The Arab countries consist of 23 nations, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Desert sand is not useful for construction.
The territories of these countries are largely characterized by sandy terrain, with countless large and small deserts. However, in reality, Arab nations rank among the top countries in the world for sand imports. Can you guess why?
Two things that Arab countries have in abundance are: oil and sand. You might think that Middle Eastern countries would export these resources, but no, they actually… import them.
This is because the sand in the deserts of the Arab countries in the Middle East is not suitable for construction purposes. Compared to beach sand and river sand, desert sand is smaller and finer due to erosion from the wind. Simply put, if desert sand is used to mix concrete, it is more likely to crumble and break.
Although some Arab countries have coastlines, the rapid development of the construction industry has led to the depletion of these resources long ago. Therefore, other countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Dubai still need to import sand to build large-scale structures. In fact, in 2018, the UAE was the fifth-largest importer of natural sand in the world (around 1.05 million tons).
