Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( born 31 December 1935) has been the King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques since 23 January 2015.
He was the deputy governor of Riyadh and later the governor of Riyadh for 48 years from 1963 to 2011. He was then appointed Minister of Defense. He was also named the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in 2012 following the death of his brother Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Salman became King in 2015 following the death of his half-brother, King Abdullah. Following the death of Prince Mutaib in December 2019, he has been the oldest surviving son of Ibn Saud.
His major initiatives as king include the Saudi intervention in the Yemeni Civil War, Saudi Vision 2030, and a 2017 decree allowing Saudi women to drive. His son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is considered the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia and has led many reforms within the country, as well as engendering a number of controversies, including the 2017 arrest of members of the Saudi royal family and the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
