Saudi Arabia marks nearly 300-year-old Founding Day for 1st time

Girls wearing traditional abaya and headwear are seen during the first kingdom's Founding Day celebrations in Abha, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou)

RIYADH, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia on Tuesday marked for the first time ever the kingdom's Founding Day almost three centuries ago.

Designated by Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in January, the Founding Day is to mark the day when Imam Muhammed bin Saud established the first Saudi state in the town of Diriyah, northwest of Riyadh, in 1727.

The occasion is celebrated with a host of cultural events across Saudi Arabia.

The Turaif district, first capital of Saudis, in Diriyah was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. 

People wearing traditional clothes perform a traditional dance during the first kingdom's Founding Day celebrations in Abha, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou)

(220222) -- DAMMAM (SAUDI ARABIA), Feb. 22, 2022 (Xinhua) -- Women wearing traditional clothes are seen during the first kingdom's Founding Day celebrations in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 22, 2022. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)

(220222) -- DAMMAM (SAUDI ARABIA), Feb. 22, 2022 (Xinhua) -- A man wearing traditional clothes is seen during the first kingdom's Founding Day celebrations in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 22, 2022. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)

A Saudi boy holds a national flag during the first kingdom's Founding Day celebrations in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 22, 2022. (Photo by Mohamed Nasr/Xinhua)