impact it will have and how much it will last. from nigeria to iran, thousands took to the streets. it prompted she eye lawmakers to walk out of parliament. the king called for an investigation. in a statement king hamid said the first concern is the safety of our homeland and citizens and for everybody to get their rights. it comes despite their stable economy with a growth of 5% this year, 4% in 2010. saudi arabia, the giant next door to tiny bahrain is watching eventing very closely. many believe they face less economic pressure due to higher oil pressures, but even in the oil-rich kingdom, increasing food costs and unemployment are still pressing ir issues that could turn into political
protests in bahrain are not new. this is a key point to make. this is something that has happened for four or five years. the king has been in power since 1999. it s fair to say with the protests we ve seen in tunisia, egypt, libya, the northern african frontier is to raise the volume, the size of the protests, and that s krae yated a challenge for bahrain. but the outlook is quite different. let s take a look. reporter: tunisia, egypt, yemen. around the region people are called for change. in total, there are 1 1/2 billion muslims and 39% live below the poverty level and now many are speaking against the governments, among complaints of corruption. thou thousands have taken to the streets to protest.
region. there s a lot of concern in saudi arabia about the fallout from events in tunisia and egypt, but i think the saudis are particularly concerned about two countries that border them, yemen and bahrain. and i think bahrain has a particular significance because of its majority shiite population and the fear among the saudis that unrest in bahrain could easily spill over into the heavily shia populated eastern provinces of saudi arabia where a lot of the oil production in saudi arabia takes place. well, let s explore these issues a little further. with me is john. john, the situation for saudi arabia is startinging, isn t it? yes.
in fact, raising the point that the southern tier with yemen has been a problem and it s not going to go away. now into the eastern province that s where it lies. i think it s fair point that the saudi government knows this is a challenge. they ve e.r. ee ve ear marked a money. they want to diversify for economic cities. the huge challenge for them right now, charles, is to deliver on the massive problems over the time frame. i wouldn t say there s a challenge over king abdullah. the houses seem to be very secure, but they do need to secure what they promised in the recent past. on what level of the protest are they currently inside saudi arabia. we haven t seen them, have we? there have been some flash points. it started a few weeks ago with one man burning himself and that was quickly quelled.
turmoil. leone lakhani has the story. reporter: revolutionary change in egypt, sparking fears amongst neighboring middle east governments are sparking further pro-democracy campaigns inside their borders. here in the gulf there have been protests in yemen and bahrain, but most citizens benefit from the state s wealth with housing, education, health care all taken care of and authorities hope that will keep a lid on wide-scale social unrest. like the middle east, a large portion of the population is under the age of 25 and entering the workforce, so creating jobs to absorb this population is a foremost challenge particularly for saudi arabia. yes, there is unemployment, 10% unemployment in saudi arabia is a fact, and we have youth unemployment, certainly more than 25%. 70% of saudis are below the age