Saudi King Salman bin Abdel Aziz al Saud is the seventh king of the Saudi kingdom.
He is the 25th son of the desert kingdom's founder Abdel Aziz bin Saud and the sixth son of Abdel Aziz to become king of the oil-rich nation.
Salman was appointed governor of Riyadh province in the 1950s and continued to hold the post until 2011. He only took on his first ministerial post - as defense minister - in 2011 following the death of his brother Prince Sultan.
He was officially named crown prince following the death of the previous heir apparent, Nayef, in June 2012.
Source: MENA