Of the Shammar tribe, he was the son of Saudi Arabia's first king, Abdulaziz al-Saud, and his eighth wife, Fahda bint Asi Al Shuraim. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz received a traditional religious education in the royal palace and secular and political education in a school. He spent much time in the desert as a child where he learned the customs of the Bedouins.
Abdullah was the mayor of Mecca and Deputy Defense Minister. In 1962, he was appointed commander of the Saudi National Guard (SANG). In 1975-1982, he held the post of Second Deputy Prime Minister.
When Fahd bin Abdulaziz became king in 1982, Prince Abdullah became Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister.
When King Fahd had a major stroke in 1995, Crown Prince Abdullah became the de facto regent of Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah succeeded to the throne on August 1 and was formally enthroned on August 3, 2005, after which he appointed his half-brother, Sultan, the Minister of Defense and Aviation, as his heir.
Abdullah carried on the moderate reforms initiated by King Fahd, focusing on education. His foreign policy encouraged rapprochement with Christian countries. In 2007, Abdullah visited the Vatican, becoming the first Saudi ruler to meet with the Pope, then Benedict XVI. In July 2008, an interfaith conference was held at the initiative of the Saudi and Spanish governments.
Abdullah generously invested in charities. In 2005, he was awarded the Polish Order of the Smile for financing the separation surgery of a pair of Polish conjoined twins from the Polish town of Janikowo, which took place at the King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh. He also founded two libraries, one in Riyadh and the other Casablanca, Morocco.
Abdullah withdrew from the political stage in June 2010. In December 2010, he went to the United States for surgery for a lumbar herniated disc. Then he moved to Morocco for rehabilitation, which lasted until March 2011. He later had several more spine surgeries.
In December 2014, Abdullah contracted pneumonia and was taken to a hospital in Riyadh.
He died on January 23, 2015.
