RIYADH: Saudi women vote Saturday for the first time in elections but still face a host of other restrictions, among the tightest in the world.

Under Saudi policies and practices women cannot:

• Drive; Saudi Arabia is the world's only country banning women from getting behind the wheel
• Travel, without the consent of a male family member known as a guardian
• Marry, without the consent of a guardian
• Work, without the consent of a guardian
• Appear in public without covering herself in a black abaya robe from head to toe
• Receive the same amount of inheritance as a man
• Work in certain jobs
• Mingle with unrelated men in public places such as restaurants
• Divorce as easily as a man

Saudi women can:

• Vote in municipal elections, the kingdom's only polls for public officials
• Sit on the Shura Council, an appointed body which advises cabinet
• Hold the most senior corporate executive posts
• Work in government administration and an expanding number of private sector areas, including as lawyers
• Be forced to marry at a young age, as there is no legally defined minimum age