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What is the Persian Gulf and where is it located?
The Persian Gulf is the body of water bordering Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman. The Gulf covers area of approximately 87,000 square miles, with a maximum depth of about 330 feet and an average depth of about 115 feet.
Is the Persian Gulf found in the Middle East?
The Persian Gulf is located in the Middle East between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.
What is the Persian Gulf called now?
The body of water is historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf. Arab governments refer to it as the Arabian Gulf or The Gulf, and other countries and organizations have begun using Arabian Gulf. The name Gulf of Iran (Persian Gulf) is used by the International Hydrographic Organization.
What country owns the Persian Gulf?
Iran Owns the Persian Gulf Now – Foreign Policy.
How many Middle East countries border the Persian Gulf?
Eight countriesEight countries border the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman (Musandam exclave) and Iran.
What is the difference between Persian Gulf and Arabian Gulf?
The Persian Gulf is a gulf while the Arabian Sea is a sea. 3. The Persian Gulf is in-between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran while the Arabian sea is in-between the Indian and Arabian Peninsula.
When did the Persian Gulf change to Arabian Gulf?
On 30 December 2004, the society reversed its decision and published an Atlas Update, removing the parenthetical reference and adding a note: "Historically and most commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is referred to by some as the Arabian Gulf."
Is Dubai a Persian?
The UAE is currently home to 500,000 Iranian expatriates, most of whom live in Dubai. The Iranian Club in Dubai is the main social club of Iranian expatriates in the country. The Iranian population in UAE also includes small communities of Baloch people and Khuzestani Arabs.
What continent is the Persian Gulf in?
The Persian Gulf, a mediterranean sea, is part of the Indian Ocean. It is located in Western Asia.
Why is it called gulf?
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies of salt water that are enclosed by the coastline.
Is Iran part of Persian Gulf?
The lands around the Persian Gulf are shared by eight countries namely, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. These all eight countries are members of the United Nations.
Do people swim in the Persian Gulf?
Open-water swimming takes place in open oceans, seas, rivers, canals, etc. The first, and therefore fastest, swim along the length of the Persian Gulf is by 34-year-old Mohammad Kobadi (Iran).
What is the Persian Gulf?
The Persian Gulf is an arm of the Arabian Sea between the mountainous coast of southwestern Iran and the rather flat coast of Arabian Peninsula. The gulf is approximately 1000 km long and 200 to 300 km wide, with an area of about 250,000 km². The inland sea is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz.
What are the major airports in the Persian Gulf?
Airports. There are three major international airports in the Gulf Region, Dubai International Airport in Dubai and Abu Dhabi International Airport in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Hamad International Airport in Doha in Qatar.
What river feeds the Persian Gulf?
Some minor Iranian rivers such as the Mond River, the Zohreh and the Helleh River, also empty into the Persian Gulf.
What is the main port in Bahrain?
Mina Salman, south of Manama, is the primary cargo port of Bahrain. Hamad Port south of Doha is Qatar's main seaport. Major port cities on the Persian Gulf are Bandar-e Mahshahr, Bushehr, Bandar Lengeh, and Bandar Abbas. Jebel Ali is the largest human-made harbor and the busiest port in the Middle-East.
What is the busiest port in the Middle East?
Jebel Ali is the largest human-made harbor and the busiest port in the Middle-East. Other ports are Mina Rashid in Dubai, Mina Khalid and Khor Fakkan in Sharjah, Das Island, an offshore island and part of Abu Dhabi, and Mina Zayed, a commercial deep-water port that serves Abu Dhabi. More about the Middle East.
What is the name of the old Saudi port city?
Dhahran and Khobar are old Saudi port cities. King Fahd Industrial Port is a large industrial port in Jubail; the former fishing village is now known as Jubail Industrial City, one of the world's largest industrial cities and a major civil engineering project. Bahrain.
What is the strait of Oman?
The strait is recognized as an international trade route. It links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman. The waterway is of strategic and economic significance, all ocean transport to and from the oil-rich countries must pass through the strait.
How big is the Persian Gulf?
The sea has an area of about 93,000 square miles (241,000 square km). Its length is some 615 miles (990 km), and its width varies from a maximum of about 210 miles ...
What is the Persian Gulf covered with?
The deeper parts of the Persian Gulf adjacent to the Iranian coast and the area around the Tigris-Euphrates delta are mainly floored with gray-green muds rich in calcium carbonate. The shallower areas to the southwest are covered with whitish gray or speckled skeletal sands and fine carbonate muds.
Where is the Iranian coast?
The coastal plain widens north of Būshehr (Bushire), Iran, and passes into the broad deltaic plain of the Tigris and Euphrates and Kārūn rivers. Cliffs are rare on the Arabian shore of the gulf, except around the base of the Qatar Peninsula and in the extreme southeast around the Strait of Hormuz, where they form the spectacular coast of the Musandam Peninsula. Most of the Arabian shore is bordered by sandy beaches, with many small islands enclosing small lagoons.
What is the sediment in the Persian Gulf?
The Persian Gulf receives only small amounts of river-borne sediment except in the northwest, where immense quantities of silt are deposited by the Tigris, Euphrates, and Kārūn rivers and other smaller streams as they empty into the gulf, by way of the Shatt Al-’Arab.
When do the Iranian rivers reach their peak?
The rivers reach their peak flow in spring and early summer, when the snow melts in the mountains; disastrous floods sometimes result. There are some ephemeral streams on the Iranian coast south of Būshehr, but virtually no fresh water flows into the gulf on its Arabian side.
How high is the tidal range in Qatar?
The tidal range varies from about 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 metres) around Qatar and increases to 10 to 11 feet (3.0 to 3.4 metres) in the northwest and 9 to 10 feet (2.7 to 3.0 metres) in the extreme southeast.
What is the Persian Gulf?
Arab governments refer to it as the "Arabian Gulf" ( Arabic: اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ , romanized : Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī) or "The Gulf". The name "Gulf of Iran (Persian Gulf)" is used by the International Hydrographic Organization.
How deep is the Persian Gulf?
Overall , the waters are very shallow, with a maximum depth of 90 metres (295 feet) and an average depth of 50 metres (164 feet).
What is the name of the body of water that flows through the Gulf of Oman?
The Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. The body of water is historically and internationally known as the "Persian Gulf".
How is the Persian Gulf connected to the Indian Ocean?
The Persian Gulf is connected to the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz. Writing the water balance budget for the Persian Gulf, the inputs are river discharges from Iran and Iraq (estimated to be 2,000 cubic metres (71,000 cu ft) per second), as well as precipitation over the sea which is around 180 mm (7.1 in)/year in Qeshm Island. The evaporation of the sea is high, so that after considering river discharge and rain contributions, there is still a deficit of 416 cubic kilometres (100 cu mi) per year. This difference is supplied by currents at the Strait of Hormuz. The water from the Persian Gulf has a higher salinity, and therefore exits from the bottom of the Strait, while ocean water with less salinity flows in through the top. Another study revealed the following numbers for water exchanges for the Persian Gulf: evaporation = –1.84 m (6.0 ft)/year, precipitation = 0.08 m (0.26 ft)/year, inflow from the Strait = 33.66 m (110.4 ft)/year, outflow from the Strait = -32.11 m (105.3 ft)/year, and the balance is 0 m (0 ft)/year. Data from different 3D computational fluid mechanics models, typically with spatial resolution of 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) and depth each element equal to 1–10 metres (3.3–32.8 ft) are predominantly used in computer models.
How long did the Portuguese rule the Persian Gulf?
Colonial era. See also: Portuguese rule and British residency of the Persian Gulf. Portuguese influence in the Persian Gulf lasted for 250 years ; however, since the beginning of the 16th-century, Portuguese dominance contended with the local powers and the Ottoman Empire.
What is the name of the Gulf War?
It is the namesake of the 1991 Gulf War, the largely air- and land-based conflict that followed Iraq 's invasion of Kuwait . The Persian Gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive reefs (mostly rocky, but also coral ), and abundant pearl oysters, but its ecology has been damaged by industrialization and oil spills .
Which empires ruled the northern part of the Persian Gulf?
Between 625 BC and 226 AD, the northern side was dominated by a succession of Persian empires including the Median, Achaemenid, Seleucid and Parthian empires. Under the leadership of the Achaemenid king Darius the Great (Darius I), Persian ships found their way to the Persian Gulf.
What is the western border of the Middle East?
The western border of the Middle East is defined by the Mediterranean Sea, where Israel, Lebanon, and Syria rest opposite from Greece and Italy in Europe. Egypt in Africa also borders the Mediterranean and is sometimes considered as part of the Middle East, while Turkey and Cyprus literally connect Europe to Asia and oscillate between being called ...
Which countries border Iran?
Both Afghanistan and Pakistan border Iran to the east, but Pakistan’s shared history with India causes it to sometimes be seen as part of South Asia instead of the Middle East. Some of the countries bordering Iran and Afghanistan’s north, such as Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, are sometimes included within the northern borders ...
What is the Middle East known for?
The Middle East is often referred to as the “Cradle of Civilization, ” and a brief look at the region’s history clearly explains why this is true. This part of the world, and particularly the Mesopotamia region around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, is home to many of humanity’s earliest accomplishments. Neolithic humans here made their first transitions from nomadic to agricultural lifestyles by inventing the wheel, basic agriculture, and the beginnings of the written word roughly 12,000 years ago. Ancient Sumer was the first civilization on Earth, and produced the oldest known piece of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is now over 4000 years old. This region was also home to the ancient Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires, while farther West the Middle East region saw the unification and rise of Ancient Egypt. Several Persian empires originating in modern Iran also rose to dominance in the Middle East, while the Romans and their successor state in the East, the Byzantine Empire, eventually controlled the region from the Mediterranean coasts up to the Euphrates River.
What are the two main seas that surround the Middle East?
South of the Mediterranean Sea, the Red and Arabian Seas surround the southern part of the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman border these waters, with Iraq and Jordan connecting them to the western part of the region. At the center of the Middle East rests the Persian Gulf, cutting into the region and giving it its hook-like shape.
Where do the Euphrates and Tigris rivers flow?
The massive Tigris and Euphrates rivers begin in the mountains of eastern Turkey, flowing through Syria and Iraq out into the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf, along with the Gulfs of Arden and Oman, connect the central and southern regions of the Middle East to the Arabian Sea and ultimately the Indian Ocean.
What countries are in the Middle East?
Countries along the Persian Gulf include the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iran. The eastern and northern borders of the Middle East are somewhat difficult to define. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan border Iran ...
How many square miles are there in the Middle East?
Using the most inclusive possible definition of the region as per the outlines listed previously, the total landmass of the Middle East is roughly 3.82 million square miles (9.9 million square kilometers).
What Is The Persian Gulf?
Origin of The Name
- The Persian Gulf derived its name from the Persis, a region southwest of the Iranian plateau. Under the Achaemenid dynasty, the ancient Persians in the Persis region became strong rulers and extended their reign as far as Eastern Europe and Indus Valley. According to Greek scholars, the body of water bordering the Persis region was named the “Persian Gulf.” Before the current n…
The Climate of The Persian Gulf
- The Persian Gulf is popular for its notoriously unfavorable climate. Temperatures are extreme throughout the year, although winters may be cool, especially in the extreme northwestern regions. Precipitation or rainfall is sparse and mainly characterized by sharp downpours from November to December. The region experiences more cloud cover in winter than summer. Altho…
Islands in The Persian Gulf
- There are several islands in the Persian Gulf, including Bahrain, the Persian Gulf state. Bahrain comprises over 50 islands centered on the Bahrain Island. It has a 161-km coastline and claims 22 km of the territorial sea. Bahrain Island is the fourth-largest island in the Persian Gulf. The islands in the gulf are distributed across the entire geographic area. Some of these islands are a…
Marine Life and Protected Areas
- Persian Gulf’s isolation from international waters makes its wildlife unique and diverse. It is home to some magnificent flora and fauna, some of which are facing extinction. Besides global factors, activities in and around the Persian Gulf have endangered its wildlife. The most common marine animals in the Gulf and neighboring Mediterranean region are the finless porpoises. Orcas and w…
Brief History
- Humans may have settled on the Persian Gulf shores as early as the Old Stone Age. Sumer, the earliest known civilization, began around the gulf and Mesopotamia. The nomadic tribes settled and ruled southern shores, later becoming the site for the Dilmun civilization. The Lakhum tribe migrated to the north coast and established the Lakhmid Kingdom. From 625 BCE to 226 AD, se…
Human Settlements Along The Persian Gulf
- The countries surrounding the Persian Gulf have a combined population of about 100 million people. Although Iraq has the shortest coastline, it is the most populous Persian Gulf State, with about 41.2 million people. The gulf’s strategic location has made it ideal for human settlement. Some of the Middle East’s biggest cities are located along the Persian Gulf coast. Dubai, the UA…
Economy
- The Persian Gulf exclusive economic zone covers 240,756 km2, with Iran accounting for 97,860 km2. Before Iran discovered oil in the Persian Gulf, the gulf was mainly important for fishing, dhow building, pearling, sailcloth making, and date growing. The arid surrounding did not support many economic activities. Fishing remains an important activity for the people living around the Persia…
Overview
The Persian Gulf , sometimes called the Arabian Gulf (Arabic: اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, romanized: Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. It is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz. The Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline.
Geography
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Persian Gulf's southern limit as "The Northwestern limit of Gulf of Oman". This limit is defined as "A line joining Ràs Limah (25°57'N) on the coast of Arabia and Ràs al Kuh (25°48'N) on the coast of Iran (Persia)".
This inland sea of some 251,000 square kilometres (96,912 sq mi) is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz; and its western end is marked by the major river delta of …
Oceanography
The Persian Gulf is connected to the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz. Writing the water balance budget for the Persian Gulf, the inputs are river discharges from Iran and Iraq (estimated to be 2,000 cubic metres (71,000 cu ft) per second), as well as precipitation over the sea which is around 180 mm (7.1 in)/year in Qeshm Island. The evaporation of the sea is high, so that after considering river discharge and rain contributions, there is still a deficit of 416 cubic kilometres (…
Name
In 550 BC, the Achaemenid Empire established the first ancient empire in Persis (Pars, or modern Fars), in the southwestern region of the Iranian plateau. Consequently, in the Greek sources, the body of water that bordered this province came to be known as the "Persian Gulf". In the book of Nearchus known as The Indikê (300 BC), the word "Persikon kaitas" is mentioned for multiple ti…
History
Earliest evidence of human presence on Persian Gulf islands dates back to Middle Paleolithic and consist of stone tools discovered at Qeshm Island. The world's oldest known civilization (Sumer) developed along the Persian Gulf and southern Mesopotamia. The shallow basin that now underlies the Persian Gulf was an extensive region of river valley and wetlands during the transition betw…
Wildlife
The wildlife of the Persian Gulf is diverse, and entirely unique because of the Persian Gulf's geographic distribution and its isolation from the international waters only breached by the narrow Strait of Hormuz. The Persian Gulf has hosted some of the most magnificent marine fauna and flora, some of which are near extirpation or at serious environmental risk. From corals, to dugongs, Persian Gulf is a diverse cradle for many species who depend on each other for survival. Howev…
Oil and gas
The Persian Gulf and its coastal areas are the world's largest single source of petroleum, and related industries dominate the region. Safaniya Oil Field, the world's largest offshore oilfield, is located in the Persian Gulf. Large gas finds have also been made, with Qatar and Iran sharing a giant field across the territorial median line (North Field in the Qatari sector; South Pars Field in the Iranian sector). Using this gas, Qatar has built up a substantial liquefied natural gas (LNG) an…
See also
• Eastern Arabia
• Eastern Arabian cuisine
• Cradle of civilization
• Deluge (prehistoric)
• Musandam Peninsula