Persian Gulf - Geography, Oil and gas, Naming dispute, British residency

area 238 800 km²/92 200 sq mi. Arm of the Arabian Sea, connected to it via the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz; bounded N by Iran, NW by Iraq and Kuwait, W by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and S by the United Arab Emirates; largest islands, Bahrain and Qeshm (Iran); length 885 km/550 mi; maximum width 322 km/200 mi; average depth 100 m/325 ft; important source of oil; pipeline (N) links offshore oilfields with Iran and Saudi Arabia via terminal on Khârg I; scene of great tension during Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, and during the Gulf War against Iraq in 1991.

The Persian Gulf was the focus of the Iraq-Iran War that lasted from 1980 to 1988, with each side attacking the other's oil tankers. In 1991, the Persian Gulf again was the background for what was called the "Persian Gulf War" or "The Gulf War" when Iraq invaded Kuwait and was subsequently pushed back, despite the fact that this conflict was primarily a land conflict.

The natural environment of the Persian Gulf is very rich with good fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, but its ecology has become increasingly under pressure from the heavy industrialisation and in particular the repeated major petroleum spillages associated with recent wars fought in the region.

Geography

This inland sea of some 233,000 km² is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz;

Countries with a coastline on the Persian Gulf are (clockwise, from the north): Iran, Oman (exclave of Musandam), United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar on a peninsula off the Saudi coast, Bahrain on an island, Kuwait and Iraq in the northwest.

Oil and gas

The Persian Gulf and its coastal areas are the world's largest single source of crude oil and related industries dominate the region.

The oil-rich countries (excluding Iraq) that have a coastline on the Persian Gulf are referred to as the Persian Gulf States.

Naming dispute

Since the 1960s, starting with Gamal Abdel Nasser, some of the Persian Gulf's Arabs and their states have often used the name Arabian Gulf (in Arabic: الخلیج العربي al-khalīj al-ʿarabī) for the body. This is controversial and not commonly used outside of the Arab world, nor is it recognized by the United Nations and other international organizations as historically the name is "Persian Gulf". The term Arabian Gulf is slowly beginning to fade away when Kuwait and Iraq, who both have ports on the Persian Gulf, took sides with Iran's argument to keep the name of the sea as the Persian Gulf.

British residency

From 1763 until 1971, the United Kingdom maintained varying degrees of political control over some Persian Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates (originally called the "Trucial Coast States") and at various times Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar.