Arabia

The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية, or جزيرة العرب) is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia consisting mainly of desert. The area is an important part of the Middle East, and plays a critically important geopolitical role because of its vast reserves of oil and natural gas.

The coasts of the peninsula touch, on the west, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba; on the southeast, the Arabian Sea (part of the Indian Ocean); and on the northeast, the Gulf of Oman, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Persian Gulf.

Its northern limit is defined by the Zagros collision zone, a mountainous uplift where a continental collision between the Arabian Plate and Asia is occurring. Geographically, it merges with the Syrian Desert with no clear line of demarcation.

Politically, the Arabian Peninsula is separated from the rest of Asia by the northern borders of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The following countries are considered part of the peninsula:

• Bahrain — an island just off the coast of the peninsula
• Iraq — occupies the north east of the peninsula
• Jordan — north of the peinsula
• Kuwait — a small coastal nation
• Oman
• Qatar — a subpeninsula on the Gulf Coast, and an enclave further inland.
• Saudi Arabia — occupies the heart of the peninsula
• United Arab Emirates — a Gulf nation
• Yemen

With the exception of Yemen and Jordan, these countries (called the Arab Gulf states) are among the wealthiest in the world in relation to their small populations.