The Gulf States

Credit: MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Friday, 18 November 2005, 04:56 CST Download full size image

Several Gulf States are shown in this MODIS image. The bottom left corner of the image is a portion of Saudi Arabia.

The island towards the upper left is the country of Bahrain; to its right is the peninsula that contains the country of Qatar.

Just below and to the right are the United Arab Emirates. The tip of the peninsula on the right side of the image belongs to Oman, as does the land area at the bottom right of the image.

Across the water is Iran. Historically, this body of water was called the "Persian Gulf". However, the Arab States prefer the term "Arabian Gulf". The United Nations and the United States officially use the more traditional name, "Persian Gulf".

The Gulf is very salty (about 4%) due to evaporation and lack of replenishment by freshwater. Both temperature and rainfall are highly unpredictable ranging from 23-50 degrees Celsius (73-122 degrees Fahrenheit) and 75-150 millimeters (3-6 inches), respectively.

While the region is low in biological diversity, it does provide a "stopover" and "overwintering" point for migratory shorebirds. In addition, according to National Geographic, the region is home to "red foxes, cape hares, Ethiopian hedgehogs, and rare Asiatic jackals".

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