I.

Introduction

Arabian Peninsula, great desert peninsula in extreme south-west Asia, bordered on the north by Jordan and Iraq, on the east by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the south by the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and on the west by the Red Sea. With an area of about 3 million sq km (1,160,000 sq mi) and a population (1989 estimate) of about 32 million, the Arabian Peninsula is one of the most sparsely populated areas of the world. It encompasses the independent nations of Saudi Arabia (which occupies nearly three-quarters of the peninsula), Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, and the island state of Bahrain.