Arabian Peninsula
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The Arabian Peninsula |
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 Arabian peninsula is an important part of the
Middle East, and plays a critically important
geopolitical role due to 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:
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Location of the Arabian Peninsula |
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Bahrain — technically an island just off the coast of the Peninsula
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Kuwait*
Oman*
Qatar*
Saudi Arabia*
United Arab Emirates*
YemenWith the exception of Yemen, these countries (called the
Gulf states) are among the wealthiest in the world in relation to their small populations, thanks to their
hydrocarbon reserves.
The country of
Saudi Arabia covers the greater part of the Peninsula. The majority of the population of the peninsula lives in
Saudi Arabia and in
Yemen. The peninsula contains the world's largest reserves of
oil. It is home to the
Islamic holy cities of
Mecca and
Medina, both of which are in Saudi Arabia. The
UAE and
Saudi Arabia are economically the wealthiest in the region.
Qatar, a small peninsula in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home of the famous
Arabic language television station
Al Jazeera.
Kuwait, on the border with
Iraq, was claimed as an Iraqi province and invaded by
Saddam Hussein during the first
Gulf War; it is an important country strategically, forming one of the main staging grounds for coalition forces mounting the
invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The peninsula one of the possible homelands of the
Proto-Semitic language (though
Northeast Africa is today thought to be a more likely homeland), ancestors of all the
Semitic-speaking peoples in the region — the
Akkadians,
Arabs,
Assyrians,
Hebrews, etc. Linguistically, the Peninsula was the cradle of the
Arabic language (spread beyond the Peninsula with the
Islamic religion during the expansion of
Islam beginning in the 7th century CE) and still maintains tiny populations of speakers of
South Semitic languages such as
Mehri and Shehri, remnants of the language family that was spoken in earlier historical periods when the kingdom of
Sheba flourished in the southern part of the peninsula (modern-day
Yemen and
Oman).
Geologically, this region is perhaps more appropriately called the
Arabian subcontinent because it lies on a
tectonic plate of its own, the
Arabian Plate, which has been moving incrementally away from northeast
Africa (forming the
Red Sea) and north into the
Eurasian plate (forming the
Zagros mountains). The rocks exposed vary systematically across Arabia, with the oldest rocks exposed in the
Arabian-Nubian Shield near the Red Sea, overlain by earlier sediments that become younger towards the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the best-preserved
ophiolite on Earth, Semail ophiolite, lies exposed in the mountains of the UAE and northern Oman.
The peninsula consists of:# a central plateau with fertile valleys and pastures used for the grazing of
sheep and other livestock.# a range of deserts, the
Nefud in the north, stony; the
Rub' Al-Khali or Great Arabian Desert, a perfect Sahara, in the south, with sand estimated to extend 600 ft. below the surface; and between them, the Dahna.# stretches of dry or marshy coastland with coral reefs on the
Red Sea side.# ranges of mountains, primarily paralleling the
Red Sea on the western (e.g.
Asir province) and southeastern end (Oman). The highest, Jabal Al-Nabi Sho'aib in Yemen, is 3666 m high.
Arabia has few lakes or permanent rivers. Most are drained by ephemeral watercourses called
wadis, which are dry except during the rainy season. Plentiful ancient
aquifers exist beneath much of the peninsula, however, and where this water surfaces,
oases form (e.g. the
Al-Hasa and
Qatif oases) and permit agriculture. The climate being extremely hot and
arid, the peninsula has no forests, although desert-adapted wildlife is present throughout the region.
A plateau more than 2,500 feet high extends across much of the Arabian peninsula. The plateau slopes eastwards from the massive, rifted escarpment along the coast of the Red Sea, to the shallow waters of The Gulf. The interior is characterised by
cuestas and valleys, drained by a system of
wadis. A crescent of sand and
gravel deserts lies to the east.
Ar
Rub' al Khali, also known as the
Empty Quarter, is the most arid part of the Arabian peninsula. It is the largest uninterrupted sand desert in the world. Ridges of sand up to 40 km long, run northeast-southwest, giving characteristic linear
dunes.
Most of the Arabian peninsula is unsuited to settled agriculture, making irrigation and land reclamation projects essential. The narrow coastal plain and isolated oases, commonly amounting to less than 1% of the land area, are used to cultivate grains, coffee and exotic fruits. Goats, sheep and camels are widespread throughout the region.
The fertile soils of Yemen have encouraged settlement of almost all of the land from sea level up to the mountains at 10,000 feet. In the higher reaches elaborate terraces have been constructed to facilitate crop cultivation.
The extraction and refining of oil and gas are the major industrial activities in the Arabian peninsula. The region also has an active construction sector, with many cities reflecting the wealth generated by the oil industry. The service sector is dominated by financial and technical institutions, which, like the construction sector, mainly serve the oil industry. Traditional handicrafts such as carpet-weaving are found in rural areas.
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Arab World *
Araby*
Rub' al Khali (
desert)
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Arabia Deserta*
Arabia Petraea*
Arabia Felix*
Arabian Desert and East Sahero-Arabian xeric shrublands*
Mashreq
