Arab States of the Persian Gulf
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2012) |
Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Gulf states, or Gulf Arab states are terms that refer to the six Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf, being Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These six nations are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
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Economy [edit]
All of the Arab States of the Persian gulf have significant revenues from oil and gas and, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, have small local populations. This has raised their per capita incomes above those of neighboring countries. To meet the labor shortages, they host large numbers of temporary non-citizen economic migrants from South Asia and Southeast Asia. In the past there have also been a significant number of immigrants from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
In addition, pearl diving and the pearl industry had been the main economic activity of many of these countries, particularly Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait. The pearling industry collapsed in the 1930s after the development of cultured pearl methods by Japanese scientists.
Culture and politics [edit]
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf share a regional culture that is sometimes referred to as "khaleeji (gulf) culture". They all speak the Gulf Arabic and share similar music styles (sawt, fijiri, ardha, and liwa), cuisine, and dress. Most Arabs living near the Persian Gulf also trace their ancestry back to Arab tribes of either Najd (in what is now central Saudi Arabia) or Yemen. The culture of Iraq is unique and distinct from the Gulf states, which is why it is not considered a Gulf state.
All six states are hereditary monarchies with limited political representation. Only Bahrain (Majlis al Watani) and Kuwait (Majlis al Ummah) have legislatures with popularly elected members.
The Sultanate of Oman also has an advisory council (Majlis ash-Shura) that is popularly elected. In the UAE—a federation of seven monarchical emirates—the Federal National Council functions only as an advisory body, but now a portion of its members are elected from a small electoral college nominated by the seven rulers. In Qatar, an elected national parliament has been mooted and is written into the new constitution, but elections are yet to be held.[1]
History of Water [edit]
There was a time in the 1940s when Qatar was in ruins. There was no water, no electricity, no education and population was around 11,000. In the period of 1939 oil was discovered but it was not fully exploited as people didn't have the basic know-how to exploit gasoline until the second world war. Slowly, the gulf countries realized the power of their oil and they started to grow. Never in the history of mankind has it happened that a city has existed without water. Cities have perished because of lack of water but the Persian Gulf countries stand as a testimony to the fact that nothing is impossible for they are the largest consumers of water, consuming about 430 liters of water per capita / per year. Qatar has Water desalination system which processes the saline water of the oceans to fresh drinking water. In spite of receiving only 74 mm of precipitation they produce a lot of water. [2]
See also [edit]
- Arab League
- Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), also known as the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
- Iran-Arab relations
- List of the busiest airports in the Arab states of Persian Gulf
References [edit]
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2010) |
- ^ Gerd Nonneman, "Political Reform in the Gulf Monarchies: From Liberalisation to Democratisation? A Comparative Perspective", in Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Steven Wright (eds.)(2007), Reform in the Middle East Oil Monarchies, ISBN 978-0-86372-323-0, pp. 3-45.
- ^ http://www.ted.com/talks/fahad_al_attiya_a_country_with_no_water.html
Further reading [edit]
- Hichem Karoui: U.S. Foreign Policy In The Gulf After September 11
- Historical Dictionary of the Gulf Arab States
- J. E. Peterson (1998), The Arab Gulf States: Steps Toward Political Participation, ISBN 0-275-92881-0
- Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Steven Wright (eds.)(2007), Reform in the Middle East Oil Monarchies, ISBN 978-0-86372-323-0
- F. Gregory, III Gause (1994), Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States, ISBN 0-87609-151-6
- Atif A. Kubursi (1984), Oil, Industrialization and Development in the Arab Gulf States, ISBN 0-7099-1566-7
- Gordon Robison (1996), Lonely Planet: Arab Gulf States, ISBN 0-86442-390-X
- Global Trends in Gulf and Middle East Population Evolution
- Popular Culture and Political Identity in the Arab Gulf States, eds. Alanoud Alsharekh, Robert Springborg, Saqi Books, 2008
