The Arabian Peninsula 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 land, 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.
Geographically, the Arabian Peninsula includes parts of Iraq and Jordan.
Politically, however, the peninsula is separated from the rest of Asia by the
northern borders of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The following countries are
politically considered part of the peninsula:
Bahrain, geographically an island off the east coast of the peninsula.
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
The Arab States are mostly, although not exclusively, developing economies and
derive their export revenues from oil and gas, or the sale of other raw
materials. Recent years have seen significant economic growth in the Arab World,
due largely to an increase in oil and gas prices, which tripled between 2001 and
2006, but also due to efforts by some states to diversify their economic base.
Industrial production has risen, for example the amount of steel produced
tripled between 2004 and 2005 from 8.4 to 19 million tonnes. However even 19
million tons pa still only represents 1.7% of global steel production, and
remains inferior to the production of countries like Brazil.
The main economic organisations in the Arab World are the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC), comprising the Gulf states, and the Union of the Arab Maghreb (UMA),
made up of North African States. The GCC has achieved some success in financial
and monetary terms, including plans to establish a common currency in the
Persian Gulf region. Since its foundation in 1989, the UMA's most significant
accomplishment has been the establishment of a 7000 km highway crossing North
Africa from Mauritania to Libya's border with Egypt. The central stretch of the
highway, expected to be completed in 2010, will cross Morocco, Algeria and
Tunisia. In recent years a new term has been coined to define a greater economic
region: the MENA region (standing for Middle East and North Africa) is becoming
increasingly popular, especially with support from the current US
administration.
Saudi Arabia remains the top Arab economy in terms of total GDP. It is Asia's
eleventh largest economy, followed by Egypt and Algeria, which were also the
second and third largest economies in Africa (after South Africa), in 2006. In
terms of GDP per capita, Qatar is the richest developing country in the world.