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The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Considering the historical background of the name Persian Gulf, Sir Arnold Wilson mentions in a book, published in 1928 that:

No water channel has been so significant as Persian Gulf to the geologists, archaeologists, geographers, merchants, politicians, excursionists, and scholars whether in past or in present. This water channel which separates the Iran Plateau from the Arabia Plate, has enjoyed an Iranian Identity since at least 2200 years ago.

No written deed has remained since the era before the Persian Empire, but in the oral history and culture, the Iranians have called the southern waters: "Jam Sea", "Iran Sea", "Pars Sea".

During the years: 550 to 330 B.C. coinciding with sovereignty of the first Persian Empire on the Middle East area, especially the whole part of Persian Gulf and some parts of the Arabian Peninsula, the name of "Pars Sea" has been widely written in the compiled texts.

In the travel account of Pythagoras, several chapters are related to description of his travels accompanied by Darius the Great, to Susa and Persepolis, and the area is described. From among the writings of others in the same period, there is the inscription and engraving of Darius the great, installed at junction of waters of Arabian Gulf (Ahmar Sea = Red sea) and Nile river and Rome river (current Mediterranean) which belongs to the 5th century BC where, Darius, the king of Achaemenid Empire has named the Persian Gulf Water Channel: Pars Sea.

Naming dispute

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Since the 1960s with the rise of Arab nationalism (Pan-Arabism), starting with Gamal Abdel Nasser's Arab Republic of Egypt, some Arab countries, including the ones bordering the Persian Gulf, have adopted the term "Arabian Gulf" (in Arabic: الخلیج العربي al-khalīj al-ʿarabī) to refer to the waterway. This is controversial and not commonly used outside of the Arab world, nor is it recognized by the United Nations and other international organizations. The United Nations on many occasions has requested that only "Persian Gulf" be used as the official and standard geographical designation for the body of water. "Arabian Gulf" is also an ancient name for the Red Sea. Hecataeus (472 to 509 B.C.) can be stated where Persian Gulf and Arabian Gulf (Red Sea) have been clearly shown. Also a map has remained from Herodotus, the great Greek historian (425-484 B.C.) which introduces Red Sea as the Arabian Gulf.

In the world map of Diseark (285-347 B.C.) too, Persian Gulf and Arabian Gulf have been clearly distinct. At the same time, many maps and deeds prepared up to the 8th century by the historians such as Arrian Hecataeus, Herodotus, Hiparek, Claudius Batlamious, Krats Malous,…… and in the Islamic period, Khwārizmī, Abou Yousef Eshagh Kandi, Ibn Khordadbeh, Batani (Harrani), Mas'udi, Balkhi, Estakhri, Ibn Houghal, Aboureyhan Birouni and others, mention that there is a wide sea at south of Iran named “Pars Sea”, “Pars Gulf”, “Fars Sea”, “Fars Gulf”, “Bahre Fars”, “Sinus Persicus” and “Mare Persicum” and so on. In a book, named “Persilus Aryateria”, the Greek traveller of the 1st century A.D. has called the Red Sea as Arabian gulf; the Indian ocean has been named Aryateria Sea; the waters at Oman Coast is called Pars Sea; Barbarus region (between Oman and Yemen coast are called belonging to Pars, and the Gulf located at south side of Iran is named: Persian Gulf. By describing the water body, the life of Persians living at both sides have also been confirmed.

Most recently, at the Twenty-third session of the United Nations in March-April 2006, the name "Persian Gulf" was confirmed again as the legitimate and official term to be used by members of the United Nations.

History

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Colonial era

From 1763 until 1971, the British Empire maintained varying degrees of political control over some Persian Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates (originally called the "Trucial Coast States") and at various times Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar through the British Residency of the Persian Gulf.

The United Kingdom maintains a high profile in the region; in 2006, over 1 million Britons visited Dubai alone.

Wildlife

Mangroves in the Persian Gulf, which are thought to require tidal flow and a combination of fresh and salt water, are nurseries for crabs, small fish and insects - and the birds that eat them.

See also

• Cradle of civilization
• Deluge (prehistoric)
• Gulf of Aden

References

1. Working Paper No. 61, UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, dated March 28, April 4, 2006 (); accessed February 09, 2007
2. Working Paper No. 61, UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, dated March 28, April 4, 2006 (); accessed February 09, 2007
3. Working Paper No. 61, UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, dated March 28, April 4, 2006 (); accessed February 09, 2007
4. Niusha Boghrati, Omission of 'Persian Gulf' Name Angers Iran, World Press.com, dated December 28, 2006 (LINK)
5. UN Map (LINK)
6. UN Map of Iran()
7. UN Map Map of Western Asia, ()
8. ()
9. Working Paper No. 61, UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, dated March 28, April 4, 2006, p.2 ()
10. Working Paper No. 61, UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, dated March 28, April 4, 2006 (); accessed February 09, 2007
11. Arriann, "Alexander Fleet in the Persian Gulf", in Anabasis Alexandri: Book VIII (INDICA)
12. Working Paper No. 61, UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, dated March 28, April 4, 2006 (); accessed February 09, 2007
13. Working Paper No. 61, UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, dated March 28, April 4, 2006, p.2 ().
14. Peter Beaumont, "Blair was dangerously off target in his condemnation of Iran", The Guardian, December 24, 2006.
15. Jim Krane (2006-07-03). "Development in Persian Gulf Threatens Wildlife". Discovery Channel. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

• Persian Gulf Studies website
• The Persian Gulf, Information, history and resources of the Persian Gulf
• The Portuguese in the Arabian peninsula and in the Persian Gulf
• Persian Gulf Region
• Publication of Historical Maps of the Persian Gulf in Tehran
• Persian Gulf maps
• Factsheet on the Legal and Historical Usage of the "Persian Gulf" - ISG MIT
• The Persian Gulf: The Politics of Geographic Renaming
• UN GEGN – Historical, Geographical and Legal Validity of the Name: Persian Gulf

26°54′17″N 51°32′51″E / 26.90472°N 51.54750°E / 26.90472; 51.54750

• Articles needing cleanup from September 2007
• Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from September 2007
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• Persian Gulf
• Gulfs of the Indian Ocean
• Indian Ocean
• Middle East