Arab states of the Persian Gulf

The Arab states of the Persian Gulf are the seven Arab states which border the Persian Gulf, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).[1][2][3] All of these nations except Iraq are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),[4] and prefer to use the term "Arabian Gulf" rather than the historical name of the Persian Gulf.[5]

The Persian Gulf's coastline skirts seven Arab countries on its western shores and Iran to the east. (Oman's Musandam peninsula meets the Persian gulf at the Strait of Hormuz)

Politics

Some states are constitutional monarchies with elected parliaments. Bahrain (Majlis al Watani) and Kuwait (Majlis al Ummah) have legislatures with members elected by the population.

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 some of its members are now chosen via a limited electoral college nominated by the seven rulers. Saudi Arabia remains a hereditary monarchy with limited political representation. In Qatar, an elected national parliament has been mooted and is written into the new constitution, but elections are yet to be held.[6]

Culture
Main articles: Culture of Eastern Arabia and Eastern Arabian cuisine

Soap operas are important national pastimes in the Gulf Arab region. They are most popular during the time of Ramadan, when families gather to break their fast. Most of these soap operas are based in Kuwait.[7][8] Kuwaiti soap operas are the most-watched soap operas in the Persian Gulf region.[9][10] Although usually performed in the Kuwaiti dialect, they have been shown with success as far away as Tunisia.[11] Kuwaiti popular culture, in the form of theatre, radio and television soap opera, flourishes and is exported to neighbouring Arab states of the Persian Gulf.[12][13] Darb El Zalag, Khalti Gmasha, and Ruqayya wa Sabika are among the most important television productions in the Persian Gulf region.[14] Kuwait is widely considered the cultural capital of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf region,[15][16] frequently dubbed the "Hollywood of the Gulf" due to the popularity of its Arabic television soap operas and theatre.[35]

The inhabitants of Eastern Arabia's coast share similar cultures and music styles such as fijiri, sawt and liwa. The most noticeable cultural trait of Eastern Arabia's Arabs is their orientation and focus towards the sea.[36] Maritime-focused life in the small Arab states has resulted in a sea-oriented society where livelihoods have traditionally been earned in marine industries.[36]

Before the GCC was formed in 1981, the term "Khaleeji" was solely used to refer to the inhabitants of Eastern Arabia.[37] Historically, "Khaleeji" meant descendants of Ichthyophagi, the coast-dwelling "fish eaters".[38] Geographically, the Arabic-speaking is solely Eastern Arabia.[39][40]

Freedom of press

Press in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf have varying degrees of freedom with Kuwait topping the league with a lively press that enjoys considerably more freedom than its Persian Gulf counterparts according to Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders. Both organizations rank Kuwait's press as the most free of all Arab states of the Persian Gulf and, in fact, rank amongst the top three most free press in the Arab world.[41][42] Qatar and Oman come in second and third respectively within the regional ranks.

Peace

The six Arab states of the Persian Gulf lie in a volatile region and their six governments, with varying degrees of success and effort, try and advance peace in their own countries and other countries. However, Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region - specifically Saudi Arabia and Qatar - stand accused of funding Islamist militants such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.[43] According to the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP)'s Global Peace Index of 2016, the six governments had varying degrees of success in maintaining peace amongst their respective borders with Qatar ranked number 1 amongst its regional peers as the most peaceful regional and Middle Eastern nation (and ranked 34 worldwide) while Kuwait ranks second in both the regional and the Middle East region (and 51 worldwide) followed by the UAE in the third spot (61 worldwide).[44]

Economy
Map of the Gulf Cooperation Council's members (Iraq is not a member).

All of these Arab states have significant revenues from petroleum. The United Arab Emirates has been successfully diversifying the economy. 79% of UAE's total GDP comes from non-oil sectors.[45] Oil accounts for only 2% of Dubai's GDP.[46] Bahrain has the Persian Gulf's first "post-oil" economy because the Bahraini economy does not rely on oil.[47] Since the late 20th century, Bahrain has heavily invested in the banking and tourism sectors.[48] The country's capital, Manama is home to many large financial structures. Bahrain and Kuwait have a high Human Development Index (worldwide rank of 45 and 48 respectively) and was recognised by the World Bank as high income economies.

In addition, the small coastal states (especially Bahrain and Kuwait) were successful centers of trade and commerce prior to oil. Eastern Arabia also had significant pearl banks, but the pearling industry collapsed in the 1930s after the development of cultured pearl methods by Japanese scientists.

According to the World Bank, most of these Arab states have been the world's most generous donors of aid as a share of GDP.[49]

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See also

References
  1. Mary Ann Tétreault; Gwenn Okruhlik; Andrzej Kapiszewski (2011). Political Change in the Arab Gulf States: Stuck in Transition. The authors first focus on the politics of seven Gulf states: Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
  2. World Migration 2005 Costs and Benefits of International Migration. International Organization for Migration. 2005. p. 53.
  3. "U.S. Official to Tour Persian Gulf Arab Lands". The New York Times. 1987. A leading American diplomat will start a trip to Iraq and six other Arab countries of the Persian Gulf region this week to discuss the Iran-Iraq war, Administration officials said today.
  4. "الأمانة العامة لمجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية". www.gcc-sg.org.
  5. Henderson, Simon (Spring 2004). "Understanding the Gulf States". The Washington Institute. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  6. 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.
  7. "Big plans for small screens". BroadcastPro Me. Around 90% of Khaleeji productions take place in Kuwait.
  8. Papavassilopoulos, Constantinos (10 April 2014). "OSN targets new markets by enriching its Arabic content offering". IHS Inc.
  9. Fattahova, Nawara (26 March 2015). "First Kuwaiti horror movie to be set in 'haunted' palace". Kuwait Times.
  10. Al Mukrashi, Fahad (22 August 2015). "Omanis turn their backs on local dramas". Gulf News. Kuwait’s drama industry tops other Gulf drama as it has very prominent actors and actresses, enough scripts and budgets, produces fifteen serials annually at least.
  11. Mansfield, Peter (1990). Kuwait: vanguard of the Gulf. Hutchinson. p. 113. Some Kuwaiti soap operas have become extremely popular and, although they are usually performed in the Kuwaiti dialect, they have been shown with success as far away as Tunisia.
  12. Clive Holes (2004). Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties. Georgetown University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-58901-022-2.
  13. Ali Alawi. "Ali's roadtrip from Bahrain to Kuwait (PHOTOS)". The trip to Kuwait – a country that has built a deep connection with people in the Persian Gulf thanks to its significant drama productions in theater, television, and even music – started with 25 kilometers of spectacular sea view
  14. "Kuwaiti Drama Museum: formulating thoughts of the Gulf". 23 May 2014.
  15. "Kuwait an urban spectacle". Muscat Daily. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  16. "الله… الله عليك يا الكويت". Al-Jarida (in Arabic). 28 July 2011.
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  22. "زينب العسكري: الكويت هوليوود الخليج". Al-Anba (in Arabic). 28 February 2007.
  23. "النجم الكوميدي داوود حسين الكويت هوليود الخليج غصب عن خشم أكبر رأس". Scope. 26 May 2016.
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  26. "ريم أرحمة: حريصة على اختيار نصوص جيدة أكثر من الظهور في رمضان". Al-Jarida (in Arabic). 7 June 2016.
  27. "وفاء مكي: موزة تعيش في ذاكرتي". Al-Qabas (in Arabic). 13 March 2009. Archived from the original on 13 July 2016.
  28. "مي أحمد: المواهب الشابة لا تقلّّ رقياً عن الفنانين الكبار". Al-Jarida (in Arabic). 19 February 2010.
  29. "الإماراتي أحمد الخميس: لن أنسى ما فعله طارق العلي معي!" (in Arabic). 6 March 2016.
  30. "سناء: الكويت هوليوود الخليج". Al-Qabas (in Arabic). 17 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016.
  31. "فيديو - رئيس مجلس إدارة نقابة الفنانين الكويتية د. نبيل الفيلكاوي: الكويت "هوليوود الخليج" لكنها لاتملك أكاديمية للفنون". Al Watan (in Arabic). 22 April 2015.
  32. "فايز بن دمخ: نفخر باسم الأمير سعود بن محمد". Annahar (in Arabic). 1 June 2016.
  33. "الأردنية عبير عيسى لـ "الانباء": أتمنى استمرار مشاركاتي في الدراما الكويتية". Al Anba (in Arabic). 12 August 2013.
  34. "Kuwait Cultural Days kick off in Seoul". Kuwait News Agency (in Arabic). 18 December 2015.
  35. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]
  36. "Iranians in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates". Eric Andrew McCoy. pp. 67–68.
  37. "Eastern Arabia Historic Photographs: Kuwait, 1900-1936". Ahmad Mustafa Abu-Hakima. 1986.
  38. "The Persian Gulf in History". Lawrence G. Potter. p. 12.
  39. "History of eastern Arabia, 1750-1800: the rise and development of Bahrain and Kuwait". Ahmad Mustafa Abu-Hakima. 1965.
  40. "Labor, Nationalism and Imperialism in Eastern Arabia: Britain, the Shaikhs and the Gulf Oil Workers in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, 1932-1956". Hassan Mohammed Abdulla Saleh. 1991.
  41. "Freedom of the Press 2016". freedomhouse.org. April 26, 2016.
  42. "2016 World Press Freedom Index". Archived from the original on 2017-02-14.
  43. "Four huge Middle Eastern powers just cut ties with Qatar over 'terrorism' links". The Independent. June 5, 2017.
  44. "Global Peace Index 2016" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-06-15.
  45. "Diversification raises non-oil share of UAE's GDP to 71%". gulfnews.com.
  46. "Oil Makes Up 2% of Dubai GDP Post-Diversification - Gulf Jobs News".
  47. "Bahrain: Reform-Promise and Reality" (PDF). J.E. Peterson. p. 157.
  48. "Bahrain's economy praised for diversity and sustainability". Bahrain Economic Development Board. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  49. "The haves and the have-nots". The Economist. 11 July 2013.

Further reading
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