ABSTRACT
Now that Persia is called Iran, what used to be known as the Persian Gulf is often just called ‘the Gulf’. (Confusingly, ‘Gulf’, in oil industry jargon, sometimes refers to the Gulf of Mexico.)
Saudi Arabia has been called a Gulf state, although its Red Sea coast is longer; so has Oman, which is outside the Gulf, except for a small enclave at the Hormuz Strait. But, strictly, the ‘Gulf states’ are four small ones: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). All were formerly under British protection by treaty, as was Oman.
