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.
