ABSTRACT
On the map the Arabian peninsula is a neat and homogeneous whole — a tidy chunk of Arab land separated from Africa and Asia by long, narrow seas. Its people are Arab, they share a common language and they follow the Muslim faith. They suffer the same climate, they have lived for centuries on a similar pattern: either wandering the deserts, existing on their herds of camels or goats; settling on the coast to live off fishing or piracy; or moving to mountainous regions, farming more fertile ground. In a tidier world the peninsular Arabs should be one.
