ABSTRACT
One Western stereotype of Arabs is as oil-rich sheikhs. Aside from Libyans, the only Arabs who come even close to that Western image are those residing in the six Gulf monarchies that belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The nationals of the Gulf monarchies account for fewer than 8 percent of Arabs; even including the many foreigners living in those countries, their total population is only 12 percent of the total for all Arab countries. Yet their oil income gives them great weight in the economy of the region; the gross domestic product (GDP) of the GCC states is as large as that of all the other Arab states combined. Three of the Gulf monarchies—Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—are profoundly rich, with average income levels equal to or higher than those in advanced industrial countries such as the United States. The other three—Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia—have more modest per capita incomes, on the order of such southern European countries as Greece or Portugal and also of Israel.
