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Location: |
Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia
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Geographic coordinates: |
26 00 N, 50 33 E
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Map references: |
Middle East
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Area: |
total: 665 sq km land: 665 sq km water: 0 sq km
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Area - comparative: |
3.5 times the size of Washington, DC
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Land boundaries: |
0 km
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Coastline: |
161 km
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Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: extending to boundaries to be determined
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Climate: |
arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers
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Terrain: |
mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment
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Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m highest point: Jabal ad Dukhan 122 m
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Natural resources: |
oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish, pearls
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Land use: |
arable land: 2.82% permanent crops: 5.63% other: 91.55% (2001)
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Irrigated land: |
50 sq km (1998 est.)
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Natural hazards: |
periodic droughts; dust storms
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Environment - current issues: |
desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land, periods of drought, and dust storms; coastal degradation (damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, and distribution stations; lack of freshwater resources, groundwater and seawater are the only sources for all water needs
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Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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Geography - note: |
close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources; strategic location in Persian Gulf, through which much of the Western world's petroleum must transit to reach open ocean |
