16- The Battle of Identity: Why it is the "Arabian Gulf" – Facts, Figures, and History

# (16) The Battle of Identity: Why it is the "Arabian Gulf" – Facts, 

Figures, and History

**As part of our documentation of political shifts and regional conflicts, the naming of the "Gulf" emerges as a key tool for exerting influence and attempting to erase identity. In this section, we present historical and geographical facts proving that the term "Arabian Gulf" is not merely an emotional bias, but a reality reflected by the land, history, and ancient maps.**

### **I. Geography in Numbers**

Beyond political debates, geographical data for the eight coastal states reveal a striking numerical reality:

* **Total Land Area:** The total area of the coastal countries is approximately 4.5 million km². Arab countries possess **65%** of this area, while Iran accounts for only **35%**.

* **Coastline Length:** Out of a total of 3,300 km of coastline along the Gulf, Arabs own **two-thirds**, while Iran occupies the remaining one-thir. 

### **II. International Archival Evidence & Historical Maps**

Global archives uncover ancient European and Roman maps that predate modern political tensions, confirming the region's Arabian identity:

* **Carsten Niebuhr’s Map (1772) - British Library:**

   This critical map documents the eastern coast (modern-day Iran) as the **"Arab Littoral"** (Swahel el Arab), proving that Arab tribes governed and inhabited both sides of the Gulf.

   View Map at the British Library

* **Jodocus Hondius (1606) - Library of Congress:**

   An early Dutch map of Asia showcasing the region under Arabian cartographic influence long before modern political disputes.

   View Map at the Library of Congress

* **Thomas Jefferys (1771):**

   A renowned British map that frequently refers to the waterway as the **"Gulf of Basra"** or the.

**"Arabian Gulf."*** **Roman Historical Records (Pliny the Elder):**

   Ancient Latin texts from the 1st century AD explicitly naming the region as **"Sinus

Arabicus"** (The Arabian Gulf) during his geographical description of the region.

### **III. The Political Exploitation of the Name**

Historical records show that the insistence on the term "Persian Gulf" was a symbolic compensation sought by Iran (since the Shah’s era) after its failure at the 1919 Versailles Conference to claim the Gulf waters as its private territory, as participants then declared them international waters.

**Watch the Documentary Video:**

[Video Link: Arabian Gulf Facts - Historically Arabian Gulf]

(https://youtu.be/iBNI8vGnYqI)

**Conclusion:**

Preserving the name "Arabian Gulf" is a defense of geographical and historical facts. The land, where Arabs inhabit two-thirds of the coast, and the maps that have documented its identity for centuries, cannot have its identity altered by transient political decisions

**Archive: Dhafer Hamad AlZayani**

Part-16 -Arabian-Gulf-Identity-Historical-Evidence