View source for Place:Arabian Peninsula

{{Short description|Peninsula in West Asia}}

{{Infobox continent
|title          = Arabian Peninsula<br />{{native name|ar|ٱلْجَزِيرَة ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة}}<br />{{native name|ar|شِبْه ٱلْجَزِيرَة ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة}}
|image          = {{Switcher|[[File:Arabian Peninsula.svg|frameless]]|Show national borders|[[File:Arabian Peninsula (no borders).svg|frameless]]|Hide national borders|default=1}}
|location       = [[Place:Western Asia|Western Asia]] 
|area           = {{cvt|3237500|km2|mi2}}
|population     = {{Round|93900000|-3}} (2023 estimate )
|density        = {{Round|29.0000|1}}/km<sup>2</sup>
|demonym        = Arab, Arabian
|countries      = {{Plain list|
* Bahrain{{efn|As an [[Earth:Island country|island country]], Bahrain is technically not a part of the Arabian Peninsula, but a part of the slightly larger geopolitical region called Arabia.|name="AP 1"}}
* Iraq{{efn|Southern region only.|name="AP 2"}}
* Jordan{{efn|name="AP 2"}}
* Kuwait
* Oman
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* [[Place:United Arab Emirates|United Arab Emirates]]
* Yemen
}}
|list_countries = 
|dependencies   = 
|HDI            = 0.788 (2018) <!-- [(0.857 + 0.463 + 0.848 + 0.834 + 0.866 + 0.838 + 0.808) / 7] with constituent HDIs sourced from list released in 2019 with 2018 data) --><br /><span style="color:#006400">high</span>
| cities     = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = 15 largest cities on the Arabian Peninsula
| 
# [[Place:Riyadh|Riyadh]]
# Jeddah
# Dubai
# [[Place:Sanaa|Sanaa]]
# [[Place:Mecca|Mecca]]
# Sharjah
# [[Place:Muscat|Muscat]]
# [[Place:Abu Dhabi|Abu Dhabi]]
# [[Place:Dammam|Dammam]]
# [[Place:Medina|Medina]]
# [[Place:Basra|Basra]]
# [[Place:Aden|Aden]]
# [[Place:Kuwait City|Kuwait City]]
# Ta'izz
# Ta'if
 }}
}}

[[File:Arabian Peninsula dust SeaWiFS.jpg|thumb|Satellite view of the Arabian Peninsula]]

The '''Arabian Peninsula'''<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GN9UQMuNQNkC&pg=PA61 |title=Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary |edition=Third |isbn=978-0877795469 |year=2001 |page=61 |last1=Hopkins |first1=Daniel J. |author2=편집부 |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=6 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206060436/https://books.google.com/books?id=GN9UQMuNQNkC&pg=PA61 |url-status=live }}</ref> ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|r|eɪ|b|i|ə|n|...}}; {{lang-ar|شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَة الْعَرَبِيَّة}}, {{transl |ar |ALA |shibhu l-jazīra l-ʿarabiyya}}, "Arabian Peninsula" or {{lang|ar|جَزِيرَةُ الْعَرَب}}, {{transl|ar|ALA|jazīratu l-ʿarab}}, "Island of the Arabs"),<ref name = arabia>{{cite web|title=Arabia {{!}} peninsula, Asia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Arabia-peninsula-Asia|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|first=Basheer K.|last=Nijim|access-date=7 June 2018|archive-date=22 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522211749/https://www.britannica.com/place/Arabia-peninsula-Asia|url-status=live}}</ref> or '''Arabia''', is a [[Earth:Peninsula|peninsula]] in [[Place:West Asia|West Asia]], situated northeast of [[Earth:Africa|Africa]] on the [[Earth:Arabian Plate|Arabian Plate]]. At {{convert|3237500|sqkm|abbr=on}}, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/peninsulas0000nize |url-access= registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/peninsulas0000nize/page/19 19]|title=Peninsulas|last=Niz|first=Ellen Sturm|date=2006-04-10|publisher=Capstone|isbn= 9780736861427 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJgnebGbAB8C&pg=PA710|title=Encyclopedia of World Geography|last=McColl|first=R. W.|date=2014-05-14|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9780816072293|language=en|access-date=19 May 2020|archive-date=19 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519182851/https://books.google.com/books?id=DJgnebGbAB8C&pg=PA710|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lazWAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA62|title=Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World [2 Volumes]|last=Condra|first=Jill|date=2013-04-09|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313376375|language=en|access-date=19 May 2020|archive-date=19 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519183236/https://books.google.com/books?id=lazWAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA62|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j47rDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT62|title=The Everything Understanding Islam Book: A Complete and Easy to Read Guide to Muslim Beliefs, Practices, Traditions, and Culture|last=Dodge|first=Christine Huda|date=2003-04-01|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781605505459|language=en|access-date=19 May 2020|archive-date=31 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031101202/https://books.google.com/books?id=j47rDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT62|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/15-largest-peninsulas-in-the-world.html|title=15 Largest Peninsulas in the World|work=WorldAtlas|access-date=2017-10-21|language=en|archive-date=17 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317051902/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/15-largest-peninsulas-in-the-world.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Geographically, the Arabian Peninsula includes Bahrain,{{efn|name="AP 1"}} Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the [[Place:United Arab Emirates|United Arab Emirates]] (UAE) and Yemen, as well as southern Iraq and Jordan.<ref>{{cite book|title = Geopolitics of the World System|page = 337|first = Saul Bernard|last = Cohen|date = 2003|publisher = Rowman & Littlefield|isbn = 9780847699070|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QkMD8HKRlgoC&pg=PA337|access-date = 5 September 2022|archive-date = 1 October 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221001180013/https://books.google.com/books?id=QkMD8HKRlgoC&pg=PA337|url-status = live}}</ref> The largest of these is Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Zaken|first=Ministerie van Buitenlandse|date=2017-05-14|title=Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Doing business in the Gulf region – netherlandsworldwide.nl|url=https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/doing-business-in-the-gulf-region/other-sectors-in-the-gulf-region/gcc-countries/saudi-arabia|access-date=2021-02-19|website=www.netherlandsworldwide.nl|language=en|archive-date=11 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511171451/https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/doing-business-in-the-gulf-region/other-sectors-in-the-gulf-region/gcc-countries/saudi-arabia|url-status=live}}</ref> In the classical era, the [[Place:Sinai Peninsula|Sinai Peninsula]] was also considered a part of Arabia.

The Arabian Peninsula formed as a result of the rifting of the Red Sea between 56 and 23 million years ago, and is bordered by the Red Sea to the west and southwest, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the northeast, the [[Place:Levant|Levant]] and [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] to the north and the Arabian Sea and the [[Earth:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]] to the southeast. The peninsula plays a critical [[Earth:Geopolitics|geopolitical]] role in the [[Place:Arab world|Arab world]] and globally due to its vast reserves of [[Chemistry:Petroleum|oil]] and [[Chemistry:Natural gas|natural gas]].

Before the modern era, the region was divided into primarily four distinct regions: the [[Place:Najd|Central Plateau]] ([[Place:Najd|Najd]] and [[Place:Al-Yamama|Al-Yamama]]), [[Place:South Arabia|South Arabia]] (Yemen, [[Place:Hadhramaut|Hadhramaut]] and Oman), [[Place:Eastern Arabia|Al-Bahrain]] (Eastern Arabia or [[Place:Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Hassa]]), and the [[Place:Hejaz|Hejaz]] ([[Place:Tihamah|Tihamah]] for the western coast), as described by Ibn al-Faqih.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ibn al-Faqih |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/mukhtasar-kitab-al-buldan/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B2-COM_ARA_000011 |title=Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan |date=c. 903 |language=Arabic |access-date=20 April 2021 |archive-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420224114/https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/mukhtasar-kitab-al-buldan/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B2-COM_ARA_000011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Etymology==
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In antiquity, the term "Arabia" encompassed a larger area than the current term "Arabian Peninsula" and included the Arabian desert and large parts of the Syrian-Arabian desert. During the Hellenistic period, the area was known as ''Arabia'' or ''Aravia'' ({{lang-el|Αραβία}}). The [[History:Ancient Rome|Romans]] named three regions with the prefix "Arabia".
* [[Place:Arabia Petraea|Arabia Petraea]] ("Stony Arabia"<ref name="Arabia Petraea">{{cite web |title=Arabia Petraea |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Arabia-Petraea |website=Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |access-date=18 February 2021 |ref=Arabia Petraea |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225171428/https://www.britannica.com/place/Arabia-Petraea |url-status=live }}</ref>): it consisted of the former [[History:Nabataean Kingdom|Nabataean Kingdom]] in the southern Levant, the Sinai Peninsula and northwestern Arabian Peninsula. It was the only one that became a [[Place:Roman province|province]], with [[Earth:Petra|Petra]] (in Jordan) as its capital.
* [[Place:Arabia Deserta|Arabia Deserta]] ("Desert Arabia"): signified the desert lands of Arabia. As a name for the region, it remained popular into the 19th and 20th centuries, and was used in Charles M. Doughty's ''Travels in Arabia Deserta'' (1888).
* [[Place:Arabia Felix|Arabia Felix]] ("Fortunate Arabia"): was used by geographers to describe the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, mostly what is now Yemen, which enjoys more rainfall, is much greener than the rest of the peninsula and has long enjoyed much more productive fields.

The Arab inhabitants used a north–south division of Arabia: Al Sham-Al Yaman, or Arabia Deserta-Arabia Felix. Arabia Felix had originally been used for the whole peninsula, and at other times only for the southern region. Because its use became limited to the south, the whole peninsula was simply called Arabia. Arabia Deserta was the entire desert region extending north from Arabia Felix to Palmyra and the Euphrates, including all the area between Pelusium on the Nile and Babylon. This area was also called Arabia and not sharply distinguished from the peninsula.<ref>See [https://books.google.com/books?id=3yENB_dXAtwC&pg=PA163 ''Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801050109/https://books.google.com/books?id=3yENB_dXAtwC&pg=PA163 |date=1 August 2017 }}, David Frankfurter, BRILL, 1998, {{ISBN|90-04-11127-1}}, page 163</ref>

The Arabs and the Ottoman Empire considered the west of the Arabian Peninsula region where the Arabs lived 'the land of the Arabs' – Bilad '''al-'Arab''' (Arabia), and its major divisions were the bilad '''al-Sham''' ([[Place:Levant|Levant]]), bilad '''al-Yaman''' (Yemen), and Bilad '''al-'Iraq''' (Iraq).<ref name = california>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4vOJ15vTZV4C&pg=PA60 |title=A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered |first=Kamal Suleiman |last=Salibi |publisher=University of California Press |date=1988 |isbn=978-0-520-07196-4 |pages=60–61 |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=13 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613100816/https://books.google.com/books?id=4vOJ15vTZV4C&pg=PA60 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Ottomans used the term Arabistan in a broad sense for the region starting from [[Place:Cilicia|Cilicia]], where the Euphrates river makes its descent into Syria, through [[Place:Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and on through the remainder of the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas.<ref>See for example Palestine: The Reality, Joseph Mary Nagle Jeffries, Published by Longmans, Green and co., 1939, [https://archive.org/details/PalestineTheReality/page/n4/mode/1up Page 11]</ref>

''The provinces of Arabia were:'' Al Tih, the Sinai peninsula, Hedjaz, Asir, Yemen, Hadramaut, Mahra and Shilu, Oman, Hasa, Bahrain, Dahna, Nufud, the Hammad, which included the deserts of Syria, Mesopotamia and Babylonia.<ref>see Review of Reviews and World's Work: An International Magazine, Albert Shaw ed., The Review of Reviews Corporation, 1919, page 408]</ref><ref name=nie>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRUoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA795|title=New International Encyclopedia – 2nd Edition, Dodd, Mead, Co., 1914|page=795|work=google.com|year=1914|access-date=24 October 2020|archive-date=24 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624035755/https://books.google.com/books?id=GRUoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA795|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Geography==
{{See also|Geography of Saudi Arabia}}The Arabian Peninsula is located in the continent of Asia and is bounded by (clockwise) the Persian Gulf on the northeast, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman on the east, the Arabian Sea on the southeast, the Gulf of Aden, and the Guardafui Channel on the south, and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait on the southwest and the Red Sea, which is located on the southwest and west.<ref name = arabia/> The northern portion of the peninsula merges with the [[Place:Syrian Desert|Syrian Desert]] with no clear borderline, although the northern boundary of the peninsula is generally considered to be the northern borders of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, also southern regions of Iraq and Jordan.<ref name = arabia/>

The most prominent feature of the peninsula is [[Earth:Desert|desert]], but in the southwest, there are mountain ranges, which receive greater rainfall than the rest of the peninsula. Harrat ash Shaam is a large volcanic field that extends from northwestern Arabia into Jordan and southern [[Place:Syria|Syria]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Weinstein |first=Y. |title=A transition from strombolian to phreatomagmatic activity induced by a lava flow damming water in a valley|journal= Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research |date=1 January 2007 |volume=159 |issue=1–3 |pages=267–284 |doi=10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2006.06.015|bibcode=2007JVGR..159..267W }}</ref>

===Political boundaries===
[[File:Arabian Peninsula Map.svg|thumb|219px|The constituent countries of Arabia]]

The Peninsula's constituent countries are (clockwise from north to south) Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the east, Oman on the southeast, Yemen on the south, and Saudi Arabia at the center. The island country of Bahrain lies just off the east coast of the Peninsula.<ref name = arabia/> Due to Yemen's jurisdiction over the Socotra Archipelago, the Peninsula's geopolitical outline faces the Guardafui Channel and the Somali Sea to the south.<ref>McLaughlin, Rob (2015). "The Continuing Conundrum of the Somali Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone". ''The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law'' 30.2. 305–334.</ref>

The six countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE form the [[Organization:Gulf Cooperation Council|Gulf Cooperation Council]] (GCC).<ref>A.S. Alsharhan, Z. A. Rizk, A. E. M. Nairn [et al.], 2001, ''Waterology of an Arid Region'', Elsevier.</ref>

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the greater part of the Peninsula. The majority of the population of the Peninsula lives in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arabian Peninsula Countries 2021 |url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/arabian-peninsula-countries |access-date=2021-07-08 |publisher=worldpopulationreview.com |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190530/https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/arabian-peninsula-countries |url-status=live}}</ref> The Peninsula contains the world's largest reserves of oil. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, the only peninsular country in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home to the [[Social:Arabic language|Arabic-language]] television station Al Jazeera and its English-language subsidiary [[Engineering:Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera English]]. Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, forming one of the main staging grounds for coalition forces mounting the {{wipe|United States}}–led 2003 invasion of Iraq.

===Population===
{{Historical populations
|type =
|footnote = Political Definition: Gulf Cooperation Council and Yemen<br><small>Sources:1950–2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/region.php?N=%20Results%20&T=6&A=separate&RT=0&Y=1950,1960,1970,1980,1990,2000,2010&R=-1&C=BA,KU,MU,QA,SA,AE,YM|title=International Programs|work=census.gov|access-date=2017-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924122421/http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/region.php?N=%20Results%20&T=6&A=separate&RT=0&Y=1950,1960,1970,1980,1990,2000,2010&R=-1&C=BA,KU,MU,QA,SA,AE,YM|archive-date=2015-09-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> 2000–2014<ref name="citypopulation.de">{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/Asia.html|title=Asia: Population Statistics in Maps and Charts for Cities, Agglomerations and Administrative Divisions of all Countries in Asia|work=citypopulation.de|access-date=26 October 2014|archive-date=6 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106080903/http://citypopulation.de/Asia.html|url-status=live}}</ref></small>
|1950 | 9,481,713
|1960 | 11,788,232
|1970 | 15,319,678
|1980 | 23,286,256
|1990 | 35,167,708
|2000 | 47,466,523
|2010 | 63,364,000
|2014 | 77,584,000
|2018 | 86,221,765
|2023|93,900,000}}
{{Historical populations
|type =
|title = Historical population (Gulf 4)
|footnote = Population of 4 smallest (in area) [[Organization:Gulf Cooperation Council|GCC]] states with their coastline in the Persian Gulf: UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait <br><small>Sources:1950–2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/region.php?N=%20Results%20&T=6&A=both&RT=0&Y=1950,1960,1970,1980,1990,2000,2010&R=-1&C=BA,KU,QA,AE|title=International Programs|work=census.gov|access-date=2017-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924122419/http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/region.php?N=%20Results%20&T=6&A=both&RT=0&Y=1950,1960,1970,1980,1990,2000,2010&R=-1&C=BA,KU,QA,AE|archive-date=2015-09-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> 2000–2014<ref name="citypopulation.de"/></small>
|1950 | 356,235
|1970 | 1,329,168
|1990 | 4,896,491
|2010 | 11,457,000
|2014 | 17,086,000
|2018 | 18,675,440
}}

Despite its historically sparse population, political Arabia stands out for its rapid population growth, driven by both significant inflows of migrant labor and persistently high birth rates. The population is characterized by its relative youth and a heavily skewed gender ratio favoring males. In several states, the number of South Asians surpasses that of the native population. The four smallest states (by area), with coastlines entirely bordering the Persian Gulf, showcase the world's most extreme population growth, nearly tripling every two decades. In 2014, the estimated population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936 (including expatriates).<ref name=yam>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html|title=The World Fact book|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=2008-08-12 |date=2007-08-07| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080812233855/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html| archive-date= 12 August 2008 | url-status= dead}}</ref> The Arabian Peninsula is known for having one of the most uneven adult sex ratios in the world, with females in some regions (especially the east) constituting only a quarter of people aged between 20 and 40.<ref>Alrouh, Hekmat, Awatef Ismail, and Sohaila Cheema. "Demographic and health indicators in Gulf Cooperation Council nations with an emphasis on Qatar." Journal of Local and Global Health Perspectives (2013): p 4</ref>

====Cities====
[[File:Riyadh Skyline.jpg|thumb|Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the most populous city in the Arabian Peninsula]]
The eleven most populous cities on the Arabian Peninsula are:

{| class="toccolours" style="border-spacing:1; text-align:center"
|- style="border-bottom:1px solid black;"
! style="width:1.5em; border-bottom:1px solid black;" | Rank
! style="border-bottom:1px solid black;" | City
! style="width:5em; border-bottom:1px solid black;" | Population
|-
|1|| {{left}} {{flagicon|KSA}} [[Place:Riyadh|Riyadh]] || {{right}} 7,538,200
|-
|2|| {{left}} {{flagicon|KSA}} Jeddah || {{right}} 4,780,740
|-
|3|| {{left}} {{flagicon|KUW}} [[Place:Kuwait City|Kuwait City]] || {{right}} 3,238,523
|-
|4|| {{left}} {{flagicon|YEM}} [[Place:Sanaa|Sanaa]] || {{right}} 3,181,655
|-
|5|| {{left}} {{flagicon|UAE}} Dubai || {{right}} 2,964,382
|-
|6|| {{left}} {{flagicon|KSA}} [[Place:Mecca|Mecca]] || {{right}} 2,114,675
|-
|7|| {{left}} {{flagicon|UAE}} Sharjah || {{right}} 1,785,684
|-
|8|| {{left}} {{flagicon|OMA}} [[Place:Muscat|Muscat]] || {{right}} 1,622,620
|-
|9|| {{left}} {{flagicon|KSA}} [[Place:Medina|Medina]] || {{right}} 1,545,420
|-
|10|| {{left}} {{flagicon|UAE}} [[Place:Abu Dhabi|Abu Dhabi]] || {{right}} 1,539,830
|-
|11|| {{left}} {{flagicon|IRQ}} [[Place:Basra|Basra]] || {{right}} 1,414,000
|- 
|colspan="100%" style="font-size:85%; border-top:1px solid black;" |Source: 2022<ref name="Largest cities">{{Cite web|url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities|title=World City Populations 2022|website=worldpopulationreview.com|access-date=10 June 2020|archive-date=20 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220194018/http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

===Landscape===
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=vertical
 |image1=A journey.jpg |caption1=A caravan crossing [[Earth:Ad-Dahna Desert|Ad-Dahna Desert]] in central Saudi Arabia
 |image2=Ras al jinz flickr01.jpg |caption2=Ras al-Jinz in southeastern Arabia (Oman), also known as the 'Turtle Beach'
 |image3=Arabian Plate map-uni.png |caption3=AR-Arabian Plate, velocities with respect to Africa in millimeters per year
}}

The rocks exposed vary systematically across Arabia, with the oldest rocks exposed in the [[Earth:Arabian-Nubian Shield|Arabian-Nubian Shield]] near the Red Sea, overlain by earlier sediments that become younger towards the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the best-preserved [[Earth:Ophiolite|ophiolite]] on Earth, the [[Earth:Semail Ophiolite|Semail Ophiolite]], lies exposed in the mountains of the UAE and northern Oman.

The peninsula consists of:

# A central plateau, the [[Place:Najd|Najd]], with fertile valleys and pastures used for the grazing of [[Biology:Sheep|sheep]] and other livestock
# A range of deserts: the Nefud in the north,<ref name=Prothero15>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=G.W.|title=Arabia|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London|page=15|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11767/view/1/15/|access-date=8 September 2013|archive-date=31 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031163556/https://www.wdl.org/en/item/11767/view/1/15/|url-status=live}}</ref> which is stony; the [[Earth:Rub' al Khali|Rub' al Khali]] or Great Arabian Desert in the south, with sand estimated to extend {{convert|600|ft|m|abbr=on}} below the surface; between them, the Dahna Mountains<ref name="Burrows2010">{{cite book |author=Robert D. Burrowes |title=Historical Dictionary of Yemen |pages=5–340 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjXRfqBv_0UC |isbn=978-0-8108-5528-1 |access-date=19 May 2020 |archive-date=15 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215025046/https://books.google.com/books?id=tjXRfqBv_0UC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Laughlin2008">{{cite book |last=McLaughlin |first=Daniel |title=Yemen |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |chapter=1: Background |page=3 |isbn=978-1-8416-2212-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQvhZaEVzjcC |year=2008 |access-date=29 December 2018 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702224444/https://books.google.com/books?id=eQvhZaEVzjcC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Cavendish2007">{{cite book |last1=Cavendish |first1=Marshall |title=World and Its Peoples |volume=1 |chapter=Geography and climate |date=2007 |publisher=Cavendish Square Publishing |isbn=978-0-7614-7571-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/worlditspeoplesm0000unse/page/n151 8]–19 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j894miuOqc4C&pg=PA8 |url=https://archive.org/details/worlditspeoplesm0000unse |url-access=limited }}</ref>
# Stretches of dry or marshy coastland with coral reefs on the Red Sea side ([[Place:Tihamah|Tihamah]])
# Oases and marshy coast-land in [[Place:Eastern Arabia|Eastern Arabia]], the most important of which are those of Al Ain (Tawam in the [[Place:United Arab Emirates|United Arab Emirates]] and Oman) and [[Place:Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Hasa]] (in Saudi Arabia), according to one author<ref name="Cavendish2007"/>
# Tropical [[Earth:Monsoon|monsoon]] coastline in Dhofar and Al-Mahra (known as [[Earth:Khareef|Khareef]] in the Arabian Peninsula).

Arabia has few lakes or permanent rivers. Most areas are drained by ephemeral watercourses called [[Earth:Wadi|wadi]]s, which are dry except during the rainy season. Plentiful ancient [[Earth:Aquifer|aquifer]]s exist beneath much of the peninsula, however, and where this water surfaces, oases form (e.g. Al-Hasa and Qatif, two of the world's largest oases) and permit agriculture, especially palm trees, which allowed the peninsula to produce more [[Biology:Date palm|dates]] than any other region in the world. In general, the climate is extremely hot and [[Earth:Desert|arid]], although there are exceptions. Higher elevations are made temperate by their altitude, and the Arabian Sea coastline can receive cool, humid breezes in summer due to cold upwelling offshore. The peninsula has no thick forests. Desert-adapted wildlife is present throughout the region.

A plateau more than {{convert|2500|ft|m}} high extends across much of the Arabian Peninsula. The plateau slopes eastwards from the massive, rifted escarpment along the coast of the Red Sea, to the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. The interior is characterized by ''cuestas'' and valleys, drained by a system of ''wadis''. A crescent of sand and [[Earth:Gravel|gravel]] deserts lies to the east.

====Mountains====
[[File:Kawkaban -68 (353668857).jpg|thumb|The Haraz Mountains in western Yemen include Arabia's highest mountain, Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb or Jabal Hadhur<ref name="DAKAI 01-1998" /><ref name="GazetteerArabia1917" /><ref name="Mindat" /> near Sanaa<ref name="Burrows2010" /><ref name="Laughlin2008" />]]

There are mountains at the eastern, southern and northwestern borders of the peninsula. Broadly, the ranges can be grouped as follows:
* Northeast: The Hajar range, shared by the UAE and northern Oman<ref name="Cavendish2007"/>
* Southeast: The Dhofar Mountains of southern Oman,<ref name="Cavendish2007"/> contiguous with the eastern Yemeni Hadhramaut<ref name="Scoville1979">{{cite book |last=Scoville |first=Sheila A. |title=Gazetteer of Arabia: a geographical and tribal history of the Arabian Peninsula |volume=2 |pages=117–288 |publisher=Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AH8YAQAAMAAJ&q=hadhramaut+mountains |isbn=978-0-7614-7571-2 |year=2006 |access-date=19 May 2020 |archive-date=31 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031101208/https://books.google.com/books?id=AH8YAQAAMAAJ&q=hadhramaut+mountains |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="GhazanfarFisher2013">{{cite book |last1=Ghazanfar |first1=Shahina A. |last2=Fisher |first2=Martin |title=Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula |publisher=[[Company:Springer Science+Business Media|Springer Science & Business Media]] |chapter=1–2 |pages=27–55 |isbn=978-9-4017-3637-4 |location=[[Organization:Sultan Qaboos University|Sultan Qaboos University]], [[Place:Muscat|Muscat]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uc_tCAAAQBAJ&q=hadhramaut+highlands&pg=PA52 |date=2013-04-17 |access-date=24 October 2020 |archive-date=31 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031101205/https://books.google.com/books?id=uc_tCAAAQBAJ&q=hadhramaut+highlands&pg=PA52 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* West: Bordering the [[Place:Tihamah|eastern coast]] of the Red Sea are the Sarawat,<ref name="Burrows2010"/> which can be seen to include the Haraz Mountains of eastern Yemen,<ref name="Laughlin2008"/> and the 'Asir<ref name="Overstreet1977">{{cite book |last=Overstreet |first=William Courtney |title=Tertiary laterite of the As Sarat Mountains, Asir Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |publisher=Directorate General of Mineral Resources |volume=2 |pages=iii–2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KmxPAQAAIAAJ&q=sarat+mountains |year=1977 |access-date=19 May 2020 |archive-date=8 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208154921/https://books.google.com/books?id=KmxPAQAAIAAJ&q=sarat+mountains |url-status=live }}</ref> and Hijaz Mountains of western Saudi Arabia,<ref name="Mandal1990">{{cite book |last=Mandal |first=Ram Bahadur |title=Patterns of Regional Geography: World regions |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |chapter=VI: A Regional Geography |page=354 |isbn=978-8-1702-2292-7 |location=[[Place:New Delhi|New Delhi]], {{wipe|India}} |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XWwCHWwgKt0C&q=sarawat+mountains&pg=PA354 |year=1990 |access-date=24 October 2020 |archive-date=3 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603000536/https://books.google.com/books?id=XWwCHWwgKt0C&q=sarawat+mountains&pg=PA354 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Nasr2013">{{cite book |last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein |title=Mecca the Blessed, Medina the Radiant: The Holiest Cities of Islam |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |chapter=1: The Holiest Cities of Islam |isbn=978-1-4629-1365-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4RvQAgAAQBAJ&q=sarat+mountains |year=2013 |access-date=24 October 2020 |archive-date=31 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031101203/https://books.google.com/books?id=4RvQAgAAQBAJ&q=sarat+mountains |url-status=live }}</ref> the latter including the Midian in northwestern Saudi Arabia<ref name="Scoville1979"/>
* Northwest: Aside from the Sarawat, the northern portion of Saudi Arabia hosts the Shammar Mountains, which include the Aja and Salma subranges<ref name="Cavendish2007"/>
* Central: The Najd hosts the Tuwaiq Escarpment<ref name="Scoville1979"/> or Tuwair range<ref name="Cavendish2007"/>

From the [[Place:Hejaz|Hejaz]] southwards, the mountains show a steady increase in altitude westward as they get nearer to Yemen, and the highest peaks and ranges are all located in Yemen. The highest, Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb or Jabal Hadhur<ref name="DAKAI 01-1998">{{Cite book |last=زبارة |first=محمد بن محمد بن يحيى اليمني/الصنعاني |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L4dyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT359 |title=نيل الوطر من تراجم رجال اليمن في القرن الثالث عشر 1–2 ج1 |date=1998-01-01 |publisher=Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah (دار الكتب العلمية) |isbn=978-2-7451-2623-8 |language=ar |access-date=18 April 2020 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225083339/https://books.google.nl/books?id=L4dyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT359&redir_esc=y |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="GazetteerArabia1917">{{cite book |publisher=[[Qatar Digital Library]] |title=Gazetteer of Arabia |volume=II [1044] (81/688) |url=https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023727632.0x000052 |year=1917 |access-date=2020-04-17 |archive-date=9 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309051759/https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023727632.0x000052 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mindat">{{cite web |publisher=Mindat.org |title=Jabal an-Nabī Shu'ayb, Bani Matar, Sanaa, Yemen |url=https://www.mindat.org/feature-72377.html |access-date=2020-04-17 |archive-date=12 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612211036/https://www.mindat.org/feature-72377.html |url-status=live }}</ref> of the Haraz subrange of the Sarawat range, is {{convert|3666|m|ft|0}} high.<ref name="Burrows2010"/><ref name="Laughlin2008"/> By comparison, the Tuwayr, Shammar and Dhofar generally do not exceed {{convert|1,000|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height.<ref name="Cavendish2007"/>

Not all mountains in the peninsula are visibly within ranges. Jebel Hafeet in particular, on the border of the UAE and Oman, measuring between {{cvt|1,100|and|1,300|m|abbr=on}},<ref name="Gardner 01-2004">{{cite web |last=Gardner |first=Andrew Somerville |title=The reptiles of Jebel Hafeet |publisher=ADCO and Emirates Natural History Group |pages=149–168 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235918847 |date=January 2004 |access-date=2019-01-14 |archive-date=14 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114153347/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235918847_The_reptiles_of_Jebel_Hafit |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="LiethMasoom2012">{{cite book |editor-last1=Lieth |editor-first1=Helmut |editor-last2=Al Masoom |editor-first2=A. A. |title=Towards the rational use of high salinity tolerant plants: Vol 2: Agriculture and forestry under marginal soil water conditions |publisher=[[Company:Springer Science+Business Media|Springer Science+Business Media]] |volume=2: Agriculture and forestry under marginal soil water conditions |chapter=Reclamation potentials of saline degraded lands in Abu Dhabi eastern region using high salinity-tolerant woody plants and some salt marsh species |pages=271–274 |isbn=978-9-4011-1860-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-fqCAAAQBAJ&q=hafit |date=2012-12-06 |access-date=13 January 2019 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330131859/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-fqCAAAQBAJ&q=hafit |url-status=live }}</ref> is not within the Hajar range, but may be considered an [[Outlier|outlier]] of that range.

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Salalah Oman.jpg|The Dhofar mountainous region in southeastern Oman, where the city of [[Place:Salalah|Salalah]] is located, is a tourist destination known for its annual ''[[Earth:Khareef|khareef]]'' season
File:Yemen landscape 05.jpg|Terraced fields in the Harazi subrange of the Sarawat Mountains in western Yemen
File:شعيب جو بجبال أجـــا - panoramio.jpg|The Aja subrange of the Shammar Mountains in the region of [[Place:Ha'il|Ha'il]], northern Saudi Arabia
</gallery>

===Land and sea===
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=vertical
 |image1=Al hafa corniche.jpg |caption1=Coconut palms line corniches of Al-Hafa, Oman
 |image2=Coral Reef in the Red Sea.JPG |caption2=Red Sea coral reefs
}}

Most of the Arabian Peninsula is unsuited to agriculture, making irrigation and land reclamation projects essential. The narrow coastal plain and isolated oases, amounting to less than 1% of the land area, are used to cultivate grains, coffee and [[Biology:Tropical fruit|tropical fruit]]s. Goat, sheep, and camel husbandry is widespread elsewhere throughout the rest of the Peninsula. Some areas have a summer humid [[Earth:Tropical monsoon climate|tropical monsoon climate]], in particular the Dhofar and Al Mahrah areas of Oman and Yemen. These areas allow for large scale coconut plantations. Much of Yemen has a tropical [[Earth:Monsoon|monsoon]] rain influenced mountain climate. The plains usually have either a tropical or subtropical arid [[Earth:Desert climate|desert climate]] or arid steppe climate. The sea surrounding the Arabian Peninsula is generally [[Earth:Coral Sea|tropical sea]] with a very rich tropical sea life and some of the world's largest, undestroyed and most pristine coral reefs. In addition, the organisms living in [[Earth:Symbiosis|symbiosis]] with the Red Sea coral, the [[Biology:Protozoa|protozoa]] and [[Biology:Zooxanthellae|zooxanthellae]], have a unique hot weather adaptation to sudden rise (and fall) in sea water temperature. Hence, these coral reefs are not affected by coral bleaching caused by rise in temperature as elsewhere in the indopacific coral sea. The reefs are also unaffected by mass tourism and diving or other large scale human interference. The Persian gulf has suffered significant loss and degradation of coral reefs with the biggest ongoing threat believed to be coastal construction activity altering the marine environment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Riegl |first1=Bernhard  |last2=Purkis  |first2=Samuel|date=2011 |editor-last=Hopley |editor-first=D |title= Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs |publisher=Springer |pages=790–798 |chapter=Persian/Arabian Gulf Coral Reefs |isbn=978-90-481-2639-2|doi=10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_123}}</ref>

The fertile soils of Yemen have encouraged settlement of almost all of the land from sea level up to the mountains at {{convert|10000|ft|m}}. In the higher elevations, elaborate terraces have been constructed to facilitate grain, fruit, coffee, ginger and [[Biology:Khat|khat]] cultivation. The Arabian peninsula is known for its rich oil, i.e. petroleum production due to its geographical location.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sorkhabi |first1=Rasoul |title=The Emergence of the Arabian Oil Industry |url=https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2008/06/the-emergence-of-the-arabian-oil-industry |website=Geoexpro |date=June 2008 |access-date=16 April 2021 |archive-date=1 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601235624/https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2008/06/the-emergence-of-the-arabian-oil-industry |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to NASA's [[Physics:Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment|Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment]] (GRACE) satellite data (2003–2013) analysed in a [[Organization:University of California, Irvine|University of California, Irvine (UCI)]]-led study published in Water Resources Research on 16 June 2015, the most over-stressed aquifer system in the world is the Arabian Aquifer System, upon which more than 60 million people depend for water.<ref name="NASA_GRACE">{{citation |url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4626 |work=NASA |date=16 June 2015 |access-date=26 June 2015 |title=Study: Third of Big Groundwater Basins in Distress |archive-date=27 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627045543/http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4626 |url-status=live }}</ref> Twenty-one of the thirty seven largest aquifers "have exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted" and thirteen of them are "considered significantly distressed".<ref name="NASA_GRACE" />

==History==
Stone tools from the [[Earth:Middle Paleolithic|Middle Paleolithic]] age along with fossils of other animals discovered at Ti's al Ghadah, in northwestern Saudi Arabia, might imply that hominins migrated through a "Green Arabia" between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Roberts | first1=Patrick | last2=Stewart | first2=Mathew | last3=Alagaili | first3=Abdulaziz N. | last4=Breeze | first4=Paul | last5=Candy | first5=Ian | last6=Drake | first6=Nick | last7=Groucutt | first7=Huw S. | last8=Scerri | first8=Eleanor M. L. | last9=Lee-Thorp | first9=Julia | last10=Louys | first10=Julien | last11=Zalmout | first11=Iyad S. | last12=Al-Mufarreh | first12=Yahya S. A. | last13=Zech | first13=Jana | last14=Alsharekh | first14=Abdullah M. | last15=al Omari | first15=Abdulaziz | last16=Boivin | first16=Nicole | last17=Petraglia | first17=Michael | title=Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in 'Green Arabia' | journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution | volume=2 | issue=12 | pages=1871–1878 | url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0698-9.epdf?referrer_access_token=hySAQNyjvRiQRNjo0mIXTNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0N9kU6ZdocH1K5tlqbulC1NGihAtdUvadgd-Ce3IG8XflefNUJloWb0eiaik74msA1h2rnnGtKxsacM4n3oeY0ox3pyrnXIUsPX-0WqdUkvypjbH2-2zqzS6cX7GNA5XLxPMYuIOIGe73T9jrg26kRslQtiKDIo-6b8uybLbkRmsnPtcQEVDKKZEyjcImvRdVONyF_xvx1mOlrO4zI7po2NWcmKfmlFba5CH0PjStE6EJ1Ro0X_YiKSXL-TWWd0OVI%3D&tracking_referrer=www.sciencenews.org | publisher=Nature | date=29 October 2018 | doi=10.1038/s41559-018-0698-9 | pmid=30374171 | hdl=10072/382068 | s2cid=53099270 | hdl-access=free | access-date=1 November 2018 | archive-date=14 June 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614014654/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0698-9.epdf?referrer_access_token=hySAQNyjvRiQRNjo0mIXTNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0N9kU6ZdocH1K5tlqbulC1NGihAtdUvadgd-Ce3IG8XflefNUJloWb0eiaik74msA1h2rnnGtKxsacM4n3oeY0ox3pyrnXIUsPX-0WqdUkvypjbH2-2zqzS6cX7GNA5XLxPMYuIOIGe73T9jrg26kRslQtiKDIo-6b8uybLbkRmsnPtcQEVDKKZEyjcImvRdVONyF_xvx1mOlrO4zI7po2NWcmKfmlFba5CH0PjStE6EJ1Ro0X_YiKSXL-TWWd0OVI%3D&tracking_referrer=www.sciencenews.org | url-status=live }}</ref> 200,000-year-old stone tools were discovered at Shuaib Al-Adgham in the eastern Al-Qassim Province, which would indicate that many prehistoric sites, located along a network of rivers, had once existed in the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1785951/saudi-arabia |title=Saudi Arabia's Qassim stone axe find points to prehistoric 'crossroads' |website=Arab News |date=2 January 2021 }}</ref> [[Engineering:Acheulean|Acheulean]] tools found in Saffaqah, Riyadh Region reveal that hominins lived in the Arabian Peninsula around 188,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Scerri | first1=Eleanor M. L. | last2=Shipton | first2=Ceri | last3=Clark-Balzan | first3=Laine | last4=Frouin | first4=Marine | last5=Schwenninger | first5=Jean-Luc | last6=Groucutt | first6=Huw S. | last7=Breeze | first7=Paul S. | last8=Parton | first8=Ash | last9=Blinkhorn | first9=James | last10=Drake | first10=Nick A. | last11=Jennings | first11=Richard | last12=Cuthbertson | first12=Patrick | last13=Al Omari | first13=Abdulaziz | last14=Alsharekh | first14=Abdullah M. | last15=Petraglia | first15=Michael D. | title=The expansion of later Acheulean hominins into the Arabian Peninsula | journal=Scientific Reports | volume=8 | issue=1 | pages=17165 | date=29 November 2018 | doi=10.1038/s41598-018-35242-5 | pmid=30498259 | pmc=6265249 | bibcode=2018NatSR...817165S }}</ref> Human habitation in Arabia may have occurred as early as 130,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Uerpmann|first1=Hans-Peter|last2=Usik|first2=Vitaly I.|last3=Parker|first3=Adrian G.|last4=Marks|first4=Anthony E.|last5=Jasim|first5=Sabah A. |last6=Armitage|first6=Simon J.|date=2011-01-28|title=The Southern Route "Out of Africa": Evidence for an Early Expansion of Modern Humans into Arabia |journal=Science |language=en |volume=331 |issue=6016 |pages=453–456 |doi=10.1126/science.1199113 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=21273486 |bibcode=2011Sci...331..453A |s2cid=20296624}}</ref> A fossilized ''Homo sapiens'' finger bone found at Al Wusta in the Nefud Desert dates to approximately 90,000 years ago and is the oldest human fossil discovered outside of Africa and the Levant. This indicates human migrations from Africa to Arabia occurred around this time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/mpif-fhm040418.php|title=First human migration out of Africa more geographically widespread than previously thought|work=Eurek Alert|date=9 April 2018|access-date=1 November 2018|archive-date=2 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202070454/https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/mpif-fhm040418.php|url-status=live}}</ref> 

===Pre-Islamic Arabia===
[[File:Near East in 1000bc (en).jpg|thumb|Pre-Islamic Arabia in 1000 BC]]

[[Earth:Archaeology|Archaeology]] has revealed the existence of many civilizations in pre-Islamic Arabia (such as the Thamud), especially in [[Place:South Arabia|South Arabia]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert D. Burrowes|year=2010|title=Historical Dictionary of Yemen|page=319|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0810855281}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Kenneth Anderson Kitchen|year=2003|title=On the Reliability of the Old Testament|url=https://archive.org/details/onreliabilityold00kitc|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/onreliabilityold00kitc/page/n139 116]|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0802849601}}</ref> South Arabian civilizations include the [[Religion:Sheba|Sheba]], the [[History:Himyarite Kingdom|Himyarite Kingdom]], the [[History:Kingdom of Awsan|Kingdom of Awsan]], the [[History:Minaeans|Kingdom of Ma'īn]] and the Sabaean Kingdom. From 106 AD to 630 AD northwestern Arabia was under the control of the Roman Empire, which renamed it [[Place:Arabia Petraea|Arabia Petraea]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Jane|title=Petra|publisher=Aurum Press Ltd|year=2005|isbn=9957-451-04-9|location=London|pages=25–31}}</ref> Central Arabia was the location of the [[History:Kingdom of Kinda|Kingdom of Kinda]] in the 4th, 5th and early 6th centuries. Eastern Arabia was home to the Dilmun civilization. The earliest known events in Arabian history are migrations from the peninsula into neighbouring areas.<ref>Philip Khuri Hitti (2002), History of the Arabs, Revised: 10th Edition</ref>

The Arabian peninsula has long been accepted as the original ''Urheimat'' of the Semitic languages by a majority of scholars.<ref>Gray, Louis Herbert (2006) ''Introduction to Semitic Comparative Linguistics''</ref><ref>Courtenay, James John (2009) ''The Language of Palestine and Adjacent Regions''</ref><ref>Kienast, Burkhart. (2001). ''Historische semitische Sprachwissenschaft''.</ref><ref>Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1995) ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia''</ref>

===Rise of Islam===
[[File:Umayyad750ADloc.png|thumb|The [[Place:Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad Caliphate]] (661–750)]] 
The seventh century saw the rise of Islam as the peninsula's dominant religion. The Islamic prophet [[Biography:Muhammad|Muhammad]] was born in Mecca in about 570 and first began preaching in the city in 610, but migrated to [[Place:Medina|Medina]] in 622. From there he and his companions united the tribes of Arabia under the banner of [[Religion:Islam|Islam]] and created a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the Arabian peninsula.

Muhammad established a new unified polity in the Arabian peninsula which under the subsequent [[Religion:Rashidun|Rashidun]] and Umayyad [[Religion:Caliphate|Caliphate]]s saw a century of rapid expansion of Arab power well beyond the Arabian peninsula in the form of a vast Muslim Arab Empire with an area of influence that stretched from the northwest [[Earth:Indian subcontinent|Indian subcontinent]], across [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]], the [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]], [[Place:North Africa|North Africa]], southern Italy, and the [[Place:Iberian Peninsula|Iberian Peninsula]], to the Pyrenees.

With Muhammad's death in 632, disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community. Umar ibn al-Khattab, a prominent companion of Muhammad, nominated Abu Bakr, who was Muhammad's intimate friend and collaborator. Others added their support and Abu Bakr was made the first caliph. This choice was disputed by some of Muhammad's companions, who held that Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law, had been designated his successor. Abu Bakr's immediate task was to avenge a recent defeat by Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire) forces, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode known as the Ridda wars, or "Wars of Apostasy".<ref>See:
* Holt (1977a), p.57
* Hourani (2003), p.22
* Lapidus (2002), p.32
* Madelung (1996), p.43
* Tabatabaei (1979), p.30–50</ref>
[[Image:Ayyubid.png|thumb|right|The Middle East, c. 1190. Saladin's empire and its vassals shown in red]]
On his death in 634, he was succeeded by Umar as caliph, followed by Uthman ibn al-Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib. The period of these first four caliphs is known as ''al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn'': the [[Place:Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun or "rightly guided" Caliphate]]. Under the Rashidun Caliphs, and, from 661, their [[Place:Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad successors]], the Arabs rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim control outside of Arabia. In a matter of decades Muslim armies decisively defeated the [[Place:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine army]] and destroyed the Persian Empire, conquering huge swathes of territory from the Iberian peninsula to India. The political focus of the Muslim world then shifted to the newly conquered territories.<ref>See: Holt (1977a), p.57, Hourani (2003), p.22, Lapidus (2002), p.32, Madelung (1996), p.43, Tabatabaei (1979), p.30–50</ref><ref name="L. Gardet">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Islam|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam Online|author=L. Gardet|author2=J. Jomier}}</ref>

Nevertheless, [[Place:Mecca|Mecca]] and [[Place:Medina|Medina]] remained the spiritually most important places in the [[Religion:Muslim world|Muslim world]]. The Qur'an requires every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, as one of the five pillars of Islam, to make a pilgrimage, or [[Religion:Hajj|Hajj]], to [[Place:Mecca|Mecca]] during the [[Engineering:Islamic calendar|Islamic month]] of [[Religion:Dhu al-Hijjah|Dhu al-Hijjah]] at least once in his or her lifetime.<ref>Farah, Caesar (1994). Islam: Beliefs and Observances (5th ed.), pp.145–147 {{ISBN|978-0-8120-1853-0}}</ref> The Masjid al-Haram (the Grand Mosque) in [[Place:Mecca|Mecca]] is the location of the [[Religion:Kaaba|Kaaba]], Islam's holiest site, and the Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) in [[Place:Medina|Medina]] is the location of [[Biography:Muhammad|Muhammad]]’s grave; as a result, from the 7th century, [[Place:Mecca|Mecca]] and [[Place:Medina|Medina]] became the pilgrimage destinations for large numbers of Muslims from across the Islamic world.<ref>Goldschmidt, Jr., Arthur; Lawrence Davidson (2005). A Concise History of the Middle East (8th ed.), p.48 {{ISBN|978-0-8133-4275-7}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Persian Gulf z1507-1750.gif|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Place:Portuguese Empire|Portuguese colonies]] in Arabia.]]
Despite its spiritual importance, in political terms Arabia soon became a peripheral region of the Islamic world, in which the most important [[Religion:Caliphate|medieval Islamic states]] were based at various times in such far away cities as [[Place:Damascus|Damascus]], [[Place:Baghdad|Baghdad]], and [[Place:Cairo|Cairo]].
However, from the 10th century (and, in fact, until the 20th century) the Hashemite Sharifs of Mecca maintained a state in the most developed part of the region, the [[Place:Hejaz|Hejaz]]. Their domain originally comprised only the holy cities of [[Place:Mecca|Mecca]] and [[Place:Medina|Medina]] but in the 13th century it was extended to include the rest of the [[Place:Hejaz|Hejaz]]. Although, the Sharifs exercised at most times independent authority in the [[Place:Hejaz|Hejaz]], they were usually subject to the suzerainty of one of the major Islamic empires of the time. In the Middle Ages, these included the Abbasids of [[Place:Baghdad|Baghdad]], and the Fatimids, Ayyubids, and Mamluks of [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]].<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Online: History of Arabia">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31568/history-of-Arabia Encyclopædia Britannica Online: History of Arabia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503091224/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31568/history-of-Arabia |date=3 May 2015 }} retrieved 18 January 2011</ref>

===Modern history===
[[File:First saudi state.png|thumb|Expansion of the [[Place:Emirate of Diriyah|first Saudi State]] from 1744 to 1814]]
[[File:Arabia 1914.png|thumb|The Arabian Peninsula in 1914]]
[[File:Map of the states of the Arabian Peninsula (1905-1923).svg|thumb|The Arabian Peninsula in 1923]]
The provincial Ottoman Army for Arabia (Arabistan Ordusu) was headquartered in [[Place:Syria (region)|Syria]], which included Palestine, the Transjordan region in addition to Lebanon (Mount Lebanon was, however, a semi-autonomous mutasarrifate). It was put in charge of Syria, Cilicia, Iraq, and the remainder of the Arabian Peninsula.<ref>see History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford J. Shaw, Ezel Kural Shaw, Cambridge University Press, 1977, {{ISBN|0-521-29166-6}}, page 85</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Uxkz9D4Ff_sC&pg=PA417 The Politics of Interventionism in Ottoman Lebanon, 1830–1861, by Caesar E. Farah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514211350/https://books.google.com/books?id=Uxkz9D4Ff_sC&pg=PA417&dq=&lr=&ei=BoDxSP2rFZbMzQTO3MXtBg&client= |date=14 May 2016 }}, explains that Mount Lebanon was in the jurisdiction of the Arabistan Army, and that its headquarters was briefly moved to Beirut.</ref> The Ottomans never had any control over central Arabia, also known as the [[Place:Najd|Najd]] region.

The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as the Al Saud, began in [[Place:Najd|Najd]] in central Arabia in 1744, when Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader [[Biography:Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab|Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab]], founder of the [[Religion:Wahhabism|Wahhabi movement]], a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contemporary Religions: A World Guide |first1=Ian |last1=Harris |first2=Stuart|last2=Mews|first3=Paul|last3=Morris|first4= John |last4= Shepherd |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-582-08695-1 |page=369|publisher=Longman }}</ref> The [[Place:Emirate of Diriyah|Emirate of Diriyah]] established in the area around Riyadh rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia, sacking Karbala in 1802, and capturing Mecca in 1803.<ref>"[http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/7.htm The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316131703/http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/7.htm |date=16 March 2017 }}". Library of Congress Country Studies.</ref> 

The Damascus Protocol of 1914 provides an illustration of the regional relationships. Arabs living in one of the existing districts of the Arabian peninsula, the Emirate of [[Place:Hejaz|Hejaz]], asked for a British guarantee of independence. Their proposal included all Arab lands south of a line roughly corresponding to the northern frontiers of present-day Syria and Iraq. They envisioned a new Arab state, or confederation of states, adjoining the southern Arabian Peninsula. It would have comprised [[Place:Cilicia|Cilicia]] – İskenderun and Mersin, Iraq with Kuwait, Syria, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, Jordan, and [[Place:State of Palestine|Palestine]].<ref>As cited by R, John and S. Hadawi's, Palestine Diary, pp. 30–31, the 'Damascus Protocol' stated: "The recognition by Great Britain of the independence of the Arab countries lying within the following frontiers: North: The Line Mersin_Adana to parallel 37N. and thence along the line Birejek-Urga-Mardin-Kidiat-Jazirat (Ibn 'Unear)-Amadia to the Persian frontier; East: The Persian frontier down to the Persian Gulf; South: The Indian Ocean (with the exclusion of Aden, whose status was to be maintained). West: The Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea back to Mersin. The abolition of all exceptional privileges granted to foreigners under the capitulations. The conclusion of a defensive alliance between Great Britain ''and the future independent Arab State''. The grant of economic preference to Great Britain." see [https://books.google.com/books?id=n706ShSYt-sC ''King Husain and the Kingdom of Hejaz''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322142502/http://books.google.com/books?id=n706ShSYt-sC&printsec=toc&dq=&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0#PPA65,M1 |date=22 March 2015 }}, By Randall Baker, Oleander Press, 1979, {{ISBN|0-900891-48-3}}, pages 64–65</ref>

In the modern era, the term bilad al-Yaman came to refer specifically to the southwestern parts of the peninsula. Arab geographers started to refer to the whole peninsula as 'jazirat al-Arab', or the peninsula of the Arabs.<ref name="california" />

====Late Ottoman rule and the Hejaz Railway====
The railway was started in 1900 at the behest of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II and was built largely by the [[Place:Turkey|Turk]]s, with [[Place:German Empire|German]] advice and support. A public subscription was opened throughout the Islamic world to fund the construction. The railway was to be a [[Religion:Waqf|waqf]], an inalienable religious endowment or charitable trust.<ref>King Hussein and the Kingdom of Hejaz, Randall Baker, Oleander Press 1979, {{ISBN|0-900891-48-3}}, page 18</ref>

====The Arab Revolt and the foundation of Saudi Arabia====
[[File:Map Arabia 1929 - Touring Club Italiano CART-TRC-10.jpg|thumb|Physical and political elements of Arabia in 1929]]
[[File:الملك عبد العزيز مع الشيخ جابر الأحمد الصباح.jpg|thumb|Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, the founding father and first king of Saudi Arabia]]
The major developments of the early 20th century were the Arab Revolt during World War I and the subsequent collapse and partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The Arab Revolt (1916–1918) was initiated by the Sherif Hussein ibn Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]] and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to [[Place:Aden|Aden]] in Yemen. During World War I, the Sharif Hussein entered into an alliance with the United Kingdom and France against the Ottomans in June 1916.

These events were followed by the foundation of Saudi Arabia under King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. In 1902, Ibn Saud had captured [[Place:Riyadh|Riyadh]]. Continuing his conquests, Abdulaziz subdued Al-Hasa, Jabal Shammar, Hejaz between 1913 and 1926 founded the modern state of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis absorbed the Emirate of Asir, with their expansion only ending in 1934 after a war with Yemen. Two Saudi states were formed and controlled much of Arabia before Ibn Saud was even born. Ibn Saud, however, established the third Saudi state.

====Oil reserves====
The second major development has been the discovery of vast reserves of oil in the 1930s. Its production brought great wealth to all countries of the region, with the exception of Yemen.

====North Yemen Civil War====
The North Yemen Civil War was fought in North Yemen between royalists of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and factions of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1962 to 1970. The war began with a coup d'état carried out by the republican leader, Abdullah as-Sallal, which dethroned the newly crowned Muhammad al-Badr and declared Yemen a republic under his presidency. The Imam escaped to the Saudi Arabian border and rallied popular support.

The royalist side received support from Saudi Arabia, while the republicans were supported by Egypt and the Soviet Union. Both foreign irregular and conventional forces were also involved. The Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, supported the republicans with as many as 70,000 troops. Despite several military moves and peace conferences, the war sank into a stalemate. Egypt's commitment to the war is considered to have been detrimental to its performance in the Six-Day War of June 1967, after which Nasser found it increasingly difficult to maintain his army's involvement and began to pull his forces out of Yemen.

By 1970, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia recognized the republic and a truce was signed. Egyptian military historians refer to the war in Yemen as their Vietnam.<ref name=enein>{{Cite news |issue=Jan–Feb, 2004 |last=Aboul-Enein |first=Youssef |title=The Egyptian-Yemen War: Egyptian perspectives on Guerrilla warfare |work=Infantry Magazine |access-date=October 3, 2008 |date=2004-01-01 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IAV/is_1_93/ai_n6123802 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203161830/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IAV/is_1_93/ai_n6123802 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-02-03}}</ref>

====Gulf War====
In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait.<ref>see Richard Schofield, Kuwait and Iraq: Historical Claims and Territorial. Disputes, London: Royal Institute of International Affairs 1991, {{ISBN|0-905031-35-0}} and The Kuwait Crisis: Basic Documents, By E. Lauterpacht, C. J. Greenwood, Marc Weller, Published by Cambridge University Press, 1991, {{ISBN|0-521-46308-4}}</ref> The invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces led to the 1990–91 Gulf War. Egypt, Qatar, Syria, and Saudi Arabia joined a multinational coalition that opposed Iraq. Displays of support for Iraq by Jordan and Palestine resulted in strained relations between many of the Arab states. After the war, a so-called "Damascus Declaration" formalized an alliance for future joint Arab defensive actions between Egypt, Syria, and the GCC member states.<ref>Egypt's Bid for Arab Leadership: Implications for U.S. Policy, By Gregory L. Aftandilian, Published by Council on Foreign Relations, 1993, {{ISBN|0-87609-146-X}}, pages 6–8</ref>

====2014 Yemen civil war====
{{main|Social:Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)}}
The [[Social:Arab Spring|Arab Spring]] reached Yemen in January 2011.<ref>BBC World News, Arab Uprising:Country by Country -Yemen</ref> People of Yemen took to the street demonstrating against three decades of rule by President Ali Abdullah Saleh.<ref>Cornell University Library. Arab Spring:A Research & Study Guide:Yemen guides. library.cornell.edu. Last Updated: May 9, 2019</ref> The demonstration led to cracks in the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) and Saleh's Sanhani clan.<ref>Britannica.com. "Yemen Uprising of 2011–12". Written By:The editors of Encyclopedia Britannica.</ref> Saleh used tactics of concession and violence to save his presidency.<ref>University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-champaign. guides.library.edu. Arab Spring Workshop:Yemen</ref> After numerous attempts, Saleh accepted the Gulf Cooperation Council's mediation. He eventually handed power to Vice President Hadi, who was sworn in as President of Yemen on 25 February 2012. Hadi launched a national dialogue to address new constitutional, political and social issues. The Houthi movement, dissatisfied with the outcomes of the national dialogue, launched an offensive and stormed the Yemeni capital Sanaa on 21 September 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/23/how-the-houthis-did-it-yemen-hadi-arab-spring/|first=Laura|last=Kasinof|title=How the Houthis Did It|date=2015|website=Foreign Policy|access-date=15 February 2015|archive-date=30 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330021054/https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/23/how-the-houthis-did-it-yemen-hadi-arab-spring/|url-status=live}}</ref> In response, Saudi Arabia launched a military intervention in Yemen in March 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wintour|first=Patrick|date=3 September 2019|title=UK, US and France may be complicit in Yemen war crimes – UN report|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/03/uk-us-and-france-may-be-complicit-in-yemen-war-crimes-un-report|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 May 2020|archive-date=22 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022141109/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/03/uk-us-and-france-may-be-complicit-in-yemen-war-crimes-un-report|url-status=live}}</ref> The civil war and subsequent military intervention and blockade caused a famine in Yemen.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/31/opinion/columnists/yemen-famine-cholera.html|title=The Photos the U.S. and Saudi Arabia Don't Want You to See|first=Nicholas|last=Kristof|date=31 August 2017|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=17 May 2020|archive-date=31 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831091519/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/31/opinion/columnists/yemen-famine-cholera.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Sanaa.JPG|alt=The old city of Sanaa, Yemen. Peninsular Arabs trace their lineage to Qahtan, who was reportedly based in Yemen.|The old city of Sanaa.
File:عين زبيدة.png|Ain Zubaydah was built to water the pilgrims in [[Place:Mecca|Mecca]], Saudi Arabia by order of Zubaidah bint Ja'far
File:Omar Mosque.jpg|Omar Mosque in Dumat al-Jandal, Saudi Arabia.
File:Madain Saleh (6730128379).jpg|The facade of a tomb with its details and architectural elements in Hegra, Saudi Arabia.
File:Qasr al Farid.JPG|Qasr al Farid, tomb in Archeological site Mada'in Saleh, Al-`Ula, Saudi Arabia
File:Diriyahpic.jpg|Diriyah the capital of the first Saudi state
File:Jemen1988-022 hg.jpg|Dam of Ma'rib
File:Dhamar Ali Yahbur II.jpg|[[History:Himyarite Kingdom|Himyarite]] King Dhamar'ali Yahbur II
File:AradFort.jpg|Arad Fort in Bahrain
File:Nizwa (5).jpg|Nizwa Fort in Oman
File:Dubai Jumeirah Creek Museum Jumeirah 9-12th century model 1301200712751.jpg|The ruins of [[Place:Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] city in the historic Jumeirah district of Dubai.
File:Coper head of bull Dilmun1.jpg|Bull's head, made of copper in the early period of Dilmun (ca. 2000 BC), Bahrain.
File:Al-Magar - Saluki Artifact (المقر - سلوقي - قطعة أثرية).jpg|The head and body of a Saluki is made of stone from the Al-Magar civilization, in the Neolithic period, (about 8000 BC).
File:مدين.jpg|Midian
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* Achaemenid Arabia
* Ancient history of Yemen
* Arabian Gulf Cup
* Arab League
* [[Place:Arab world|Arab world]]
* [[Place:Eastern Arabia|Eastern Arabia]]
* European exploration of Arabia
* [[Organization:Gulf Cooperation Council|Gulf Cooperation Council]]
* Iram of the Pillars
* [[History:Kingdom of Aksum|Kingdom of Aksum]]
* List of Arabian cities by population
* [[Place:Mashriq|Mashriq]]
* Musandam Peninsula
{{Div col end}}

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11756/ Travels in Arabia], 1892
* [http://www.swaen.com/antique-map-image-of.php?id=31 High resolution scan of old map of Arabia]
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2914/ The Coast of Arabia the Red Sea, and Persian Sea of Bassora Past the Straits of Hormuz to India, Gujarat and Cape Comorin] from the World Digital Library, depicts a map from 1707.
* [http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Arabia_Culltural-Historical_Zones_lg.png Arabia: Cultural-Historical Zones]
* [https://merhav.nli.org.il/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,arabia%20map&tab=default_tab&search_scope=Local&sortby=lso01&vid=NLI&mfacet=rtype,include,Maps,1&mfacet=tlevel,include,online_resources,1&mfacet=topic,include,Arabian%20Peninsula,1&mfacet=topic,include,Saudi%20Arabia,1&lang=en_US&offset=0&came_from=sort Old maps of Arabia], Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel

== External links ==
{{commons+cat|Arabian peninsula|Arabian Peninsula}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
{{Regions of the world}}


{{Coord|23|N|46|E|display=title}}

[[Category:Historical regions]]

{{Sourceattribution|Arabian Peninsula}}