Persian Gulf Countries - Iran, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 87. Chapters: Iran, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Excerpt: Iran ( or; Persian: ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( or ). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts. The 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 78 million. It is a country of particular geostrategic significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations. The first dynasty in Iran formed during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. The Iranian Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC. They were succeeded by the Iranian Achaemenid Empire, the Hellenic Seleucid Empire and two subsequent Iranian empires, the Parthi...