:''"Arabia" redirects here. For other uses, see
Arabia (disambiguation)
The Arabian Peninsula
The
Arabian Peninsula is a peninsula in
Southwest Asia at the junction of
Africa and
Asia.
The coastal limits of the peninsula are: on the southwest the
Red Sea and
Gulf of Aqaba; on the southeast the
Arabian Sea; and on the northeast the
Gulf of Oman and the
Persian Gulf. Politically, the Arabian peninsula is divided into the following countries:
Geologically, this region is more appropriately called the
Arabian subcontinent because it has a
tectonic plate of its own, the
Arabian Plate.
The peninsula is thought to have been the place where the Proto-semitic peoples, ancestors of all the Semites of the Middle East, originated.
The country of Saudi Arabia covers most of Arabia. The majority of the population of the peninsula lives in Saudi Arabia and in Yemen. The peninsula contains large amounts of
oil and is home to the
Islamic holy cities of
Mecca and
Medina, both of which are in Saudi Arabia. The UAE and Qatar are home to major
Arabic language television stations such as
Al-Jazeera.
Geographically, the peninsula consists of:
# a central plateau with pastures for cattle, and fertile valleys;
# a ring of deserts, the Nefud in the north, stony, the Great Arabian, a perfect Sahara, in the south, sandy, said sometimes to be 600 ft. deep, and the Dahna between; and
# stretches of coast land, generally fertile on the west and south.
Arabia has no lakes or rivers, only wadies, oftenest dry; the climate being hot and arid, has no forests, and therefore few wild animals.
The term
the Middle East is sometimes applied to the peninsula alone, but usually refers to a much larger region; the term
Arabia, however, is often used to refer only to Saudi Arabia. At other times the term
Arabia can stand for the whole
Arab World, stretching from
Morocco in the west to Oman in the east.
:''See also :''
Arab World,
Araby, Rub' al Khali(
desert),
Arabian Desert and East Sahero-Arabian xeric shrublands
Category:Arabia
Category:Peninsulas
bg:Арабски полуостров
bs:Arabija
ca:Aràbia
da:Arabiske Halvø
de:Arabische Halbinsel
es:Arabia
fi:Arabian niemimaa
fr:Arabie
he:חצי האי ערב
it:Penisola araba
kw:Arabi
la:Paeninsula Arabica
nl:Arabisch Schiereiland
ja:アラビア半島
pl:Półwysep Arabski
pt:Arábia
simple:Arabia
sw:Bara Arabu
zh:阿拉伯半岛