Everything about Persian Gulf Naming Dispute totally explained
The name of the body of water separating the Arabian Peninsula from Iran has been disputed by some Arab countries since the 1960s. This gulf is historically and most commonly called the
Persian Gulf, after the land of
Persia (
Iran). Rivalry between
Persians and
Arabs, however, along with the emergence of
pan-Arabism and
Arab nationalism, has seen the name Arabian Gulf become predominant in some Arab countries.
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) Names beyond these two have also been applied to or proposed for this body of water.
Overview
On almost all maps printed before 1960, and in most modern international treaties, documents and maps, this body of water is known by the name "Persian Gulf", reflecting traditional usage since the
Greek geographers Strabo and
Ptolemy, and the geopolitical realities of the time with a powerful
Persian Empire (
Iran) comprising the whole northern coastline and a scattering of local
emirates on the Arabian coast. But by the
1960s and with the rise of
Arab nationalism, some Arab countries, including the ones bordering the Persian Gulf, adopted widespread use of the term "الخليج العربي" (
al-Khalīj al-'Arabī;
Arab Gulf or
Arabian Gulf) to refer to this waterway. This coupled with the decreasing influence of Iran on the political and economic priorities of the English speaking Western World led to increasing acceptance, in regional politics and the mostly
petroleum-related business, of the new alternative naming convention "Arabian Gulf".
Until the end of the 19th century, "Arabian Gulf" was used to refer to what is now known as the
Red Sea. This usage was adopted into European maps from, among others, Strabo and Ptolemy, who called the Red Sea
Sinus Arabicus (
Arabian Gulf). Both of these Greek geographers used the name "Persian Gulf" to refer to the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. In the early Islamic era, Muslim geographers did the same, calling the body بحر فارس (
Baḥr Fāris; Persian Sea) or "خليج فارس" (
Khalīj Fāris; Persian Gulf). Later, most European maps from the early Modern Times onwards used similar terms (
Sinus Persicus,
Persischer Golf,
Golfo di Persia and the like, in different languages) when referring to the Persian Gulf, possibly taking the name from the Islamic sources. For a short while in the
17th century, the term "Gulf of Basra" was also being used, which made a reference to the town of
Basra (Iraq), an important trading port of the time. Basra, however, isn't on the shore of the waterway. The Times Journal, published in London in 1840, referred to the Persian Gulf as the "Britain Sea," despite the distant geography.
Proposed alternative names
The matter remains very contentious as the competing naming conventions are supported by certain governments in internal literature, but also in dealings with other states and international organizations. Some parties use terms like "The Gulf" or the "Arabo-Persian Gulf". After the
Iranian Revolution of
1979 some people in Islamic groups suggested the use of "Islamic Gulf." The originator of the term
Islamic Gulf isn't known, while some people suggest that prominent figures of the early years of the
Islamic republic including
Ruhollah Khomeini,
Mehdi Bazargan, and
Sadegh Khalkhali may have supported the idea. The idea was quickly abandoned after Iran was invaded by its predominantly Muslim neighbor, Iraq. Possibly the most famous person who has used the term "Islamic Gulf" recently has been
Osama bin Laden, who used the term as late as
1996.
Cartographical gallery
Image:Istakhri map 2.jpg|Regional map showing the word Bahr Fars, ("Persian sea") in Arabic, from the 9th century text Al-aqalim by the Persian geographer Istakhri.
Image:Persia1808.JPG|An 1808 British map depicting the "Persian Gulf".
Image:Iran e Bozorg2.jpg|Map depiction of 1719 using the term "Persian Gulf".
Image:Matthaus 1598.JPG|1598 German map using the term "Persicus" for the body of water.
Image:Ortelius 1580.JPG|Map by Abraham Ortelius dated 1580 using the term "Persicus" (MAR MESENDIN ol. Sinus Persicus).
Image:Hondius 1610.JPG|1610 Map by Dutch map maker Jodocus Hondius using term "Persicus".
Image:Mercator 1595.JPG|Gerard Mercator's map of 1595 showing Persian Gulf terminology (Mare di Mesendin olim Persicus sinus).
Image:PG 1740.jpg|French map dated 1740.
Image:PG Jansson.JPG|Jan Jansson's map, 17th century (MARE ELCATIF olim SINUS PERSICUS).
Image:PG 1548.JPG|Giacomo Gastaldi's map circa 1548 is denoted by cartographic historian Gerald Tibbetts as the first "modern" map of the area.
Image:PG 1540 Basel.JPG|Swiss map dated 1540, which was based on Ptolemy's Geographia.
Image:PG ufl.jpg|Another 16th century map with the name "Sinus Persicus" barely visible in the lower right.
Image:PG UFL2.jpg|Map is by Sebastian Munster, 1588.
Image:PG 1820.JPG|Map by Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature by Abraham Rees, 1820. Note "Arabian Sea" is denoted below present day Oman.
Image:Image jpeg.jpg|Map of 1531 denoting Sinus Persicus.
Image:PG NSW Image jpeg.jpg|French map dated 1540.
Viewpoint of Iran
Iran doesn't recognize the naming when it's referred to as just "Gulf", or "Arabian Gulf."
Viewpoint of Arab states
Most Arab countries, including members of the
GCC, endorse the name "Arabian Gulf" and some including the
UAE have even banned the use of the term "Persian Gulf" across their country. In the UAE this ban applies to textbooks, publications and newspapers among others.
Viewpoints of third parties
United Nations
The
United Nations on many occasions has requested its secretarial staff to use only "Persian Gulf" as the standard geographical designation for that body of water. Most recently, the UN Secretariat has issued two editorial directives in
1994 and
1999 affirming the position of that organization on the matter.
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The group of experts on Geographical Names was set up by the secretary-general of the United Nations in pursuance of economic and Social council resolution 715A(XXVII) on April 23, 1959 and has endorsed 'Persian Gulf' as the official name for this body of water.
The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names was set up by the secretary-general of the United Nations in pursuance of economic and Social council resolution 715A(XXVII) on April 23, 1959. The group discussed the naming issue during its 23rd session, held in Vienna from March 28th to April 4th, 2006. According to the report of the meeting, the Convenor "noted that countries couldn't be prohibited from using or creating exonyms."
The use of the name '
Arabian Gulf' was described to be 'faulty' by the Eighth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, Berlin, 27 August September 2002.
United States
In the
United States, Persian Gulf has been the label sanctioned for U.S. government use
(External Link) since a decision by the
State Department's
Board of Geographical Names in
1917:
As recognized by the United States Board on Geographic names, the name of the body of water that lies between Iran and the Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council is the Persian Gulf. For political reasons, Arabs often refer to it as the Arab or Arabian Gulf. The NGA GEOnet Names Server (GNS), maintained by the
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, is the "official repository of standard spellings of all foreign place names" sanctioned by the Board of Geographical Names.
(External Link) The GNS lists "Persian Gulf" as the only "conventional" name, along with fourteen unofficial "variants" in different languages, such as "Gulf of Iran", "Gulf of Ajam", "Gulf of Basra", "Arabian Gulf", "Persian-Arabian Gulf", "Gulf of Fars", and "Farsi Gulf".
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In recent years, due to increased cooperation with Arab
states of the Persian Gulf, various branches of the
U.S. armed forces have issued directives to their members to use the "Arabian Gulf" when operating in the area ("Persian Gulf" is still used in official publications and websites), partially to follow local conventions, or simply to follow local laws that ban the use of "Persian Gulf", for example in the
United Arab Emirates. Also for similar reasons, branches of American universities in the region have also dropped references to "Persian Gulf" in their teaching materials.
All multinational naval forces (including Australia, the US and UK) refer to the area as 'Arabian Gulf' during operations, and their naval charts reflect this. The area is nominally divided into three areas: Northern Arabian Gulf (NAG, with principal focus around the Kwahr Al Amaya and Al Basra Oil Terminals), Central Arabian Gulf (CAG, around Saudi Arabia and Bahrain) and Southern Arabian Gulf (SAG, around Abu Dhabi and Dubai).
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom government's Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for Official British Use (PCGN) endorses 'The Persian Gulf' as the correct name for this body of water
(External Link).
Atlases and other media
In
2004, the
National Geographic Society published a new edition of its
National Geographic Atlas of the World using the term "Arabian Gulf" as an alternative name (in smaller type and in parentheses) for "Persian Gulf". This resulted in heavy protests by many
Persians, especially the Internet user community, which led to the Iranian government acting on the issue and banning the distribution of the society's publications in Iran. On
December 30,
2004, the society reversed its decision and published an Atlas Update, removing the parenthetical reference and adding a note: "Historically and most commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is referred to by some as the Arabian Gulf." It also removed the alternative Arabic names for certain islands and/or replaced them with Persian ones
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The 2000
Associated Press manual on usage elaborates: Persian Gulf is the “long-established name” and the best choice. “Some Arab nations call it the Arabian Gulf. Use Arabian Gulf only in direct quotations and explain in the text that the body of water is more commonly known as the Persian Gulf.”
Some atlases and media outlets have taken to referring to "The Gulf" without any adjectival qualification. This usage is followed by
The Times Atlas of the World.
Iran doesn't consider this an impartial usage and views it as an active contribution to abandonment of the historical name. In June 15, 2006
Iran banned the sale of
The Economist for the above reason. A major map in an issue labeled the
Persian Gulf as 'The Gulf'. As of the December 22, 2007 issue the magazine has continued to use "The Gulf".
Further Information
Get more info on 'Persian Gulf Naming Dispute'.
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