Location:
Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia

Geographic coordinates:
26 00 N, 50 33 E

Map references:
Middle East

Area:
total: 741 sq km
land: 741 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:
3.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
161 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: extending to boundaries to be determined

Climate:
arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers

Terrain:
mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Jabal ad Dukhan 122 m

Natural resources:
oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish, pearls

Land use:
arable land: 2.82%
permanent crops: 5.63%
other: 91.55% (2005)

Irrigated land:
40 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:
0.1 cu km (1997)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 0.3 cu km/yr (40%/3%/57%)
per capita: 411 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:
periodic droughts; dust storms

Environment - current issues:
desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land, periods of drought, and dust storms; coastal degradation (damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, and distribution stations; lack of freshwater resources (groundwater and seawater are the only sources for all water needs)

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources; strategic location in Persian Gulf, through which much of the Western world's petroleum must transit to reach open ocean