GEOGRAPHY
Location: Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf,
east of Saudi Arabia
Map
references: Middle East
Area:
total
area: 620 sq km land
area: 620 sq km comparative
area: slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land
boundaries: 0 km
Coastline:
161 km
Maritime
claims: contiguous
zone: 24 nm continental
shelf: extending to boundaries to be determined territorial
sea: 12 nm
International
disputes:
territorial dispute with Qatar over the Hawar Islands; maritime
boundary with Qatar
Climate:
arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers
Terrain:
mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment
Natural
resources: oil, associated and nonassociated natural
gas, fish
Land
use: arable
land: 2% permanent
crops: 2% meadows
and pastures: 6% forest
and woodland: 0% other:
90%
Irrigated
land: 10 sq km (1989 est.)
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; no natural fresh water resources so
that groundwater and sea water are the only sources for all water
needs natural
hazards: periodic droughts; dust storms international
agreements: party to - Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity
Note:
close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources; strategic location
in Persian Gulf through which much of Western world's petroleum
must transit to reach.
