Geo Quiz

A waterway in southwest Asia

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There are at least two answers to today’s Geo Quiz. We’re looking for the name of a waterway in southwest Asia. It’s the one that separates Iran from Saudi Arabia. Problem is there’s no perfect agreement on what to call it.

Saudi Arabia calls it one thing, Iraq another. The United Nations has its take on the matter, while the International Hydrographic Organization has yet another.

So what body of water are we talking about?

This is more than a polite squabble. A major international sporting event called the Islamic Solidarity Games has been cancelled because of this disagreement. It seems there’s no solidarity over what to name this body of water.

So tread carefully as you try to come up with the answer.

Ok so we have a geographical dispute to try and settle now. Our Geo Quiz today asked you to name the body of water between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.

William Rowe is an assistant professor of geography at Louisiana State University (and a member of the American Association of Geographers).

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Naming this body of water in the Southwest Asian region is a little tricky. Iranians as well as the United Nations and the US State Department rely on the historical case for calling it the Persian Gulf. Many Arab nations including Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Emirates prefer the Arabian Gulf, or The Gulf. Yet another alternative is the Gulf of Basra (Turkey) or the Gulf of Iran (International Hydrographic Organization).

One thing is certain. As a a result of the disagreement, the Islamic Solidarity Games organized to demonstrate solidarity among the 57 member Organization of Islamic States, have been cancelled.

Here’s another take on the subject from Benjamin Smith, a geographer at Florida International University:
“A hundred years ago, it would have been absurd to dub it any thing but the Persian Gulf — all the good ports are on the Persian side as well as almost all the people. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha were all just small towns. There was and is already something called the Arabian Sea.

By mid-century to late 20th century, several things change. One, thanks to Nasser and the wider Pan-Arabist movement, the idea that being an Arab means something becomes stronger. Also, by the 1970/1980, the Arab speaking states on the Gulf begin to carry some geopolitical clout, at the same time they are trying to forge an identity not only for themselves, but for the rest of the world so they know what they are about. So part of this becomes cultural things like promoting falconry and camel racing, and Khaleeji music/dance. But it also means trying to put their mark on the map. Thus the Arab Gulf acts symbolically like the mega projects in Dubai do today — to show the world that the Arabs on the Gulf are important (and also to show other Arabs they are not the edge of the Arab speaking world, but the center).”