"Arab states of the Persian Gulf" or "Arab Persian Gulf states" or "Persian Gulf Arab states" or "Arabic Persian Gulf states" or "Arab States of The Gulf", are terms that refer to the six Arab states of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, bordering the Persian Gulf. These six nations are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Although Iraq is considered an Arab state and shares a small border with the Persian Gulf, it is not usually included in the designation.
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All of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf have significant revenues from oil and gas and, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, have small local populations. This has raised their per capita incomes to higher than those of their neighbors. To meet the labor shortages they host large numbers of temporary non-citizen economic migrants from South Asia (mostly India) and Southeast Asia (mostly the Philippines and Indonesia). In the past there were also significant numbers of immigrants from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Egypt.
In addition, pearl diving and the pearl industry was the main economic activity of many of these countries (particularly Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait). The pearling industry collapsed in the 1930s after the development of cultured pearl methods, especially in Japan.
The Persian Gulf Arab states share a regional culture that is sometimes referred to as "khaleeji (gulf) culture". They all speak the Gulf Arabic and share similar music styles (sawt, fijiri, ardha, liwa etc.), cuisine, dress, etc. Most Arabs living near the Persian Gulf also trace their ancestry back to Arab tribes of either Najd (in what is now central Saudi Arabia) or Yemen. Iraq has a culture which is unique and distinct from the Gulf states, which is the reason why it is not considered a Gulf state.
All six of these states are hereditary monarchies with limited political representation. Only Bahrain (Majlis al-Nuwab) and Kuwait (National Assembly) have legislatures with popularly elected members.
The Sultanate of Oman also has an advisory council (Majlis ash-Shura) that is popularly elected. In the UAE - which is a federation of seven monarchical emirates - the Federal National Council also functions only as an advisory body, and now has a portion of its members elected from a small electoral college nominated by the seven Rulers. In Qatar, an elected national parliament has been mooted and is written into the new constitution, but no elections have yet been held.[1]