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The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.[1] Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although neither of the latter two terms are recognized internationally. The Persian Gulf was a focus of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers. In 1991, the Persian Gulf again was the background for what was called the Persian Gulf War or the "Gulf War" when Iraq invaded Kuwait and was subsequently pushed back, despite the fact that this conflict was primarily a land conflict. The Persian Gulf is rich with good fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, but its ecology has come under pressure from industrialisation, and in particular, repeated petroleum spillages during recent wars. This inland sea of some 251,000&_160;km² is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz; and its western end is marked by the major river delta of the Shatt al-Arab, which carries the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Its length is 989 kilometres, with Iran occupying most of the northern coast and Saudi Arabia most of the southern coast. The gulf is about 56 kilometres wide at its narrowest, in the Strait of Hormuz. The waters are overall very shallow, with a maximum depth of 90 metres and an average depth of 50 metres.
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