Why Is It Called the Persian Gulf?

The term Persian Gulf refers to Persia—a historic region associated with modern Iran—whose coastal lands lie along the gulf’s northern shoreline. From early in recorded history the gulf was identified consistently with its northern shore because of the prominence of the Persian Achaemenian Empire in international trade and diplomacy. Although the southern coast was inhabited from ancient times, including a notably early kingdom, Dilmun, which was centered in what is now Bahrain, that region attracted far less attention from ancient geographers because of its comparatively sparse urban settlement. Descriptions of the gulf, from the period of Hecataeus of Miletus (fl. 5th century bce) and into the present day, have consistently referred to it as the Persian Gulf. Maps and descriptions written in Arabic also made reference to the terrestrial region of Persia, even as Arab tribes dominated the maritime activity in the gulf, from the rise of Islam in the 7th century ce until the colonial era, including, at times, strategically important northern ports such as Bandar Abbas (now in Iran).

When oil production in the Persian Gulf region surged starting during World War II and onward, the stakes for control of its waterways, ports, and islands rose sharply. Iran, whose security and economic activity had traditionally been land based, began staking claims to the gulf, which led to confrontation with its Arab neighbors. Arab leaders started asserting an alternative name—Arabian Gulf—to emphasize the maritime claim of the gulf’s Arab dynasties and to detach a “Persian” claim to the gulf based on its name. As Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, the Emirati ruler of Sharjah emirate (1972– ) and a senior member of the traditionally seafaring Al Qāsimī dynasty, noted in his book Power Struggles and Trade in the Gulf (1620–1820): “[Arabs] had always called it the Persian Gulf until the Persians began citing the usage of the term ‘Persian’ as a justification for Iranian power politics in the region in the 1950s.” “Arabian Gulf” did not receive wide acceptance outside the Arab world, although the term’s adoption by some foreign institutions, such as the United States Navy about the time of the Persian Gulf War, reflects their activity and interest in the gulf.