Talk:Arab states of the Persian Gulf

The current naming and content of this article, and related articles, conflate several concepts and terms, making them useless for any encyclopedic purpose. This is diferrent from the somantics of "Arabian Gulf" versus "Persian Gulf."

This article should ideally serve be a list of Arab states with coastlines along the body of water commonly known as the Persian Gulf, which notably includes Iraq with its 56 km (36 mi) coastline on it. Many readers searching for "the Gulf States" are generally looking for information about the countries commonly referred to as such: the current member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), this is near universal among large WP:RS.

These GCC states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman) share a distinct set of characteristics:

Monarchies with stable political systems

High-income economies

A significant reliance on foreign labor

These attributes do not apply to Iraq, which, despite its Gulf coastline, does not align with the common understanding of "Gulf States." The term also also disregards Iran, which is geographically part of the Gulf but not culturally or politically grouped in it.

Per WP:COMMONNAME, article titles should reflect how terms are typically understood. The term "Arab Gulf states" can technically also include any Arab country with a coastline on a gulf, such as the Gulf of Oman (Oman and the UAE, who are also Arab states of the Persian Gulf) or the Gulf of Aden (Somalia, Djibouti and Yemen). Furthermore, the definition of an "Arab country" itself is ambiguous—it could mean countries populated by Arabs, members of the Arab League, or nations with significant Arabic-speaking populations.

Currently, the link for "Member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council" redirects to the members part of the GCC, which is appropriate. However, unlike more integrated entities like the EU, is a loose political body often shaped by internal royal feuds.

I think there should be a separate article titled "Gulf States" that focuses on the countries commonly referred to by this term, specifically the GCC members. This page should detail their shared history, economic structures, the Kafala system, and human rights challenges. A disambiguation page should direct users Gulf States (disambiguation) with the current contents of Gulf States.

A useful comparison is the redirect for "Gulf Coast," which links directly to the Gulf Coast of the United States rather than a broader disambiguation for all possible "Gulf Coasts" (here including the Gulf Coast of Mexico, which is on the same body of water (Gulf of Mexico). Similarly, a distinct "Gulf States" page would serve readers better than redirecting them to an organizational page for the GCC. Vyvagaba (talk) 20:24, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

:If the distinct set of characteristics aligns with the Gulf Cooperation Council, why not add that information to that article? It is not long, and could handle more information about shared history, economic structures, etc. CMD (talk) 03:30, 11 September 2024 (UTC)

::My point is that the Gulf Cooperation Council article should focus on the organization itself, its hard to talk about history of those countries while not conflating the history of the organization itself or the content of this article.

::The term "Gulf states" is also useful for creating a page for Gulf Arabs (which also links here). Gulf Arabs can be the culture of Arabs the live by the Gulf, who include some Arabs in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Vyvagaba (talk) 08:24, 15 September 2024 (UTC)

:Agreed 100%. Gulf states is a cultural region which is not based purely on Arab as an ethnic group. A similar comparison is the term Scandinavia, which usually is limited to the 3 monarchies Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and does not include Finland and Iceland. This article has a history of multiple name changes, with multiple attempts to either remove or insert the name Persian gulf into the name. A name of Gulf States however will most likely invite other users to change the name into Persian Gulf states as part of an ongoing tradition on wikipedia of edit warring due to Persian Gulf naming dispute. Obviously, these states do not refer to themselves as Persian gulf states, nor is it the wp:commonname that is referred to them. Gulf states as wp:commonname mainly refers to the welfare high income monarchies on that region who form the Gulf Cooperation Council and not Iran or Iraq. I agree with your suggestion for a distinct "Gulf States" page, with this article limited to an outline, however I would suggest using the term Khaleeji to refer to these states in particular: "khaleeji countries" (a similar example is nordic countries) or khaleeji states. The eastern Arabs living on the Persian Gulf whether on the Arabian peninsula or the Iranian coast, and whom today form the monarchies on the gulf have always referred to themselves as "Khaleeji" with a distinct Khaliji (music), culture, and dialect. Gorebath (talk) 21:21, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected|Arab states of the Persian Gulf|answered=yes}}

Updates to the human development index data on this page use the latest UNDP report for 2023/2024 which has been released so that the explanations presented here are in accordance with the UNDP report. Ariantamaa (talk) 16:14, 5 January 2025 (UTC)

:File:Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Ultraodan (talk) 04:23, 7 January 2025 (UTC)

Indeed according to valid resources and also the great history of Iran there's no Arab Gulf and it has been Persian Gulf til this moment. Please Edit that. 2.177.88.146 (talk) 17:13, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Would be useful to add this:

Iraq is the only Gulf Arab state that is not a GCC member.{{Cite web |title=Dulaimi confirmed that Iraq sought to join the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) |url=http://www.shafaq.com/sh2/news/iraq-news/41287-الدليمي-يؤكد-سعي-العراق-للانضمام-لمجلس-التعاون-الخليجي.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528024055/http://www.shafaaq.com/sh2/news/iraq-news/41287-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D8%A4%D9%83%D8%AF-%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B6%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%AC%D9%8A.html |archive-date=28 May 2013}}{{cite news |title=Kuwait stresses necessity for Iraq to join GCC |url=http://www.alsumaria.tv/news/55919/kuwait-stresses-necessity-for-iraq-to-join-gcc/en |access-date=21 November 2014 |newspaper=قناه السومرية العراقية}} 138.253.5.147 (talk) 19:22, 28 May 2025 (UTC)

:Please provide a specific quote that supports this assertion. The second source says Yemen, Jordan, and Morocco are also candidates. CMD (talk) 02:34, 29 May 2025 (UTC)