About the Persian Gulf

With the start of the Arab war with Israel and the lack of support from the imperial government of Iran for the Arabs, a new horizon appeared for the enemies of Islam to play with the pride of the Arabs and create a sense of racism to convince them to use the name of the Arab Gulf instead of the Persian Gulf. Of course, this trick was designed without study, and therefore it is fragile and loose, because in the old maps of the Arabian Gulf, another name is the Red Sea, and the existence of two bays in the world with a common name is not possible.
We, a group of Iranians, decided to stop distorting the name of the Persian Gulf with the intention of dividing the Iranian and Arab races and weakening the Islamic unity by enlightening the public mind. The history of the Persian Gulf is presented below.
Persian Gulf (Persian Gulf or Persian Sea), In English: Persian Gulf, in French: Golfe Persique, in German: Persischer Golf, in Italian: Golfe Persico, in Arabic: الغلیج الفارسی (other names like Arabic Gulf are not acceptable), the name of an important waterway in West Asia and the region It is located in the Middle East, along the Sea of ​​Oman, between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.
The Persian Gulf covers an area of ​​237,473 square kilometers and is the third largest bay in the world after the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson Bay. The Persian Gulf runs east through the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of ​​Oman to the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, and ends west to the Arvand River Delta, which joins the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and joins the Rudkarun.
Iran, Oman, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain are on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, the northern shores of the Persian Gulf are entirely in the political geography of Iran. Due to the abundant oil and gas resources in the Persian Gulf and its coasts, this waterway is considered an important and strategic area at the international level.
The historical name of this bay, in various languages, has been translated as the Persian Gulf or the Persian Sea. Also, in all international organizations, the official name of this gulf is “Persian Gulf”, but some Arab countries in recent decades have called it the Arabian Gulf or simply the Gulf. The International Hydrographic Organization uses the name Persian Gulf (Persian Gulf) for this bay.

History of the Persian Gulf

Geologists believe that about five hundred thousand years ago, the first form of the Persian Gulf was formed along the southern plains of Iran and over time, due to changes in the internal and external structure of the earth, found its current fixed form. The Persian Gulf was so vast in the beginning that until the end of the third geological period, most of the plains of Borazjan, Behbahan and Khuzestan in Iran up to the Zagros Mountains were under water.

Geographical features of the Persian Gulf

Spatial geography

A satellite image of the Persian Gulf provided by NASA.

The Persian Gulf is located 24 to 30 degrees and 30 minutes north latitude and 48 to 56 degrees and 25 minutes east longitude of the Greenwich meridian.
This bay is connected to the Sea of ​​Oman by the Strait of Hormuz and through it to the high seas. Among the neighboring countries of the Persian Gulf, Iran has the most common water border with the Persian Gulf. The length of Iran’s water border with the Persian Gulf, including the islands, is about 1800 km and without the islands is about 1400 km.
The length of the Persian Gulf from the Strait of Hormuz to its last point of progress in the direction of the west is about 805 km. The widest part of the Persian Gulf is 180 miles (290 km). The deepest point of the Persian Gulf with a depth of 93 meters at 15 km is the Great Tonb and its shallowest point with a depth of 10 to 30 meters is to the west. There are also several islands in the Persian Gulf.
The official and international boundary of the Persian Gulf water borders, according to the International Hydrographic Organization, is the northeastern part of the Oman Sea. Ràs Limah Line (25 ° 57’N) and the Arabian Peninsula Ràs al Kuh (25 ° 48’N) off the coast of Iran.

Geology of the region

From a geological point of view, the Persian Gulf is a shallow tectonic subsidence that formed in the pre-Tertiary period on the southern margin of the Zagros Mountains. In fact, this sea is a remnant of a large pit that has been under the influence of pressure caused by volcanoes on the Iranian plateau since ancient times, and the stability of the Saudi plateau against these tectonic reactions has led to the creation and development of its width and depth. The most severe folds of the Plio-Pleistocene period are the folds of the northern shores of the Persian Gulf (Zagros). The amount of these folds, which are severe on the land of Iran, continues with lower slopes towards the sea, so that in the sea this slope reaches 10 to 20 degrees. The main axis of the Persian Gulf is one of the tectonic consequences of the Zagros fold phenomenon, which was formed during the Pleistocene. At the end of the Pliocene, the sea level was probably 150 meters above the current level.This level has reached the current level around 100,000 BC and its traces have been left in the form of naval barracks and Sakha on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf.

Geomorphology

Persian Gulf Depth Survey

Morphologically, the Persian Gulf is asymmetric and its southern coastline is gentler than its northern coastline. The southern shore of the Persian Gulf, especially in the east of the Qatar Peninsula, is a large and shallow area (10 to 25 meters) that is mainly characterized by the morphology, evaporation environment and tidal zone. The Persian Gulf is made up of hard, long sediments with linear shapes and is connected to the sea by a narrow coastal plain.
The Persian Gulf islands are long ridges parallel to the coast, which are actually the Zagros Mountains, which have become islands due to rising water, such as Qeshm and Kish, or more or less circular in shape, such as Hormoz and Abu Musa, which are the salt domes of the Hormuz series.
The surface of the Persian Gulf islands is composed of destructive sediments and marls that have more or less oysters. The soil of these islands is mainly saline or contains gypsum, which restricts the growth of plants to certain species. The coastal shape of the Persian Gulf in the vicinity of Iran is longitudinal, parallel to the axis of the adjacent heights.

Climatology

The climate of the Persian Gulf is arid and subtropical. In summer, the temperature sometimes reaches 50 degrees Celsius and the rate of evaporation is higher than the amount of water entering. Temperatures of up to 3 ° C have also been reported in winter. At the same time, the high salinity of the Persian Gulf water, 200 fresh water springs on the floor and 25 completely fresh water springs flow on its shores, all of which originate from the Zagros Mountains in Iran.
The fresh water that enters the Persian Gulf is mainly limited to the waters of the Zagros Mountains in Iran and the mountains of Turkey and Iraq. Arvandrud, Karun, Jarahi, Mand, Dalaki and Minab rivers are the largest and most water-rich rivers that flow into the Persian Gulf, most of which originate in the Zagros Mountains. In the south coast, the inflow of water to the Persian Gulf is very low, which has led to high carbonate sediments in this area. Due to its confinement, the effect of the ocean on the Persian Gulf is very small, and therefore the velocity of its downstream and horizontal currents is very low, about 10 centimeters per second.
The higher salinity of the Persian Gulf than the ocean causes the flow of water from the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf, which is parallel to the coast of Iran and counterclockwise. The mentioned flow is associated with a decrease in temperature and salinity, so that in the Strait of Hormuz the amount of salt is 36.6 grams per liter and at the northwestern end and in the mouth of Karun is about 40 grams per liter. Rainfall on the southern coast is less than 5 cm per year and on the northern coast is between 20 to 50 cm per year.

Historical background of the Persian Gulf

Persian

Gulf name Persian Gulf and its synonyms in other languages ​​is the most original name and name left over from the oldest sources, which has been used continuously in all languages ​​and world literature since centuries BC and with Persian, Persian, Iranian and Ajam-Iranian letters. – and its equivalents are tied in other languages.

Although the canal is mentioned in all Arabic historical and geographical texts in the Persian Gulf and the Persian Gulf, this designation has been challenged by Arab nationalists since the 1930s. Arab countries have been using the name of the Arabian Gulf since the 1960s, with the spread of pan-Arab ideas by Gamal Abdel Nasser. This has been officially announced to all Arab countries in a circular issued by the Arab League. But other countries and international organizations still use the original, ancient name of the Persian Gulf, and may sometimes use the term Gulf in informal correspondence for simplicity or under Arab financial influence.
In recent years, many Western, Arab, and Muslim scholars have made documentary statements about the antiquity of the Persian Gulf name or the reason for the distortion of the Persian Gulf name. The Persian Sea has been collected.
Until the 1960s, all Arab countries used the term “Persian Gulf” in their official correspondence.
But in recent years, and especially since the 1960s, the name of the Persian Gulf has been distorted in official correspondence and in some Arabic publications and news outlets.

The name of the Persian Gulf in ancient documents, atlases and maps

Main article: Distortion of the name of the Persian Gulf
So far, several atlases containing ancient names and maps of the Persian Gulf have been published, which show that the name of the Persian Gulf has been used in all ancient maps. The full details of these atlases are mentioned in the book of documents of the name of the Persian Gulf, an ancient and eternal heritage. Examples of the oldest of these atlases include the world map by Anaximander (610–546 BC), (Anaximander), a Greek geographer reconstructed in Kleinere schriften (Joachim Lelewel 1836), The World Map of Hecataeus (550-56) Hecataeus, one of the most famous Greek geographers, referred to the world map of Ptolemy (168-90 AD) by the famous Alexandrian astronomer and geographer Claudius Ptolemy and the first person to make an atlas of 36 maps of different parts of the world.

Valdesimolar world map from 1507 AD (left image) The
name of the Persian Gulf is visible in it (right image)

World map of Pietro Copo from 1520 AD (left image) The
name of the Persian Gulf is visible in it (right image)

Map of the world from 1689 (pictured left
(Persian Gulf name in Latin: Sinus Persicus). (Pictured right)

Persian Gulf Islands

Greek ship off the coast of Kish Island in the Persian Gulf

Palm tree on Mino Island

There are many islands in the Persian Gulf, some of which are of low importance and some of which are of high importance. Most of the important islands of the Persian Gulf belong to Iran. The important islands of the Persian Gulf are: Qeshm, Bahrain, Kish, Kharg Island, Abu Musa, Big Tunb, Small Tunb and Lavan Island.

Persian Gulf Islands

Among the Persian Gulf islands, more than 30 residential and non-residential islands belong to Iran. Some of these islands are underwater due to the tide of water (tides) and are uninhabited. The uninhabited islands of the Persian Gulf are of special global importance as a habitat for sea corals, nesting sites for sea urchins and turtles, as well as a habitat for a variety of migratory birds. The largest island of this bay is called Qeshm.

The importance of the Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf is actually the axis of communication between Europe, Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Strategically in the Middle East, it is the largest and most important communication center between the three continents and is part of a communication system including the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. For this reason, it has long been considered by world powers, as well as the world’s merchants and traders. It is also an important source of energy for the world. In general, the Persian Gulf is an important and sensitive water area in the world in terms of political, strategic geography, energy, history and civilization.

Economic importance

PersianGulf coast in Siraf port in Bushehr province of Iran

PersianGulf horizon in the South Pars region

The biggest factor in the importance of the PersianGulf is the presence of rich oil and gas fields on its bed and shores, so that this region has been called “the world’s oil reservoir”. The PersianGulf is the transit route for oil from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and is therefore an important and strategic region. About 30% of the world’s oil is supplied from the PersianGulf region [8], which sometimes increases and sometimes decreases. The oil produced in the PersianGulf should be transported to other parts of the world through this water area and through the Strait of Hormuz. The PersianGulf has many advantages in terms of oil reserves compared to other parts of the world such as ease of extraction, low production costs, excess production capacity, high quality crude oil, ease of transportation, high production capacity of wells and the possibility of discovering large new oil reserves in the region. Is.According to the latest estimates, the PersianGulf basin has proven about 730 billion barrels of oil reserves and contains more than 70 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. There are also important ports along the PersianGulf, such as Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Bandar Lengeh, Kish, Khorramshahr and Bandar Mahshahr in Iran, and Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and the ports of Basra and Faw in Iraq.

Maritime history in the Persian Gulf

The history of navigation in the PersianGulf dates back to the distant past, at least two thousand years BC. The peoples of civilizations such as Sumer, Akkad, and Ilam traveled their route between Mesopotamia and Mohnujdaru in the Indus Valley through this water zone. Recent studies show that the Phoenicians first lived and sailed on the islands and lands around the PersianGulf. During the Achaemenid period, Darius I asked prominent Persian, Phoenician, and Greek satraps of the Persian Empire to sail to explore new lands, which increased the Persians’ knowledge of the PersianGulf. In one of the oldest documents about navigation in the PersianGulf, which dates back to the fourth century BC, a sailor named Niarchos (Narkhos) in the eleventh year of the reign of Alexander the Great and by his order began his voyage and in this voyage from the mouth of the Indus River It went to the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz and anchored on the banks of the Rudkarun River after crossing the PersianGulf. Accompanied on this voyage by several Iranian sailors, including Begius son of Farnakeh, Hidaras Baluch, and Mazan Qeshmi, he wrote a travelogue of his 146-day voyage, a summary of which remains. In his travelogue he mentions the great and marvelous lighthouses in the PersianGulf. In his travelogue he mentions the great and marvelous lighthouses in the PersianGulf. In his travelogue he mentions the great and marvelous lighthouses in the PersianGulf.

PersianGulf food resources

More than 150 different species of fish are found in the PersianGulf. Most of the PersianGulf aquatic animals, except for a few that enter the waters of Karun, Bahman Shir and Arvand, live in brackish waters and spawn and reproduce there. The most important types of commercial fish in the PersianGulf are Zubeida, Halva Sefid, Ghobad, Shir Mahi, Shank, Sangsar, Pish fish, Hamour, Sikin, Karfeh, Parrot, Halva Siah, Shorideh, Khobour, Shoemaker, Sarkho, Khabur and Sabour. Shrimp is another valuable food product of the PersianGulf. A variety of edible oysters can be found on some beaches such as Bandar Abbas beach and Gash beach (oyster beach) in Lengeh port and also around some islands such as Hormoz, Qeshm and Lark, whose main market is European countries.

Persian Gulf Environment

A marine mammal named Dagong with his child on the shallow shores of the PersianGulf

There is a lot of talk in the old book about captains and sailors talking about animals, fairies and strange creatures in the PersianGulf. From the scorpionfish that can swallow a ship to the shark that spews fire out of its mouth, to the mermaid that looks like a beautiful bride, which until recently had become the undisputed belief of the people.
PersianGulf is one of the largest havens for marine life such as corals, small ornamental fish, edible and inedible fish, shells, snails, mollusks, sea anemones, sea sponges, mermaids, turtles, dolphins and many other creatures, dolphins and dolphins. . Environmentalists see various mammal species in the PersianGulf as endangered due to a lack of expertise, high research costs, and insufficient knowledge. Drought and lack of nutrients in the water have caused some PersianGulf aquatic species to remain small and underdeveloped.

Turtles

Five of the eight species of turtles in the world live in the waters of the PersianGulf and the Sea of ​​Oman, where two species of eagle turtles and green turtles lay eggs on the coasts and islands of Iran. These two turtles live on the coasts of islands such as Hormoz, Lark, Qeshm, Farvar and Bani Farvar and shallow coastal places and their main spawning places have been reported in Hormoz, Hengam, Farvar, Shidor, Lavan, Kish, Nakhilo and Amalgam islands. . Oil entering the waters of the PersianGulf can cause poisoning in these turtles. Also, fishing activities, garbage, sewage, vessel traffic, mining explosions and heat pollution are threats to their lives.

Dolphins and whales

Hengam Island Water Dolphins

Dolphins and whales are among the aquatic mammals that live in the PersianGulf and the Sea of ​​Oman. Dolphins named Porpoise as well as bottlenose dolphins live in the south of Qeshm Island and near the islands of Hengam, Salark and Hormoz, which are exposed to various endangered species. Lack of adequate research and expertise has reduced the number of humpback dolphins and gray whales. The collision of dolphins and whales with vessels and the propellers of boats, as well as the contamination of some parts of the waters of the PersianGulf with oil and chemical pollutants threaten the life of these mammals. According to some reports, the PersianGulf whale is in danger of extinction.

Sharks

Seven species of sharks live in the waters of the PersianGulf, including predatory shark, catfish shark, whale shark or deer shark, stray shark, predatory shark and zebra shark. Due to the high price of sharks compared to other fish in the PersianGulf, overfishing has increased significantly in recent years and has made their offspring endangered. Since most shark species in the PersianGulf are viable, it is not possible to make appropriate programs to revive their offspring. Also, these sharks move to shallower waters at birth (which provides the minimum temperature for their babies), increasing the destruction of coastal areas is another threat to the survival of their offspring.

Mangrove forests

Sea anemone in the waters of Kish Island

The mangrove forest is the only forest that is submerged on the salt water of the sea due to fog (tides) at night and emerges from the water during the day. It has certain types of trees whose roots sweeten the salt water and give it to the tree.

water pollution

In recent decades, environmental pollution has been one of the major challenges in this area. Since 60% of the world’s oil reserves are in the PersianGulf, the construction of oil rigs and complexes and refineries around the PersianGulf and the entry of oil, chemicals and effluents into the water are important causes of this pollution. One of the most important pollution in the PersianGulf occurred during the Iran-Iraq war, when about 5.8 million barrels of oil were released into the water, as well as the burning of oil wells, which caused a huge amount of crude oil to enter the sea. Also, more than 10,000 vessels pass through the PersianGulf and the Sea of ​​Oman annually, 75% of which are related to the transportation of crude oil and petroleum products, followed by the discharge of various wastes such as engine washing water, sewage, ship balancing water and many more. It also causes a continuous occurrence of various types of pollution in the region, which has significant effects on the environment.According to studies, about 1.5 million tons of oil leaks into the PersianGulf annually, which is why the International Maritime Organization (IMO) left the region in 2007. Declared as a special maritime zone. According to statistics, the level of pollution in this region is higher than the international average.

Dust pollution

One of the factors that has left negative negative environmental effects on the environment of the PersianGulf and all the western cities of Iran is the Arabian dust. Western Iran is blowing. This destructive dust sometimes even reaches Tehran and causes closure of life and business. Dust has caused birds and animals to flee and damaged the biological development of the PersianGulf coast.

Persian Gulf National Day

One of the actions of the Iranian government to protect the spiritual and cultural heritage of the PersianGulf was to recognize the PersianGulf National Day in the official calendar of the country. In this regard, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution in July 2005 named May 10, which coincides with the expulsion of the Portuguese from the Strait of Hormuz, the National Day of the PersianGulf.

Persian Gulf extension

In 1392, following a request from a Turkish company to register the PersianGulf suffix (Persiangulf) and with the support of Iran, despite the opposition and protests of the 6 Gulf states led by the United Arab Emirates, finally after providing legal and historical documents by Iran with The majority vote of the members was passed by the Icon Institute in the initial stages of registering the PersianGulf Internet extension and entered the technical and financial evaluation stages.