Watch Mapping the World Season 35 Episode 13 Online

A highly strategic location of globalization, the Persian Gulf is a region that concentrates most of the planet's proven hydrocarbon reserves. At the mouth of this small, almost closed sea, the Strait of Hormuz forms one of the most sensitive points of international trade. The Persian Gulf (or Gulf of Arabia) separates two antagonistic linguistic, cultural, strategic and religious areas. Iran on one side, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula on the other, first and foremost Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Arabia. An unstable area in terms of security, therefore, but not only that: the Persian Gulf region is also very vulnerable in environmental terms.