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Gulf States

Gulf States

4.1
Countries in southwestern Asia that border the Persian Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar
  • proper noun
translation icon : Estados del Golfo
  • Tourism in the Gulf States attracts millions of visitors each year, particularly to destinations like Dubai and Bahrain.
  • Gulf States: Bahrain

If you go to Qatar, various of the Gulf states, you'll find that they basically have a slave labour class today.

Examples

  • This right is totally unrecognized in Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Gulf States, or has been suspended after making a certain degree of progress, as happened in Bahrain (1975) and Kuwait (1986).

    Academic text (1990)
  • There is now a movement toward peace between Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, possibly other countries as well.

  • The AOU forum provides the opportunity for male and female students in the Arab Gulf States (Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait) to interact, communicate, and cooperate for the first time.

    Academic text (2010)
  • The Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have seen significant economic growth in recent years.

  • The Gulf States collaborate on various initiatives to promote regional stability and economic development.

Synonyms

Countries in southwest Asia with mainly Arab people that border the Persian Gulf

is defined by geography and includes all countries bordering the Persian Gulf

Surface Forms

Morphology

gulf + state

The phrase is directly compositional: 'gulf' (a stretch of sea) + 'states' (political regions) denotes political units bordering a gulf. A B1 learner who knows both words will understand it refers to states by a gulf, though context may be needed to identify which specific gulf (e.g. Gulf of Mexico vs Persian Gulf).

Etymology

Gulf States comes from these countries being the states that sit on the coast of the Gulf called the 'Persian Gulf'. Picture them lined along the water, and that's why the phrase means those countries.