SHORT HISTORY OF ARABIA

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Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa, Europe and Asia. The seas off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula are, on the west the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, on the northwest Mediterranean sea, on the southeast the Arabian Sea (part of the Indian Ocean), and on the northeast, the Gulf of Oman, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Arabianian Gulf. It lies between 32o E to 60o E and 13o N to 40o N. Since the early Islamic years, the peninsula has been called Jazira-tul-Arab ( Arabian Island), as it is surrounded by the sea in three sides and has a short range of land connection to the Asia Minor and Persian land, only in the north. Geologically, the whole land mass existing on the Arabian Plate composes Arabian Peninsula. The main land feature of Arabia is desert, however, mountain ranges along the eastern coast of Red Sea extending from south to north is another major feature. The mountains show a steady increase in altitude westward as they get nearer to Yemen, and the highest peaks and ranges are all located in Yemen. The highest, Jabal Al-Nabi Shu'ayb in Yemen, is 3666 m high. Arabia has few lakes or permanent rivers. Most are drained by ephemeral watercourses called wadis, which are dry except during the rainy season. Plentiful ancient aquifers exist beneath much of the peninsula, however, and where this water surfaces, oases form (e.g., Al-Hasa and Qatif, two of the worlds largest oases) and permit agriculture, especially palm trees, which allowed the peninsula to produce more dates than any other region in the world. In general, the climate is extremely hot and arid, although there are exceptions. Higher elevations are made temperate by their altitude, and the Arabian Sea coastline can receive surprisingly cool, humid breezes in summer due to cold upwelling offshore. The peninsula has no thick forests, although desert-adapted wildlife is present throughout the region. A plateau more than 2,500 feet high extends across much of the Arabian Peninsula. The plateau slopes eastwards from the massive, rifted escarpment along the coast of the Red Sea, to the shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf. The interior is characterised by cuestas and valleys, drained by a system of wadis. A crescent of sand and gravel deserts lies to the east. The vegetation is confined to the oasis in the desert and Fertile Crescent.