Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: not specific;
Territorial sea: 3 nm
Disputes: territorial dispute with Qatar over the Hawar Islands
Climate: arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers
Terrain: mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment
Natural resources: oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish
Land use: 2% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 90% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: subsurface water sources being rapidly depleted (requires development of desalination facilities); dust storms; desertification
Note: proximity to primary Middle Eastern crude oil sources and strategic location in Persian Gulf through which much of Western world's crude oil must transit to reach open ocean