thumb|A satellite view of [[Iran, Pakistan and the Gulf of Oman.]]

thumb|[[Khor Fakkan, a city in the Emirate of Sharjah, has one of the major container ports in the eastern seaboard of the United Arab Emirates.]]

thumb|[[U.S. Navy, French Navy, and Italian Navy aircraft carriers conduct operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility in the Gulf of Oman.]]

The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman, also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran, is a gulf in the Indian Ocean that connects the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, which then runs to the Persian Gulf. It borders Iran and Pakistan on the north, Oman on the south, and the United Arab Emirates on the west.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Gulf of Oman as follows:

Exclusive economic zone

Exclusive economic zones in Gulf of Oman:

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%"

|-

!width=75|Number

!width=250|Country

!width=100|Area (Km<sup>2</sup>)

|-

| align=center|1 || || align=center|108,779

|-

| align=center|2 || || align=center|65,850

|-

| align=center|3 || || align=center|4,371

|-

| align=center|4 || || align=center|2,000

|-

|-

!Total

|Gulf of Oman || align=center|181,000

|}

Bordering countries

Coastline length of bordering countries:

  1. :
  2. :
  3. :
  4. :

Alternative names

thumb|The western part of the Indian Ocean, by Vincenzo Maria Coronelli, 1693 from his system of global gores the Makran coast

thumb|alt=Baluch and alexandar's empire|Paths that [[Alexander the Great took]]

The Gulf of Oman historically and geographically has been referred to by different names by Arabian, Iranian, Indian, Pakistani, and European geographers and travelers, including Makran Sea and Akhzar Sea.

  1. Makran Sea
  2. Akhzar Sea
  3. Persian Sea (consists of the whole of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman)

Until the 18th century, it was known as Makran Sea and is also visible on historical maps and museums.

Major ports

  • Port of Fujairah, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates
  • Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates
  • Port of Chabahar, Chabahar, Iran
  • Port Sultan Qaboos, Muttrah, Oman

International trade

The Western side of the gulf connects to the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic route through which a third of the world's liquefied natural gas and 20% of global oil consumption passes from Middle East producers.

Ecology

thumb|250px|A bloom of [[phytoplankton in the Gulf of Oman, seen on 8 March 2025]]

In 2018, scientists confirmed the Gulf of Oman contains one of the world's largest marine dead zones, where the ocean contains little or no oxygen and marine wildlife cannot exist. The dead zone encompasses nearly the entire Gulf of Oman and equivalent to the size of Florida, United States of America. The cause is a combination of increased ocean warming and increased runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers.

International underwater rail tunnel

In 2018, a rail tunnel under the sea was suggested to link the UAE with the western coast of India. The bullet train tunnel would be supported by pontoons and be nearly in length.

See also

  • Eastern Arabia
  • General Maritime Treaty of 1820
  • History of the United Arab Emirates#Pearling and the subsequent section
  • Musandam Peninsula
  • Saeed bin Butti#Perpetual Maritime Truce
  • Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi#Perpetual Maritime Truce of 1853
  • Incidents:
  • Persian Gulf campaign of 1809
  • Persian Gulf campaign of 1819
  • May 2019 Gulf of Oman incident
  • June 2019 Gulf of Oman incident

Notes

References

Further reading

  • The Book of Duarte Barbosa by Duarte Barbosa, Mansel Longworth Dames. 1989. p.&nbsp;79. .
  • The Natural History of Pliny. by Pliny, Henry Thomas Riley, John Bostock. 1855. p.&nbsp;117.
  • The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf by Samuel Barrett Miles. 1966. p.&nbsp;148.
  • The Life & Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner by Daniel Defoe. 1895. p.&nbsp;279.
  • The Outline of History: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind by Herbert George Well. 1920. p.&nbsp;379.
  • The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge by Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck. 1910. p.&nbsp;242.