The Arabian Peninsula is joined to the rest of the Middle East by Jordan and Iraq in the north. The east of the peninsula has a coastline facing The Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The western shores are lapped by the Red Sea and the south looks out across the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The countries that represent the Arabian Peninsula are Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The terrain of the Arabian Peninsula is largely made up of sandy desert, punctuated by little pockets of oasis and desert towns. Mountains occupy the outskirts of the peninsula including the Al Hijaz range in the west, the Arabian Shield to the south and Al Hajara al Gharbi in the east. The huge Rub' al Khali Empty Quarter desert occupies a big chunk of the central peninsula. The east of the peninsula, facing The Gulf, is home to some of the biggest oil and gas refining countries in the world.

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