The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia geographically comprises most of the Arabian Peninsula (al-jazeera al-arabiya). I live in Jiddah on the western coast, less than fifty miles from Mecca. When I look to the west, I see the Red Sea; across it is Sudan and Egypt. To the north, the Levant (Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon). Notably to the east is the United Arab Emirates, one emirate of which is Dubai (the “Las Vegas of the Peninsula”, where the world’s tallest tower was finished in 2009). The Islamic Republic of Iran is across the Arabian Gulf (so called by Arabs, also called the Persian Gulf by Iranians). To the south is Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia (infamously the home port of many contemporary pirates); southeast is Yemen, Oman, the Arabian Sea, and, farther, the Indian Ocean.
