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The Arabian Peninsula شبه الجزيرة العربية‎ Shibhu al-jazīrati al-ʿarabiyya, ‘Arabian island’ or Arabic: جزيرة العرب‎ Jazīratu Al-ʿArab, ‘Island of the Arabs, is a landmass located in Southwest Asia that borders Africa to the West and Asia to its East. It is connected to Africa by the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. It is the world's largest peninsula at 3,237,500 km2 (1,250,000 sq mi). It is a stretigcally important area for international trade and shipping. Containing oil fields and natural gas, it connects to important water ways the Suez Canal, Bab al Maneb, the Strait of Hormuz and Indian Ocean.

The countries of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, United Arab Emiraes (UAE), Bahrain, Oman are all located on and off the Peninsula. Until the creation of the modern day Gulf countries om the 1920s, the Peninsula was known as Arabia and divided into four major regions: the Hejaz, Najd, Hadhramaut and Southern Arabia. The Hejaz and Najd are today located in Saudi Arabia. The Peninsula is also home to one of the largest sand deserts in the world the Empty Quarter or Rub al Khali. Despite its name, beduoins continue to travel through the Empty Quarters to get to other locations. However, people do not live in the area. It's from the Empty Quarter where the stereotype of Saudi Arabia and the larger Middle East as "remote desert lands" come from.