Persian Gulf or Arabian Gulf?

As Trump revives the debate over the Gulf’s name and plans to rename the waters, history offers a clear record on why it has been known as the Persian Gulf for over two thousand years.

A French map of Persian Gulf from 1540.

Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States will begin using the term “Arabian Gulf” in place of the historically recognised “Persian Gulf” has reignited a long-standing controversy. The decision has caused headlines and diplomatic protest, but more importantly, it has prompted a wider debate about history, geography and cultural identity. Today, the Persian Gulf is associated mainly with Iran, but historically it was part of the greater Persian cultural sphere, which also encompassed lands that are now part of Afghanistan. And so I want to set out, clearly and factually, the history behind the name.

The stretch of water separating the Arabian Peninsula from the Persian plateau has, for more than two millennia, been known as the Persian Gulf.

The earliest recorded references date back to the 5th century BC, when Greek historians and geographers documenting the Achaemenid Empire referred to the gulf bordering Persia’s southern shores. The Greek geographer and historian Herodotus mentioned the body of water in the context of Persian maritime activities. By the 1st century AD, the geographer Strabo and the astronomer-geographer Ptolemy formalised the name in Greek as Sinus Persicus, meaning the Persian Gulf, as also seen on the map above. The name reflected the political geography of the time. The Achaemenid, followed by the Parthian and Sassanian empires, all controlled the northern coast and exercised influence over much of the trade and navigation in the region.

Roman scholars adopted the term without alteration. The name was not simply a geographic description but an acknowledgement of which powers dominated the Gulf’s northern and, at times, southern shores. For much of antiquity and late antiquity, Persian influence was not limited to land. Persian naval power and trade networks extended deep into the waters of the Gulf and beyond.

As the Islamic world developed during the early medieval period, the tradition of naming continued. Arab and Persian geographers alike referred to the body of water as “Khalij al-Farsi”, meaning the Persian Gulf. Among the earliest known references was the 10th-century Persian traveller and Islamic geographer Istakhri, who in his Al-aqalim (Book of the Regions) called the waters Bahr Fars (the Persian Sea).

Around the same period, the Arab historian and geographer Al-Masudi also referred to the Gulf as “Khalij Fars”. Several centuries later, the renowned North African scholar Ibn Khaldun, writing in the 14th century, preserved the same terminology in his works. The Gulf remained not only a maritime boundary but also a thoroughfare for trade connecting the Middle East with India, East Africa and beyond.

Map of the Persian Gulf ‘Carte Du Golphe Persique’ by the French cartographer Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-72).

When European powers entered the Indian Ocean in the early modern period, they adopted the established terminology. One of the earliest known European maps to label the body of water as the Persian Gulf was created by the Italian cartographer Giacomo Gastaldi in 1548, who denoted it as "Golpho de Persia." This nomenclature was subsequently used by other prominent cartographers, including the French mapmaker Guillaume Delisle, whose 1724 map labelled the area as "Golfe Persique." The British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, whose trade networks became dominant across the Arabian Sea and the Gulf from the 17th century onwards, consistently used the term Persian Gulf in their navigational charts and official correspondence. This reflected both the accepted geographic convention and the political reality that Persia remained the primary power on the northern shore of the Gulf.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, British imperial administration in the region also used the term Persian Gulf in treaties, maps and official documents. This was not a matter of diplomatic favour but of standard cartographic practice recognised internationally.

The name continued to be widely used after the collapse of colonial empires and the rise of new nation states. The United Nations, in its publications and maps, has traditionally used the term Persian Gulf. The International Hydrographic Organisation, responsible for standardising nautical charting worldwide, also lists the name as Persian Gulf.

Controversy over the name emerged in the mid-20th century, during a period of rising Arab nationalism. The most prominent proponent of this movement was Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, whose pan-Arabist ideology sought to unify Arab nations culturally and politically. As part of this broader effort, some Arab governments began promoting the alternative term "Arabian Gulf." This was partly intended to assert Arab political identity in a region where newly independent states were seeking to define themselves in opposition to both Western and Persian influence. The term gained currency in certain Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, it has never replaced "Persian Gulf" in the majority of international usage.

An Islamic map showing Persian Gulf (932 AD)

Iran, for its part, has consistently maintained that the name Persian Gulf reflects not only historical usage but also established international convention. It is not uncommon for bodies of water to be contested in name. Other examples include the Sea of Japan, which South Korea refers to as the East Sea, and the body of water known internationally as the English Channel, called '“La Manche” by the French. Such disputes are generally regarded as matters of national identity and political assertion rather than questions of historical fact.

In the case of the Persian Gulf, the historical record is unambiguous. Recent political preferences have offered alternatives, but these remain exceptions, not the rule. Trump’s decision to alter the language used by the US administration is seen as a calculated offering to Arab leaders, designed to win favour and extract concessions on regional security and their dealings with Israel. Yet no diplomatic gesture, however strategic, can alter the weight of history.