Sea

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf holds the densest concentration of hydrocarbons on Earth, exiting through a single 39-km-wide door at Hormuz. Every US carrier deployment, Gulf state arms budget, and Iranian speedboat doctrine is priced off that one bottleneck.

26.8°N · 52.0°E

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Map stories featuring Persian Gulf

THE MIDDLE EAST · BORDERS WITHOUT NATURELines in the SandGLOBAL TRADE · THE CHOKEPOINTSThe Gates of the WorldOIL · THE 1973 SHOCKThe Oil Weapon