My World Factbook
(Learn more about the new, improved World Factbook)
Note: Most information adapted from the popular World Factbook is distributed between the websites GeoWorld (geography, people, communications & transportation), Politix (government) and Great Depression II (economy).
Geography
Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia
26 00 N, 50 33 E
Area: 
total: 760 sq km
country comparison to the world: 
187
land: 760 sq km
water: 0 sq km
3.5 times the size of Washington, DC
0 km
161 km
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: extending to boundaries to be determined
Current Weather
arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers
mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Jabal ad Dukhan 122 m
oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish, pearls
arable land: 2.82%
permanent crops: 5.63%
other: 91.55% (2005)
40 sq km (2003)
0.1 cu km (1997)
total: 0.3 cu km/yr (40%/3%/57%)
per capita: 411 cu m/yr (2000)
periodic droughts; dust storms
desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land, periods of drought, and dust storms; coastal degradation (damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, and distribution stations; lack of freshwater resources (groundwater and seawater are the only sources for all water needs)
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources; strategic location in Persian Gulf, through which much of the Western world’s petroleum must transit to reach open ocean
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
