Persian Gulf at its narrowest, in the Strait of Hormuz. The waters are overall very shallow, with a maximum depth of and an average depth of . Countries with a coastline on the Persian Gulf are (clockwise, from the north): Iran; Oman's Musandam exclave; the United Arab Emirates; Saudi Arabia Qatar, on a peninsula off the Saudi coast; Bahrain, on an island; Kuwait; and Iraq in the northwest. Various small islands also lie within the Persian Gulf, some of which are the subject of territorial disputes between the states of the region. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Persian Gulf's southern limit
Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert of mangroves at Khor Kalba Nature Reserve on the Gulf of Oman in the UAE near the border with Oman. Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert The Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert is a coastal ecoregion on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in Oman and the United Arab Emirates at the northeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The climate is hot and dry; the ecoregion contains a mixture of habitats including mangrove swamps, lagoons and mudflats on the coast, and gravelly plains and savanna with thorny acacia trees inland. The mangrove areas are dominated by "Avicennia