Status of Food and Nutrition in the Arabian Gulf Countries

The Arabian Gulf countries are also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. They consist of six countries that are located in the Arabian Peninsula or connected to it. The GCC was formed in 1981 and includes: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (Figure 1). Combined, all these countries have a population of nearly 50 million – the largest of which is Saudi Arabia (30 million) and the smallest is of Bahrain (1.6 million).