Gulf States

American  

[guhlf steyts] / ˈgʌlf ˌsteɪts /

plural noun

1. the states of the U.S. bordering on the Gulf of Mexico: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

2. Also called Persian Gulf States.  the oil-producing countries bordering on or located near the Persian Gulf: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

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Gulf States British  

plural noun

1. the oil-producing states around the Persian Gulf: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman

2. the states of the US that border on the Gulf of Mexico: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas

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Example Sentences

“This constellation of foreign investment from China and from Gulf States, with complex and sometimes competing relationships with the United States, demands rigorous, not perfunctory review,” Booker and the others wrote.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

“There’s a lot of demand still on what is a shrinking pot of money,” said Tim Callen, a visiting fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025

“That’s a relatively compelling combination,” says Robert Mogielnicki, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute.

From Barron's • Oct. 30, 2025

But Prince Andrew seems to have cultivated his own independent sources of funding since leaving public life, including business connections with China, the Gulf States and a recently curtailed project with a Dutch start-up company.

From BBC • Oct. 11, 2025

"Extending from the Gulf States through Southeastern Texas to tropical America."

From Texas Honey Plants by Sanborn, C. E.