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.

---

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

---

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

“It’s really going for the jugular, and in a major way,” said Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, a Washington think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026

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

From Barron's • Oct. 30, 2025

“It will be interesting to observe whether the group charts a new course in coming months,” said Gregory D. Johnsen, a Yemen expert at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

From New York Times • Mar. 11, 2024

"A species of the Gulf States and extending to the lower Colorado in Texas."

From Texas Honey Plants by Sanborn, C. E.