The relationship between coast and interior is…

The relationship between coast and interior is becoming a major feature within the gulf.

Tribes from the interior increasingly begin to move and settle into the coastal centers in the eighteenth century.

The economy on the Arab side of the gulf does not match past prosperity, but coastal conditions remain better than those in central Arabia.

Limited agriculture exists, and the gulf waters are the site of rich oyster beds for harvesting pearls.

The area's easy access to India, a major market for pearls, makes the pearling industry particularly lucrative, and this draws the attention of tribes in the interior.

The tribal migrations that occur around 1800 put in place the tribes and clans that in the early twenty-first century will control Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE.