One Lens, Eight Nations: The Persian Gulf From Space

This wide-angle photo offers the feeling of looking out over the Persian Gulf from an altitude of about 250 miles.

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this highly oblique photograph of the Persian Gulf while in orbit over Saudi Arabia. The Gulf drains into the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz and forms part of the border for eight countries: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman.