Persia-Arabia, officially the Caliphate of Persia and Arabia, is the largest and only known independent nation in the Middle East. It is bordered by France to the west and northwest, China to the northeast, and Hindustan to the East. It is currently the latest generation of numerous Muslim empires that began with the founding of Islam and the uniting of the Arab tribes. It gained international fame with the discovery of oil in the 1920's, that turned the country from a backward country, the an economic powerhouse.