Abu Musa Island

Abu Musa is a 12-km² island in the eastern Persian Gulf, part of a six-island archipelago near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. The island is administered by Iran as part of the Iranian province of Hormozgan, but is also claimed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Abu Musa's inhabitants call it "Gap-sabzu"  which means "the great green place." On old maps, the island is called Bumuf or Bum-i Musa, Persian for "the land of Musa/Moses."
As of 2010 the island had some 2,038 inhabitants making it Iran's smallest county. The city of Abu Musa had a population of 1,868 as of 2010.
The ownership of Abu Musa is disputed between Iran and the UAE. The UK administered the island along with the other British-controlled islands in the Persian Gulf, including what is today the UAE. In the late 1960s, Britain transferred administration of the island to the British-appointed Sharjah, one of the seven sheikdoms that would later form the UAE. After Britain announced in 1968 that it would relinquish its hegemony in the Persian Gulf, Iran moved to reattach the island politically to the mainland. In November 1971, UAE and Iran agreed to give sovereignty to the former but allowed the latter to station troops on the island.

In 1980, the UAE took its claim to the United Nations. In same year, Saddam Hussein attempted to justify the Iraq-Iran war by claiming that one of the objectives was to "liberate" Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb. In 1992, Iran increased its control by expelling foreign workers who operated the UAE-sponsored school, medical clinic, and power-generating station. In 2012 a visit to the island by Iranian president Ahmedinejad provoked a diplomatic incident.