The Difference Between the Gulf countries"​ refers to the countries of the Persian Gulf/Arabian Gulf region and the Middle East, facts, what to know

 its most fundamental form, "gulf countries" refers to the countries of the Persian Gulf/Arabian Gulf region of the Middle East, including some or all of the nations on the Arabian peninsula that connects Asia to Africa. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a union group of different countries for economic and political benefits forming unity among the member countries.

A country which is a part of ‘Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’ is usually termed as a ‘Gulf country’. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are the members of GCC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GULF STATE AND MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES,A country having coastline on the Persian Gulf is referred as a ‘gulf country’. These countries include Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran.

The middle east term is a western terminology to describe the region that witnessed the Islamic conquest. I think it was used the first time around 1910 by the British when they governed India. Anyway, it does not only described the Gulf countries. Mainly, it describes these countries:

1- Gulf Countries (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Iraq, Iran)

2- Levant & Anadolu Countries (Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Turkey)

3- Egypt

4- Yemen

However, the term sometimes expand. Many Arabs for example think it includes also the North African countries (Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Mauritania). Others include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Georgia, Cyprus and Armenia. And maybe the biggest definition is the one that includes central Asia countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). But usually these definitions is called the greater middle east.

The Middle East includes: the 6 Gulf countries, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Iran, and Yemen. Sometimes Turkey, Egypt, Sudan and Pakistan are also included in the term Middle East, depending on who’s defining it (it’s actually quite a loose definition).

Gulf countries are only the GCC countries, less than half even if we only included the first bunch.

The Middle East (Arabic: الشرق الأوسط, ash-Sharq al-Awsat) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European part of Turkey), Egypt, Iran, the Levant (including Ash-Shām and Cyprus), Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and the Socotra Archipelago (a part of Yemen).

The term came into widespread usage as a replacement of the term Near East (as opposed to the Far East) beginning in the early 20th century. The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions, and has been viewed by some to be discriminatory or too Eurocentric. 

The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of Western Asia (including Iran), but without the South Caucasus, and additionally includes all of Egypt (not just the Sinai Region) and all of Turkey (not just the part barring East Thrace).

Most Middle Eastern countries (13 out of 18) are part of the Arab world. The most populous countries in the region are Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, while Saudi Arabia is the largest Middle Eastern country by area. The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the geopolitical importance of the region being recognized for millennia.

 Several major religions have their origins in the Middle East, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Arabs constitute the main socioethnic grouping region, followedby Turks, Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Copts, Jews, Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen, Yazidis, and Greek Cypriots.

The Middle East generally has a hot, arid climate, especially in the Arabian and Egyptian regions. Several major rivers provide irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas here, such as the Nile Delta in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates watersheds of Mesopotamia, and the basin of the Jordan River that spans most of the Levant. These regions are collectively known as the Fertile Crescent, and comprise the core of what historians had long referred to as the cradle of civilization (a label now applied to multiple regions of the world).

Conversely, the Levantine coast and most of Turkey have relatively temperate climates typical of the Mediterranean, with dry summers and cool, wet winters. Most of the countries that border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of petroleum, with monarchs of the Arabian Peninsula in particular benefiting economically from petroleum exports. Because of the arid climate and heavy reliance on the fossil fuel industry, the Middle East is both a heavy contributor to climate change and a region expected to be severely negatively impacted by it.

Other concepts of the region exist including the broader the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which includes states of the Maghreb and the Sudan, or the "Greater Middle East" which additionally also includes parts of East Africa, Mauritania, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and sometimes Central Asia and the South Caucasus.