[2] GPA is thought to have first arisen in the 1950s, when the development of the oil industry in the area resulted in the arrival of migrant workers.
[4][5] A number of migrant workers hailing from central and South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand) work in the Persian Gulf region.
[3] However, because these workers are never naturalized, nor do they marry and start families, there are no native speakers of the language, thereby preventing it from developing into a creole.
[1] Speakers of PGA may also borrow words or simple phrases or sentences from these other languages to better facilitate communication.
[5] The amount of time workers spend in the region also tends to correspond to pronunciations that more closely resemble Gulf Arabic.