Arabian Gazelle occurs in deserts, semi-deserts, hills and mountains and coastal plains. The gazelles on Farasan Island inhabit areas of broken coral ravines and flat gravel. They apparently emerge to feed at night mainly on Cyperus and obtain water mainly from dew (Flamand et al. 1988).

Gazella arabica is found across the Arabian Peninsula from the far south of the Arava Valley (Israel) through Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, and United Arab Emirates. In Saudi Arabia the species occurs on the Farasan Islands, has been reintroduced to the Uruq Bani Ma'arid, Mahazat as Sayd, and Ibex Reserves, and there are some scattered populations in the western mountains. In Oman it is widely distributed, with the largest population in the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary and Jiddat al Harasis. Populations in the United Arab Emirates are small and scattered. There is little recent information available from Yemen but it is believed to survive in scattered fragments in the western mountains and in the south. There is a small introduced population on Farur Island, Iran (Mallon and Kingswood 2001). Gazelles formerly occurred in Sinai (Egypt) but the last records are from 1932 (Saleh 2001). The taxonomic affinity of these gazelles (G. cora or G. gazella) is unconfirmed.

Arabian Gazelle occurs in the following protected areas:

• Saudi Arabia: Uruq Bani Ma’arid (5,500 km²); and Ibex Reserve (2,370 km²). The Farasan Islands (600 km²) have been a nature reserve under the control of the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD) since 1988, and aerial censuses are carried out by NCWCD at 2-3 yearly intervals.
• Oman: Arabian Oryx Sanctuary (ca 3,000 km²); Wadi Sareen Tahr Reserve (800 km²); Jebel Samhan National Reserve (4,500 km²), As Saleel National Park (220 km²).