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Jan 16, 2009
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United Arab Emirates

Map of United Arab Emirates
Map of United Arab Emirates

National name: Al-Imarat al-'Arabiyah al-Muttahidah

President: Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan (2004)

Prime Minister: Sheikh Muhammad ibn Rashid al-Maktoum (2006)

Current government officials

Total area: 32,278 sq mi (83,600 sq km)

Population (2007 est.): 2,642,566 (growth rate: 1.5%); birth rate: 19.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 13.7/1000; life expectancy: 75.7; density per sq mi: 82

Capital (2003 est.): Abu Dhabi, 539,800

Largest city: Dubai, 1,511,700 (metro. area), 906,100 (city proper)

Monetary unit: U.A.E. dirham

Languages: Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu

Ethnicity/race: Emiri 19%, other Arab and Iranian 23%, South Asian 50%, other expatriates (includes Westerners and East Asians) 8% (1982)

Religions: Islam 96% (Sunni 80%, Shiite 16%), Christian, Hindu, and other 4%

Literacy rate: 78% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $192.6 billion; per capita $37,300. Real growth rate: 7.4%. Inflation: 11%. Unemployment: 2.4% (2001). Arable land: 1%. Agriculture: dates, vegetables, watermelons; poultry, eggs, dairy products; fish. Labor force: 3.065 million; note: 73.9% of the population in the 15–64 age group is nonnational; services 78%, industry 15%, agriculture 7% (2000 est.). Industries: petroleum and petrochemicals; fishing, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, commercial ship repair, construction materials, some boat building, handicrafts, textiles. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas. Exports: $103.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): crude oil 45%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates. Imports: $60.15 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food. Major trading partners: Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, China, Germany, UK, France, U.S. (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 915,223 (1998); mobile cellular: 1 million (1999). Radio broadcast stations: AM 13, FM 7, shortwave 2 (1998). Radios: 820,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 15 (1997). Televisions: 310,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000). Internet users: 900,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 4,835 km; paved: 1,088 km; unpaved: 0 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Das Island, Khawr Fakkan, Mina' Jabal 'Ali, Mina' Khalid, Mina' Rashid, Mina' Saqr, Mina' Zayid, Umm al Qaywayn. Airports: 41 (2002).

International disputes: because the treaties have not been made public, the exact alignment of the boundary with Saudi Arabia is still unknown and labeled approximate; boundary agreement signed and ratified with Oman in 2003 for entire border, including Oman's Musandam Peninsula and Al Madhah enclaves; UAE engage direct talks and Arab League support to resolve disputes over Iran's occupation of Lesser and Greater Tunb islands and Abu Musa island.

Major sources and definitions

Flag of United Arab Emirates

Geography

The United Arab Emirates, in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, extends along part of the Gulf of Oman and the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. The nation is the size of Maine. Its neighbors are Saudi Arabia to the west and south, Qatar to the north, and Oman to the east. Most of the land is barren and sandy.

Government

Federation formed in 1971 by seven emirates known as the Trucial States—Abu Dhabi (the largest), Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, and Umm al-Qaiwain. In addition to a federal president and prime minister, each emirate has a separate ruler who oversees the local government.

History

Originally the area was inhabited by a seafaring people who were converted to Islam in the 7th century. Later, a dissident sect, the Carmathians, established a powerful sheikdom, and its army conquered Mecca. After the sheikdom disintegrated, its people became pirates. Threatening the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman early in the 19th century, the pirates provoked the intervention of the British, who in 1820 enforced a partial truce and in 1853 a permanent truce. Thus what had been called the Pirate Coast was renamed the Trucial Coast. The British provided the nine Trucial states with protection but did not formally administer them as a colony.

The British withdrew from the Persian Gulf in 1971, and the Trucial states became a federation called the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Two of the Trucial states, Bahrain and Oman, chose not to join the federation, reducing the number of states to seven.

The country signed a military defense agreement with the U.S. in 1994 and one with France in 1995.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., the UAE was identified as a major financial center used by al-Qaeda in transferring money to the hijackers (two of the 9/11 hijackers were UAE citizens). The nation immediately cooperated with the U.S., freezing accounts tied to suspected terrorists and strongly clamping down on money laundering.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the UAE and ruler of the federation since 1971, died in Nov. 2004. His son succeeded him. In Jan. 2006, Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the prime minister of the UAE and the emir of Dubai, died. Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammad ibn Rashid al-Maktoum assumed both roles.

In March 2006, the U.S. Congress objected to and thwarted the takeover of six American seaports by Dubai Ports World, owned by the UAE's government, citing national security concerns.

See also Encyclopedia: United Arab Emirates.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: United Arab Emirates
Ministry of Planning http://www.uae.gov.ae/mop/


Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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