United Arab Emirates
Population: 5 628 805
GDP: 416 400 000 000.00 $
Companies & Organizations: 12
The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf coast granted the UK control of their defense and foreign affairs in 19th century treaties. In 1971, six of these states - Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, and Umm al Qaywayn - merged to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They were joined in 1972 by Ra's al Khaymah. The UAE's per capita GDP is on par with those of leading West European nations. Its high oil revenues and its moderate foreign policy stance have allowed the UAE to play a vital role in the affairs of the region.
For more than three decades, oil and global finance drove the UAE's economy. However, in 2008-09, the confluence of falling oil prices, collapsing real estate prices, and the international banking crisis hit the UAE especially hard. The UAE has essentially avoided the "Arab Spring" unrest seen elsewhere in the Middle East, though in March 2011, political activists and intellectuals signed a petition calling for greater public participation in governance that was widely circulated on the Internet. In an effort to stem potential further unrest, the government announced a multi-year, $1.6-billion infrastructure investment plan for the poorer northern emirates and aggressively pursued advocates of political reform.
Population: 5,628,805.
note: the UN estimates the country's total population to be 9,445,624 as of mid-year 2014; immigrants make up more than 80% of the total population, according to 2013 UN data (2014).
Nationality: noun: Emirati(s), adjective: Emirati.
Ethnic groups: Emirati 19%, other Arab and Iranian 23%, South Asian 50%, other expatriates (includes Westerners and East Asians) 8% (1982).
note: less than 20% are UAE citizens (1982).
Languages: Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu.
Religions: Muslim (Islam; official) 76%, Christian 9%, other (primarily Hindu and Buddhist, less than 5% of the population consists of Parsi, Baha'i, Druze, Sikh, Ahmadi, Ismaili, Dawoodi Bohra Muslim, and Jewish) 15%.
note: represents the total population; about 85% of the population consists of noncitizens (2005).
GDP: $ 416 400 000 000.00 (2014).
United Arab Emirates Armed Forces: Critical Infrastructure Coastal Patrol Agency (CICPA), Land Forces, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense, Presidential Guard.
Boundary agreement was signed and ratified with Oman in 2003 for entire border, including Oman's Musandam Peninsula and Al Madhah enclaves, but contents of the agreement and detailed maps showing the alignment have not been published; Iran and UAE dispute Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island, which Iran occupies.
The UAE is a drug transshipment point for traffickers given its proximity to Southwest Asian drug-producing countries; the UAE's position as a major financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering; anti-money-laundering controls improving, but informal banking remains unregulated.
Capital: Abu Dhabi
Location: Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia. Strategic location along southern approaches to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil.
Geographic coordinates:
24 00 N, 54 00 E.
Area:
total: 83,600 sq km
land: 83,600 sq km
water: 0 sq km.
Land boundaries:
total: 1,066 km
border countries: Oman 609 km, Saudi Arabia 457 km.
Coastline: 1,318 km.
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas.