United Arab Emirates (GPS: 24 00 N, 54 00 E) located in Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia. The country’s area measurements are total: 83,600 sq km; land: 83,600 sq km, water: 0 sq km. This sovereign state is slightly larger than South Carolina, slightly smaller than Maine. The total irrigated land is 923 sq km (2012).
One of the United Arab Emirates’ important features is a strategic location and southern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil.
It’s significant, and at the same time, the principal city, Abu Dhabi’s GPS coordinates are 24 28 N 54 22 E. Abu Dhabi’s local time is 9 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time. The capital’s time difference: UTC+4.
Google Maps United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi, Middle East
About the United Arab Emirates in detail
Flag of United Arab Emirates
Map of United Arab Emirates
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. For more than three decades, oil and global finance drove the UAE’s economy.
In 2008-2009, the confluence of falling oil prices, collapsing real estate prices, and the international banking crisis hit the UAE, especially hard. The UAE did not experience the “Arab Spring” unrest seen elsewhere in the Middle East in 2010-11, partly because of its multi-year, $1.6-billion infrastructure investment plan for the poorer northern emirates and its aggressive pursuit of advocates of political reform. The UAE, in recent years, has played a growing role in regional affairs. In addition to donating billions of dollars in economic aid to help stabilize Egypt, the UAE was one of the first countries to join the Defeat-ISIS coalition and participate as a key partner in a Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
United Arab Emirates’s names conventional long form: United Arab Emirates, conventional short form: none, local long form: Al Imarat al Arabiyah al Muttahidah, local short form: none, former: Trucial Oman, Trucial States abbreviation: UAE, etymology: self-descriptive country name; the name “Arabia” can be traced back many centuries B.C., the ancient Egyptians referred to the region as “Ar-Rabi”; “emirates” derives from “amir” the Arabic word for “commander,” “lord,” or “prince.” Self-descriptive country name; The name “Arabia” can be traced back many centuries B.C.; the ancient Egyptians referred to the region as “Ar-Rabi”; “emirates” derives from “amir” the Arabic word for “commander,” “lord,” or “prince.”
United Arab Emirates’s terrain is typically flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling dunes of the vast desert; mountains in the east. The country’s mean elevation: 149 m, elevation extremes; lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m, highest point: Jabal Yibir 1,527 m.
The general climate in the country; desert: cooler in eastern mountains.
The total number of border countries is 2, Oman 609 km, Saudi Arabia 457 km are the neighboring nations with the indicated border lengths. United Arab Emirates’s coastline is 1,318 km. At the same time, its marital claims are territorial sea: 12 nautical miles, contiguous zone: 24 nautical miles, exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles, continental shelf: 200 nautical miles or to the edge of the continental margin. Waterways: N/A. Land use: agricultural land: 4.6%; arable land 0.5%; permanent crops 0.5%; permanent pasture 3.6%; forest: 3.8%; other: 91.6% (2011 estimate).
The population in the United Arab Emirates 9,701,315 (July 2018 estimate), urban population: 85.5% of total population (2015), major urban area’s population: Dubai 2.415 million; Sharjah 1.279 million; ABU DHABI (capital) 1.145 million (2015), while the United Arab Emirates has a population is heavily concentrated to the northeast on the Musandam Peninsula; the three largest emirates – Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah – are home to nearly 85% of the population. Their spoken languages are Arabic (official language), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu. Main religions in the United Arab Emirates are Muslim (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 estimate). The nation uses mixed legal system of Islamic law and civil law. It is a(n) federation of monarchies, National holiday(s) Independence Day, 2 December (1971).
Economic overview for the country: The UAE has an open economy with a high per capita income and a sizable annual trade surplus. Successful economic diversification efforts have reduced the portion of GDP from the oil and gas sector to 30%. Since the discovery of oil in the UAE nearly 60 years ago, the country has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. The government has increased spending on job creation and infrastructure expansion and is opening up utilities to greater private sector involvement. The country’s free trade zones – offering 100% foreign ownership and zero taxes – help attract foreign investors.
The global financial crisis of 2008-2009, tight international credit, and deflated asset prices constricted the economy in 2009. UAE authorities tried to blunt the crisis by increasing spending and boosting liquidity in the banking sector. The crisis hit Dubai hardest, as it was heavily exposed to depressed real estate prices. Dubai lacked sufficient cash to meet its debt obligations, prompting global concern about its solvency and, ultimately, a $20 billion bailout from the UAE Central Bank and Abu Dhabi Government that was refinanced in March 2014. The UAE’s oil dependence is a significant long-term challenge, although the UAE is one of the most diversified countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Low oil prices have prompted the UAE to cut expenditures, including some social programs, but the UAE has sufficient assets in its sovereign investment funds to cover its deficits.
The government reduced fuel subsidies in August 2015 and introduced excise taxes (50% on sweetened carbonated beverages and 100% on energy drinks and tobacco) in October 2017. A five-percent value-added tax was introduced in January 2018. In the next few years, the UAE’s strategic plan focuses on economic diversification, promoting the UAE as a global trade and tourism hub, developing industry, and creating more nationals’ job opportunities through improved education and increased private sector employment.
Natural resources of United Arab Emirates: petroleum, natural gas.
Main export partners for the United Arab Emirates, Middle East are Iran 14.5%, Japan 9.8%, India 9.2%, China 4.7%, Oman 4.3% (2015) for crude oil 45%, natural gas, re-exports, dried fish, dates (2012 estimate), while the main import partners for the country are: China 15.7%, India 12.8%, US 9.7%, Germany 6.8%, UK 4.4% (2015) for machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food.
When you visit this country in the Middle East, consider the natural hazards in the United Arab Emirates: Frequent sand and dust storms, while infectious diseases are N/A. Also, note that the United Arab Emirates faces the following environmental issues: Air pollution, Rapid population growth, and high energy demand contribute to water scarcity, Lack of natural freshwater resources compensated by desalination plants, Land degradation, and desertification, waste generation, beach pollution from oil spills.
You may also be interested in the countries next to the United Arab Emirates around its total: 1,066 km border, like Oman, Saudi Arabia.
