UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 83,600 km2; land area: 83,600 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Maine
Land boundaries: 1,016 km total; Oman 410 km, Saudi Arabia 586 km,
Qatar 20 km
Coastline: 1,448 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: defined by bilateral boundaries or equidistant
line
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 3 nm (assumed), 12 nm for Ash Shariqah
(Sharjah)
Disputes: boundary with Qatar is in dispute; no defined boundary
with Saudi Arabia; no defined boundary with most of Oman, but
Administrative Line in far north; claims three islands in the Persian
Gulf occupied by Iran (Jazireh-ye Abu Musa or Abu
Musa, Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg or Greater Tunb, and Jazireh-ye
Tonb-e Kuchek or Lesser Tunb)
Climate: desert; cooler in eastern mountains
Terrain: flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand
dunes of vast desert wasteland; mountains in east
Natural resources: crude oil and natural gas
Land use: arable land NEGL%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 2%; forest and woodland NEGL%; other 98%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
Environment: frequent dust and sand storms; lack of natural
freshwater resources being overcome by desalination plants;
desertification
Note: strategic location along southern approaches to
Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil
PEOPLE
Population: 2,389,759 (July 1991), growth rate 5.7% (1991)
Birth rate: 30 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 3 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 30 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 74 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 4.9 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Emirian(s), adjective--Emirian
Ethnic divisions: Emirian 19%, other Arab 23%, South Asian
(fluctuating) 50%, other expatriates (includes Westerners and East
Asians) 8%; less than 20% of the population are UAE citizens (1982)
Religion: Muslim 96% (Shia 16%); Christian, Hindu, and other
4%
Language: Arabic (official); Persian and English widely spoken in
major cities; Hindi, Urdu
Literacy: 68% (male 70%, female 63%) age 10 and over but definition
of literacy not available (1980)
Labor force: 580,000 (1986 est.); industry and commerce 85%,
agriculture 5%, services 5%, government 5%; 80% of labor force is foreign
Organized labor: trade unions are illegal
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: United Arab Emirates (no short-form name);
abbreviated UAE
Type: federation with specified powers delegated to the UAE central
government and other powers reserved to member emirates
Capital: Abu Dhabi
Administrative divisions: 7 emirates (imarat,
singular--imarah); Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi), Ajman, Al Fujayrah,
Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, Ras al Khaymah, Umm al Qaywayn
Independence: 2 December 1971 (from UK; formerly Trucial States)
Constitution: 2 December 1971 (provisional)
Legal system: secular codes are being introduced by the UAE
Government and in several member shaykhdoms; Islamic law remains
influential
National holiday: National Day, 2 December (1971)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Supreme Council of
Rulers, prime minister, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: unicameral Federal National Council (Majlis
Watani Itihad)
Judicial branch: Union Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Shaykh Zayid bin Sultan Al NUHAYYAN,
(since 2 December 1971), ruler of Abu Dhabi;
Vice President Shaykh Maktum bin Rashid al-MAKTUM (since 8 October 1990),
ruler of Dubayy;
Head of Government--Prime Minister Shaykh Maktum bin Rashid
al-MAKTUM (since 8 October 1990), ruler of Dubayy;
Deputy Prime Minister Sultan bin Zayid Al NUHAYYAN (since 20 November
1990)
Political parties and leaders: none
Suffrage: none
Elections: none
Communists: NA
Other political or pressure groups: a few small clandestine
groups are active
Member of: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77,
GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC,
OIC, OPEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdullah bin Zayid
Al NUHAYYAN; Chancery at Suite 740, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW,
Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 338-6500;
US--Ambassador Edward S. WALKER, Jr.; Embassy at Al-Sudan Street,
Abu Dhabi (mailing address is P. O. Box 4009, Abu Dhabi); telephone 971
(2) 336691; there is a US Consulate General in Dubayy (Dubai)
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black
with a thicker vertical red band on the hoist side
ECONOMY
Overview: The UAE has an open economy with one of the world's
highest incomes per capita outside the OECD nations. This wealth is based
on oil and gas, and the fortunes of the economy fluctuate with the prices
of those commodities. Since 1973, when petroleum prices shot up, the UAE
has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of
small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of
living. At present levels of production, crude oil reserves should last
for over 100 years.
GDP: $27.3 billion, per capita $12,100; real growth rate 10%
(1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3-4% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: NEGL (1988)
Budget: revenues $3.8 billion; expenditures $3.7 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1989 est.)
Exports: $15.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--crude oil 65%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish,
dates;
partners--US, EC, Japan
Imports: $9.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--food, consumer and capital goods;
partners--EC, Japan, US
External debt: $11.0 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate - 9.3% (1986)
Electricity: 5,773,000 kW capacity; 15,400 million kWh produced,
6,830 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: petroleum, fishing, petrochemicals, construction
materials, some boat building, handicrafts, pearling
Agriculture: accounts for 2% of GNP and 5% of labor force; cash
crop--dates; food products--vegetables, watermelons, poultry, eggs,
dairy, fish; only 25% self-sufficient in food
Economic aid: donor--pledged $9.1 billion in bilateral aid to less
developed countries (1979-89)
Currency: Emirian dirham (plural--dirhams);
1 Emirian dirham (Dh) = 100 fils
Exchange rates: Emirian dirhams (Dh) per US$1--3.6710 (fixed rate)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 2,000 km total; 1,800 km bituminous, 200 km gravel and
graded earth
Pipelines: 830 km crude oil; 870 km natural gas, including natural
gas liquids
Ports: Al Fujayrah, Khawr Fakkan, Mina Jabal Ali,
Mina Khalid, Mina Rashid, Mina Saqr,
Mina Zayid
Merchant marine: 57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 925,424
GRT/1,543,716 DWT; includes 22 cargo, 8 container, 2 roll-on/roll-off
cargo, 20 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 5 bulk
Civil air: 8 major transport aircraft
Airports: 38 total, 35 usable; 20 with permanent-surface runways;
7 with runways over 3,659 m; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 5 with runways
1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: adequate system of radio relay and coaxial
cable; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubayy; 386,600 telephones;
stations--8 AM, 3 FM, 12 TV; satellite communications ground
stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1
ARABSAT; submarine cables to Qatar, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan;
tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; radio relay to Saudi Arabia
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Federal Police Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 940,130; 516,218 fit for
military service
Defense expenditures: $1.59 billion, 6.8% of GDP (1988)