United Arab Emirates

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"UAE" redirects here. For other uses, see UAE (disambiguation).
الإمارات العربيّة المتّحدة
Al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttahidah
Image:Uae flag large.png Image:NationalArmsofUAE.png
(In Detail) (Full size)
National motto: none
Image:LocationUnitedArabEmirates.png
Official language Arabic
Capital and largest city Abu Dhabi
Area 75,150 km²
Population
 - Total (2005)
 - Density 		Ranked 136th
2,563,212
46/km²
President Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan
Prime Minister Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Independence declared 2 December, 1971
Currency UAE dirham
Time zone UTC +4
National anthem Arabic Emirati Tahiat Alalam
Internet TLD .ae
Calling code 971
The United Arab Emirates (also called the UAE) is an oil-rich Middle Eastern country situated in the south-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, comprising seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. Before 1971, they were known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference of a nineteenth-century truce between the British and some Arab sheikhs. It borders Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Contents

History

Main article: History of the United Arab Emirates

The seven Trucial Sheikdom States of the Persian Gulf coast granted the United Kingdom control of their defense and foreign affairs in nineteenth-century treaties. In 1971, six of these states — Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Qaiwain — merged to form the United Arab Emirates. They were joined in 1972 by Ras al-Khaimah.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Arab Emirates

The Supreme Council consists of the individual rulers of the seven emirates. The President and Vice-President are elected by the Supreme Council every five years. Although unofficial, the Presidency is hereditary to the Al-Nahyan clan of Abu Dhabi, and the Premiership is hereditary to the Al-Maktoom clan of Dubai. The Supreme Council also elects the Council of Ministers, while an appointed 40-member Federal National Council, drawn from all the emirates, reviews proposed laws. There is a federal court system; all emirates except Dubai and Ras al-Khaimah have joined the federal system; all emirates have secular and Islamic law for civil, criminal, and high courts.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the union's president from the nation's founding until his death on 2 November 2004. His son, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan was elected president the next day.

Economy

Image:Urban expansion in Dubai.jpeg
Main article: Economy of the United Arab Emirates

The UAE's wealth is largely based on oil and gas output, some 33% of GDP. It is the third largest oil producer in the Persian Gulf after Saudi Arabia and Iran (Iraq's oil output has fluctuated due to war). Since 1973, 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. The country's per capita GDP is not far below the GDPs of the leading West European nations. Its generosity with oil revenues and its moderate foreign policy stance have allowed it to play a vital role in the affairs of the region. In recent years the government has sought to diversify its sources of income and lessen its dependence on finite oil reserves. One result of these efforts is a steadily developing tourism industry, centered on coastal, desert and sporting resorts and infrastructure. The success of these ventures, along with other factors like the relatively low price of commodities, the warm temperatures that prevail for most of the year, the engineering marvels such as Burj Al Arab and The Palm Islands, and friendliness to the West have led many to call it the Singapore or Hong Kong of the Middle East.

Human rights and labor issues

It is common practice for employers to retain employees' passports for the duration of the employment contract to prevent expatriate employees from changing jobs. This is an illegal practice, but it is almost never investigated, let alone punished by the government. On termination of an employment contract, certain categories of expatriates are banned from obtaining a work permit in the country for six months.

The United States Department of State has cited widespread instances of blue collar labor abuse within the city and in the general context of the United Arab Emirates [1].

The government has been criticized by human rights agencies such as Human Rights Watch for its inaction in addressing the discrimination against Asian workers in the emirate. Salary structures based on nationality, sex, age, and race rather than on qualification are common [2].

The United Arab Emirates also lacks a fair immigration and naturalization policy.

A thriving sex industry, although illegal, exists in the emirates, especially in Dubai. This complements the tourism and hospitality industry which forms a major part of Dubai's economy [3].

Dubai officially excludes Israelis from the country.

Emirates (and their rulers)

Main article: Emirates of the United Arab Emirates

The UAE comprises the following seven emirates:

Geography

Main article: Geography of the United Arab Emirates
Image:Tc-map.png

The UAE lies in Southwest Asia, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia. It is a flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand dunes of vast desert wasteland; with mountains in the east. Its strategic location along southern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz makes it a vital transit point for world crude oil. The UAE is considered to be one of the fifteen states that comprise the so-called "Cradle of Humanity".

The border demarcation treaties of 1974 and 1977 between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were never made public. Therefore the exact border of the two countries is only known to their governments.

Exclaves and enclaves

There is an Omani enclave inside UAE territory, known as Wadi-e-Madhah. It is located halfway between the Musandam (Musandem) peninsula and the rest of Oman [4], on the Dubai-Hatta road in the Emirate of Sharjah. It covers approximately 75 km² and the boundary was settled in 1969. The north-east corner of Madha is closest to the Khorfakkan-Fujairah road, barely 10 m away. Within the enclave is an UAE exclave called Nahwa, also belonging to the Emirate of Sharjah. It is about 8 km on a dirt track west of the town of New Madha. It consists of about 40 houses with its own clinic and telephone exchange [5].

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the United Arab Emirates

The UAE's population of 4.041 million (2005) consists of over 3.23 million non nationals. Indeed, around 50% of the population is South Asian, with the remainder being Emirati, Arab, European and East Asian. Some of the natives are originally of Persian and Indian subcontinent descent. Religious beliefs are mostly Muslim (Islam is the state religion). However, there are sizable minorities of Christians, Hindus and other faiths. Arabic is the country's official language and is used in the government and bureaucracy, while English is increasingly important commercially and as the lingua france for non-Arab expatriates. Around 90% of the population can read and write (2005 estimate).

Technology and Telecommunications

Federal Act No. 1[6] of 1976 establishes the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation as the sole telephone and telecommunications provider in the country, however freezones and modern housing developments are exempt from this and utilize a seperate telecommunications company.

For the majority of the UAE, Etisalat runs a monopoly in business and personal telecommunications services.

By order of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), Etisalat actively censors internet sites, they are known to block a number of materials they deem offensive.

In the light of recent property development which allows expatriates to purchase their own freehold property with a lease of ninety nine years by a company called EMAAR (the owner of which is a member of the ruling family) a new Telephone company and Internet Service Provider has been launched. This company previously called Sahamnet is now a subsidary of Dubai Internet City.

This new ISP and Phone company was created to serve as a competition to the previous monopoly of The Emirates Telecommuncations Corporation "Etisalat" but its scope of operations is limited to the local region and in fact they even use the Etisalat internet backbone to offer its services. No internet censorship of any kind is enforced to serve as a blow to its competitor but however they operate a stringent firewall that restricts any incoming port connections of any kind. 100 MBit Internet inter-connectivity is offered between all its subsribers which makes it an haven for illegal file sharing.

Culture

Main article: Culture of the United Arab Emirates

Rooted in Islamic culture, the UAE has strong ties with the rest of the Arab world. The government is committed to preserving traditional forms of art and culture, including via the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation. Change is apparent in social life however - attitudes towards women are shifting, and new sports are becoming popular alongside traditional camel racing including the world's richest horse race, the Dubai World Cup, held annually in March. [7]

Holidays

Date English Name Arabic Transliteration
1 January New Year's Day رأس السنة الميلادية
Varies The Day of The Sacrifice Eid ul-Adha (عيد الأضحى)
Varies Islamic New Year Ra's Al Sana Al Hijria (رأس السنة الهجرية) 
6 August Accession of H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan-al Nahyan  
Varies The Night Journey Isra'a wa al-Miraj (الإسراء و المعراج) 
2 December National Day Al-Eid Al Qawmi (العيد القومي) 
Varies End of Ramadan Eid ul-Fitr (عيد الفطر)

Universities

Miscellaneous topics

External links


Countries in Southwest Asia
Afghanistan | Armenia | Azerbaijan | Bahrain | Cyprus | Georgia | Iran | Iraq | Israel | Jordan | Kuwait | Lebanon | Oman | Qatar | Russia | Saudi Arabia | Syria | Turkey | United Arab Emirates | Yemen


Countries and territories in the Middle East
Bahrain | Cyprus | Egypt | Iran | Iraq | Israel | Jordan | Kuwait | Lebanon | Oman | Qatar | Saudi Arabia | Syria | Turkey | United Arab Emirates | Yemen
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