"text":"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). Ra's al Khaymah joined in 1972. <br><br>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 2008-09, 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 the government's multi-year, $1.6-billion infrastructure investment plan for the poorer northern emirates, and its aggressive pursuit of advocates for political reform. <br><br>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 to participate as a key partner in a Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. In 2020, the UAE and Bahrain signed a peace agreement (the Abraham Accords) with Israel -- brokered by the US -- in Washington, D.C. The UAE and Bahrain thus became the third and fourth Middle Eastern countries, along with Egypt and Jordan, to recognize Israel."
"text":"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"
"text":"strategic location along southern approaches to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil; Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi) and Dubayy (Dubai) together account for over 90% of the area of the country and two-thirds of the population"
"text":"Emirati 11.6%, South Asian 59.4% (includes Indian 38.2%, Bangladeshi 9.5%, Pakistani 9.4%, other 2.3%), Egyptian 10.2%, Filipino 6.1%, other 12.8% (2015 est.)",
"note":"<strong>note</strong><strong>:</strong> data represent the total population; as of 2019,immigrants make up about87.9% of the total population, according to UN data"
"text":"<br>كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"Muslim 74.5% (official) (Sunni 63.3%, Shia 6.7%, other 4.4%), Christian 12.9%, Hindu 6.2%, Buddhist 3.2%, agnostic 1.3%, other 1.9% (2020 est.)",
"note":"<strong>note</strong><strong>:</strong> data represent the total population; as of 2020, immigrants make up about 88.1% of the total population, according to UN data"
"text":"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"
"text":"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"
"text":"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\""
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"federation of monarchies"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Abu Dhabi"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"24 28 N, 54 22 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
"text":"in Arabic, <em>abu</em> means \"father\" and <em>dhabi</em> refers to \"gazelle\"; the name may derive from an abundance of gazelles that used to live in the area, as well as a folk tale involving the \"Father of the Gazelle,\" Shakhbut BIN DHIYAB AL NAHYAN, whose hunting party tracked a gazelle to a spring on the island where Abu Dhabi was founded"
"text":"7 emirates (imarat, singular - imarah); Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi), 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah (Sharjah), Dubayy (Dubai), Ra's al Khaymah, Umm al Qaywayn"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"2 December 1971 (from the UK)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Independence Day (National Day), 2 December (1971)"
"text":"previous 1971 (provisional); latest drafted in 1979, became permanent May 1996"
},
"amendments":{
"text":"proposed by the Supreme Council and submitted to the Federal National Council; passage requires at least a two-thirds majority vote of Federal National Council members present and approval of the Supreme Council president; amended 2009"
}
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"the father must be a citizen of the United Arab Emirates; if the father is unknown, the mother must be a citizen"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"no"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"30 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"limited; note - rulers of the seven emirates each select a proportion of voters for the Federal National Council (FNC) that together account for about 12 percent of Emirati citizens"
"text":"president and vice president indirectly elected by the Federal Supreme Council - composed of the rulers of the 7 emirates - for a 5-year term (no term limits); unscheduled election held on 14 May 2022, following the death of President KHALIFA bin Zayid Al-Nuhayyan (next election expected in 2027); prime minister appointed by the president"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the Federal Supreme Council (FSC) is composed of the 7 emirate rulers and is the highest constitutional authority in the UAE; the FSC establishes general policies and sanctions federal legislation; meets 4 times a year; Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi) and Dubayy (Dubai) rulers have effective veto power"
"text":"Federal Supreme Court (consists of the court president and 4 judges; jurisdiction limited to federal cases)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"judges appointed by the federal president following approval by the Federal Supreme Council, the highest executive and legislative authority consisting of the 7 emirate rulers; judges serve until retirement age or the expiry of their appointment terms"
"text":"Federal Court of Cassation (determines the constitutionality of laws promulgated at the federal and emirate level; federal level courts of first instance and appeals courts); the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ra's al Khaymah have parallel court systems; the other 4 emirates have incorporated their courts into the federal system; note - the Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts and the Dubai International Financial Center Courts, the country’s two largest financial free zones, both adjudicate civil and commercial disputes."
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a wider vertical red band on the hoist side; the flag incorporates all four Pan-Arab colors, which in this case represent fertility (green), neutrality (white), petroleum resources (black), and unity (red); red was the traditional color incorporated into all flags of the emirates before their unification"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"golden falcon; national colors: green, white, black, red"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Nashid al-watani al-imarati\" (National Anthem of the UAE)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"AREF Al Sheikh Abdullah Al Hassan/Mohamad Abdel WAHAB"
"text":"<p>high-income, oil-driven Middle Eastern economy; fastest GDP growth of Gulf states; diversification through tourism, construction, and services; strong foreign direct investment orientation; continued government investment and business-friendly reforms</p>"
"note":"<b>note:</b> central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenses converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated"
"text":"the UAE has a strong mobile market; while the 5G penetration rate is the second highest globally after China; this has underpinned growth in the mobile broadband sector, and has enabled the strong development in the take-up of rich content and applications, as well as m-commerce; to help increase the capacity of 5G networks in coming years, and so keep up with data demand, the government has allowed for the GSM networks to be closed down and for spectrum and other assets to be re-purposed for 5G by the end of 2022; the fixed-broadband network in the UAE is dominated by fiber, with DSL having a minor and declining presence; this focus on a fully fiber infrastructure has also facilitated growth in e-commerce, and has supported the government’s long-term aim of transitioning the economy from its dependence on oil to being knowledge-based and supported by digital services; the country stands to benefit from having signed the Abraham Accord Declaration with Israel, which aims to normalize relations between the two countries; such benefits can be seen in the agreement to enable local ISPs to access Bezeq International’s submarine cable infrastructure, and so improve direct connectivity to Europe, South East Asia, and Africa; the UAE’s ISPs can also access Bezeq International’s data center in Tel Aviv, improving internet services (2022)"
"text":"except for the many organizations now operating in media free zones in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, most TV and radio stations remain government-owned; widespread use of satellite dishes provides access to pan-Arab and other international broadcasts; restrictions since June 2017 on some satellite channels and websites originating from or otherwise linked to Qatar, but in early 2023 Abu Dhabi unblocked several sites, including Al Jazeera (2022)"
"text":"United Arab Emirates Armed Forces: Land Forces, Navy Forces, Air Force, Presidential Guard (includes special operations forces)<br><br>Ministry of Interior: Coast Guard Forces, Critical Infrastructure and Coastal Patrol Agency (CICPA) (2024)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> each emirate maintains a local police force called a general directorate, which is officially a branch of the federal Ministry of Interior; all emirate-level general directorates of police enforce their respective emirate’s laws autonomously; they also enforce federal laws within their emirate in coordination with one another under the federal ministry; the State Security Directorate (SSD) in Abu Dhabi and Dubai State Security (DSS) have primary responsible for counterterrorism law enforcement efforts; local, emirate-level police forces, especially the Abu Dhabi Police and Dubai Police, are the first responders in such cases and provide technical assistance to SSD and DSS"
"text":"the military's inventory is comprised of a wide variety of mostly modern imported weapons and equipment, and a small, but expanding amount of domestically-produced items; major foreign suppliers have included China, France, Italy, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and the US; the UAE has a growing domestic defense industry which produces or co-produces such items as armored vehicles, naval vessels, precision munitions, and unmanned aerial vehicles/drones (2024)"
"text":"18-30 years of age for compulsory military service for men (compulsory service initiated in 2014); 18-40 for voluntary service; 36-month service obligation for men without a secondary education and 11 months for secondary school graduates; women may volunteer (11-month service obligation regardless of education) (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> compulsory service may be completed in the uniformed military, the Ministry of Interior, or other security institutions designated by the military leadership<br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> the UAE military employs a considerable number of foreign personnel on contracted service"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> in 2015, UAE intervened militarily in Yemen as part of the Saudi-led coalition in support of the Republic of Yemen Government with an estimated 3,500 troops, as well as supporting air and naval forces; UAE withdrew its main military force from Yemen in 2019, but has retained a small military presence while working with proxies in southern Yemen, most notably the Southern Transitional Council (STC)"
"text":"the UAE Armed Forces (UAEAF) are responsible for external defense and supporting the UAE’s foreign policy objectives; the military’s primary concerns include terrorism, regional instability, particularly in neighboring Yemen, and Iran, including a territorial dispute over three islands in the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian support to proxy forces in the region; in recent years, the UAE has undertaken a large military modernization program to go along with an assertive security policy which has included military involvments in Libya, Syria, and Yemen, as well as peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and Somalia; the UAEAF has organized, trained, and equipped tens of thousands of militia forces in Yemen and offered training and equipment to several countries in Africa; the UAE also hosts the region’s first military school for women, which has trained female peacekeepers for deployment in Africa and Asia<br><br>the UAE has close security ties to France and the US; it hosts a multi-service French military base, which includes the French naval command for the Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN); the UAE has a defense cooperation agreement with the US and hosts thousands of US military troops, mostly air and naval personnel; it also has defense ties with a variety of other countries, including Australia, China, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, South Korea, and the UK, as well as NATO and fellow members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, particularly Saudi Arabia<br><br>the UAEAF traces its origins to the establishment of the Trucial Oman Scouts in 1951, a joint UK-Abu Dhabi organization modeled after Jordan’s Arab Legion, which became the Abu Dhabi Defense Force in 1965; the modern UAEAF were formed in 1976 and are considered to be one of the best-trained and most capable forces in the Persian Gulf region (2024)"
"text":"UAE Space Agency (created in 2014); Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC; established 2006); in 2015, MBRSC combined with the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST; established 2006) (2024)"
"text":"has an ambitious and growing space program and is recognized as one of the leading programs in the region; focused on satellite development, including communications, remote sensing, and navigational; also placing emphasis on building expertise, infrastructure, ground stations, technology, and research and development capabilities to support its space program domestically; rather than building its own launch capabilities, has elected to utilize foreign partners to launch payloads from spaceports abroad; has looked to invest heavily in foreign commercial space companies and encourage global partnerships; has a foreign-assisted astronaut training program; seeking to establish UAE as an international hub for space education; has signed more than 25 cooperation agreements or memorandums of understanding with major global and regional players in the space sector, including the Arab Space Cooperation Group, China, the European Space Agency (ESA), France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the UK, and the US; sees the development of its commercial space industry as a key pillar for diversifying and developing the country’s non-oil economy; dozens of space companies and entities operate in the UAE, including international and start-ups, plus several space science research centers (2024)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in the Space Programs reference guide"
