Dubai

United Arab Emirates

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"UAE" redirects here. For other uses, see UAE (disambiguation).

United Arab Emirates دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة Dawlat al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah
Flag Emblem
Motto: الله ثم الوطن ,ثم الرئيس[citation needed] Allah, al-Waṭan, al-Ra'īs  (Arabic) "God then The Homeland then The President"
Anthem: Ishy Bilady
Capital		Abu Dhabi 24°28′N 54°22′E
Largest city		Dubai
Official language(s)		Arabic
Ethnic groups		16.6% Emirati (Citizens) 23% Other Arabs 42.3% South Asian: Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi 12.1% Other Asian communities, including China, the Philippines, Thailand, Iran, Korea & Afghanistan. 6% Western expatriates, from Europe, Australia, Northern Africa, Africa and Latin America (2009) [1][2]
Demonym		Emirati[3]
Government		Constitutional federationof absolute monarchieswith an executivepresident elected by Emir Council amongst themselves
-	President	Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
-	Vice President and Prime Minister	Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Legislature		Federal National Council
Sovereignty		End of special treaty with the United Kingdom
-	Constitution	December 2, 1971
Area
-	Total	83,600 1 km2 (116th) 32,278 sq mi
-	Water (%)	negligible
Population
-	2010 estimate	8,264,070[4] (93rd)
-	2005 census	4,106,427
-	Density	99/km2 (110th) 256/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$258.825 billion[5]
-	Per capita	$48,158[5]
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$360.136 billion[5]
-	Per capita	$67,008[5]
Gini (2008)		36
HDI (2011)		0.846[6] (very high) (30th)
Currency		UAE dirham (AED)
Time zone		GMT+4 (UTC+4)
-	Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+4)
Date formats		dd/mm/yyyy
Drives on the		right
ISO 3166 code		AE
Internet TLD		.ae, امارات.
Calling code		971
United Arab Emirates portal
1	The country's exact size is unknown because of disputed claims to several islands in the Persian Gulf, the lack of precise information on the size of many of these islands and that most of its land boundaries, especially with Saudi Arabia, remain un-demarcated.

The UAE is a federation of seven emirates (equivalent to principalities), each governed by a hereditary emir, with a single national president. The constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. The capital is Abu Dhabi, which is also the state's center of political, industrial, and culturalactivities.^[8]The United Arab Emirates ⁱ/juːˌnaɪtɨd ˌærəb ˈɛmɪrɨts/ (Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة‎, Al Imārāt al ‘Arabīyah al Muttaḥidah), sometimes simply called the Emirates or the UAE,^[7]is a country situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on thePersian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing sea borders with Qatar to the west and Iran to the north.

Prior to independence in 1971, the UAE was known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a 19th-century truce between the local sheikhs, hereditary rulers of the territories, and the United Kingdom. The term Pirate Coast was also used by some to refer to the emirates from the 18th to the early 20th century, owing to the preponderance of pirates operating from Emirati ports.^[9]

The UAE's political system is based on its 1971 Constitution, which is composed of several intricately connected governing bodies. As a federation of seven monarchies, whose rulers retain absolute power within their emirates, but with a UAE president, it is neither a constitutional monarchy nor a republic. The emirs choose one of their members to be the president of the federation, but this does not alter the monarchical character of the government of the individual emirates. The constitution is concerned solely with the relations between the emirates as members of the federation, and does not prescribe a constitutional system of government.

Islam is the official religion of the UAE, and Arabic is the official language.^[10]

UAE oil reserves are ranked as the world's sixth-largest^[11] and it possesses one of the most developed economies in West Asia. It is the thirty-fifth-largest economy at marketexchange rates, and ranks among the world's wealthiest nations with per capita GDP (PPP) of US$48,597.^[12] It is 15th in purchasing power per capita and has a relatively high Human Development Index for the Asian continent, ranking thirtieth globally.^[13] The UAE is classified as a high-income developing economy by the IMF.