United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, a federation of 7 emirates, is situated at the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf. It is bordered by Oman to the East and Saudi Arabia to the southwest and surrounded by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf in the northeast and north. The country ranks 39 in the world in Human Development Index.

Dubai is the only emirate of the UAE to possess a Hindu Temple and a Sikh Gurdwara. The human life resolves around Islam.


HISTORY:- A seafaring Islam community inhabited in the land of United Arab Emirates in the 7th century. The Carmathians established a sheikdom. During 16th century, Ottoman Empire invaded the land. The region was known as the Pirate coast, after downfall of sheikdom. In the 19th century, the pirates started disturbing the shipping industries and threatened the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, which resulted into British intervention in 1820. The sheikhs engaged in a treaty with UK to enforce a permanent Truce in 1935. The land was renamed by the Trucial coast. The sheikhs did not want to make any relation with any other European power. So they had indulged into another treaty with UK, and UK promised to protect the land. UK granted freedom to Persian Gulf in 1971, 2nd December. Nine trucial states unified to make the United Arab Emirates. Later Bahrain and Oman stepped back from the merger and UAE comprised seven states.

 

GEOGRAPHY:- UAE is a country of Middle East, situated at 24 00 N, 54 00 E. The land comprises total 83,600 sq km area in which the entire area is captured by land. The coastline is 1,318 km long along with the Persian Gulf. The highest point is Jabal Yibir (1,527 m) and the lowest point is Persian Gulf (0 m). The country is mainly formed of desert. The eastern part is mountainous. The coastal plain land is flat and infecund, though few agricultural lands do exist.

 

CLIMATE:- Desert climate prevails in the land. The eastern mountains are somehow cooler. More over, the climate is hot, and humid with very low annual rainfall.

 

GOVERNMENT:- UAE is a federal constitutional monarchy. The constitution was adopted on 2nd December 1971, though it was made permanent in 1996. The three government-branches are:

Executive branch consists of the President (chief of state) and Vice President or Prime minister (head of government). Both are elected by a Supreme Council of Rulers (7 members)

Legislative branch consists of the Federal National Council (40 seats). They have only consultative power.

Judicial branch consists of the Union Supreme Court.

There is no political party and suffrage as well.

President  Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- UAE is formed of 7 emirates (Abu Dhabi, \'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Sharjah, Dubai, Ra\'s al Khaymah, and Umm al Qaywayn).

 

CULTURE:- UAE has a strong Islamic culture. The first ever known literary work is Al jawaher wal la\'li, which describes the emirates of the land. Camel racing is the traditional sport of UEA. Though UAE has shown a great interest in other sports too- like football, tennis, cricket, formula 1 car racing, rugby, falconry.

 

ECONOMY:- UAE is 5th in the world and 3rd in the Middle East, and 2nd in the CCASG in GDP per capita. UAE is an open economy country, which has a highly developed industrialization. Its economy is based on some socioeconomic indicators like- GDP per capita, energy consumption per capita, and the Human Development Index.

GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $74.67 billion; per capita $29,100.

Real growth rate: 6.7%.

Inflation: 4.5%.

Unemployment: 2.4% (2001).

Arable land: 1%.

Agriculture: dates, vegetables, watermelons; poultry, eggs, dairy products; fish.

Labor force: 2.8 million; services 78%, industry 15%, agriculture 7% (2000 est.).

Budget:  

Revenues: $58.15 billion

Expenditures: $38.06 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt: 14.8% of GDP (2007 est.)

Industries: petroleum and petrochemicals; fishing, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, commercial ship repair, construction materials, some boat building, handicrafts, textiles.

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas.

Exports: $103.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): crude oil 45%, natural gas, dried fish, dates.

Imports: $60.15 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food.

Major trading partners: Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, China, Germany, UK, France, U.S. (2004).

Exports - partners: Japan 25.8%, South Korea 9.6%, Thailand 5.9%, India 4.5% (2006)

Imports - partners:  US 11.5%, China 11%, India 9.8%, Germany 6.4%, Japan 5.8%, UK 5.5%, France 4.1%, Italy 4% (2006)

Monetary unit: U.A.E. dirham

 

LANGUAGE:- Arabic is the official language. But Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu are also spoken.

 

CITIES:-The largest emirate and capital is Abu Dhabi. Other large and important emirates are Dubai, Sharjah etc.

 

POPULATION:- The total population is 2,642,566 with a growth rate of 1.5%.

Density per sq mi: 82

Literacy rate: 78% (2003 est.)

 

RACE:-

Emiri 19%

Other Arab and Iranian 23%

South Asian 50%]

Other expatriates (includes Westerners and East Asians) 8% (1982)

 

RELIGION:-

Islam 76% (Sunni 85%, Shiite 15%)

Christian 9%,

Hindu, and other (including Buddhist, Parsi, Bahai, Sikh) 15%

 

HEALTH:- UAE\'s unnatural gender imbalance is one of the highest in the world.

Birth rate: 16.06 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 2.13 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 13.11 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 75.89 years

Total fertility rate: 2.43 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 625

 

UNICEF:- UNICEF in UAE works on several health projects like- free health treatment, awareness campaigns in rural areas, broaden the awareness on contagious diseases, and works as health service provider in schools and to cancer affected children. UNICEF also looks after several educational projects including the training of teachers and technical staffs, developing English language learning in schools, enhancing connection between schools and parents, and keeping a close eye to the betterment of the growth process. It also campaigns against domestic violence, and family separation. 

 

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: 0 km.

Highways: total: 4,835 km (1999 est.).

Ports and harbors: \'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Das Island, Khawr Fakkan, Mina\' Jabal \'Ali, Mina\' Khalid, Mina\' Rashid, Mina\' Saqr, Mina\' Zayid, Umm al Qaywayn.

Airports: 41 (2002)

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