The United Arab Emirates are a federation of seven States of the the Middle East located on the Persian Gulf and the Golfe of Oman. The United Arab Emirates are an important producer and exporter of Pétrole and are members of the Organization of the oil exporting countries.

The seven emirates are Abou Dabi, Ajman, Charjah, Dubai, Fujaïrah, Ras el Khaïmah and Oumm Al Qaïwaïn.

In the language running, a truncated form of the name, Emirates , is sometimes used. This form is delicate to generalize because it can, in certain cases (but without capital letter: emirates ), to indicate the whole of the States of the Arabic peninsula having this heading (i.e., in addition to the seven emirates forming WATER, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain if this country became a “kingdom” in 2002 and, possibly and by assimilation, the Sultanate of Oman).

History

See also: History of the United Arab Emirates

The formation of the United Arab Emirates as a State goes up with 1853 when the agreements between the Sheik S buildings and the the United Kingdom are signed envisaging the stop of the attacks Pirate S of the ships britanniques : the States of the Truce ( Trucial States in English) were born. Little by little, the area passes under British control and in 1892, a new treaty sets up the States of the Truce in Protectorat and make them return in the British colonial empire.

The main resource of the local population then very few is the culture of the Perle S before layers of Pétrole in the years 1960 are not discovered.

The December 2nd 1971, six emirates reach the Indépendance in the form of a federation and take the name of United Arab Emirates. They will be joined in 1972 by Ras el Khaïmah. The country then knows an important period of economic development, demographic, etc and called upon an important immigrant labor coming mainly from the Indian sub-continent (Pakistan, India, etc).

For a few years, under the impulse of the emirs, the economy of the United Arab Emirates has turned to new technologies but especially tourism, mainly of luxe : Palm Islands, The World, marinas, amusement parks are as many projects in the course of construction which, with the associated equipment (hotels, shopping malls, airports, routes transportation, etc), transform the coast on the Persian Gulf into a gigantic building site.

Geography

See also: Geography of the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates are located in the Arabic peninsula between the Persian Gulf and the Golfe of Oman. They have borders with Oman and the Saudi Arabia. An Omani enclave (Madha) is located in the mountains at the East of the country.

The totality of the territory is desert or semi-desert. The South of the country consists of part of the Rub' Al Khali while Is and North are occupied by Montagne S. Some Oasis (Al Ain, Manama, etc) make it possible to maintain a life in the desert. Sebkha S occupy the South and the West of the country, in particular along the coast in the West of Abou Dabi.

territorial claims on many islands of the Strait of Ormuz and Persian Gulf oppose it to the Iran. In addition to the fact even of the possession of these islands and small islands, it is especially the establishment of the exclusive economic zones which is concerned with the key the oil reserves and mining offshore oil rig.

Policy

See also: Political of the United Arab Emirates

The Supreme council is the most organization of the State. He is consisted of the seven emirs. This supreme council elects for five years the president and the vice-president.

Semi-officially, the presidency is hereditary to the clan Al Nahyan of Abou Dabi and the vice-presidency with the clan Al-Maktoum of Dubai. The current president of the Federation is the Sheik Khalifa bin Zayid Al Nahyan. He succeeded his father the sheik Zayid bin Sultan Al Nahyan died of this last, the November 2nd 2004.

The Supreme council also elects the Council of Ministers.

The Loi S are submitted to the federal National council made up of forty members coming from each emirate. The legislation is based on the Charia for the federal courts of civil, criminal justice and the High court. The United Arab Emirates apply the Capital punishment, in particular for the drug traffickers.

In 1996, the provisional character of the constitution disappears during its adoption.

Subdivisions

See also: Subdivisions of the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates are subdivided in seven emirates, themselves formed of several Enclave S whose borders or sovereignty are sometimes fuzzy.

Economy

See also: Economy of the United Arab Emirates

The economy of the United Arab Emirates, whose trade balance is largely surplus, is closely related to the industry of the Pétrole and the Natural gas which represent a third of GDP. In 2005, the United Arab Emirates were the third oil producer in the Persian Gulf after the Saudi Arabia and the Iran.

Since independence in 1971, the United Arab Emirates passed from a very low standard of living to the fourth GDP per capita on a world level (43  400  US$ in 2005). But this figure hides great disparities within the population, especially between the émiratis and the immigrants.

These last years, because of exhaustion of oil reserves, the government sought to diversify its sources of revenue and to decrease its dependence with regard to the sector of the fossil energies. This diversification is characterized in particular by the development of the tourism industry centered on the coasts, the desert or sports complexes.

Its tourist success as well as other factors (moderate prices of the consumer goods, high temperatures during the major part of the year, tourist projects disproportionate, etc) gives him the nickname of Singapore or Hong-Kong of the the Middle East.

With regard to the development of the access to Internet network, it seems that the United Arab Emirates have an important margin of progress. Initially, the national operator Etisalat (site) offers a relatively expensive service with a perfectible quality of service. Then, the access to the foreign sites remains subjected to the systems of Filtrage of the government, which prevents a real opening to the rest of the world.

Demography

See also: Demography of the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates counted 2  563  212 inhabitants in 2006 but 73,9% of this population was not émirati. The half of the population of the emirates is originating in the Indian Sous-continent (Pakistan, India, Maldives, etc) the remainder coming from the other Arab countries, Iran and Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, etc). One counts close to: 700000 immigrant workers in Dubai.

The Religion the most represented is the Islam to 96% (80% sunnite, 16% Shiite), the four other percent of the population declaring Christian, Hindu and Buddhist.
The Vatican estimates at 1 million the number of Christians, primarily Catholiques, working in the United Arab Emirates (figure given during the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, May 31, 2007).

The Arab is the official language of the country but, for economic reasons and commercial, the English occupies an important place, in particular in the tourism and business world. The Hindi , the Urdu , the Persan also is very spoken because of immigrant population.

Culture

See also: Culture of the United Arab Emirates

Others

Population: 4  041  000 inhabitants (in 2005)   ; 0-14 ans : 28,86%   ; 15-64 ans : 68,74%   ; +65 ans : 2,4%
Land borders: 867 km (Oman 410 km  ; Saudi Arabia 457 km)
Littoral: 1  318 km
Ends of altitude: 0 m > + 1  527 m
Life expectancy of the men: 74 years (in 2001)
Life expectancy of the women: 72 years (in 2001)
Growth rate of the population: 1,59% (in 2001)
Birth rate: 18,11 ‰ (in 2001)
Death rate: 3,79 ‰ (in 2001)
infantile Death rate: 16,88 ‰ (in 2001)
Fertility rate: 3,2 children/woman (in 2001)
Rate of migration: 18,11 ‰ (in 2001)
Independence: December 2nd 1971 (old British colony)
Phone lines: 915  223 (in 1998)
Cellphones: a million (in 1999)
Radios: 820  000 (in 1997)
Television stations: 310  000 (in 1997)
Users of Internet: 400  000 (in 2000)
Many suppliers of access Internet: 1 (in 2000)
Roads: 4  835 km (tarred totality) (in 1998)
Railways: 0 km
inland Waterways: 0 km
Many airports: 40 (including 22 with tarred tracks) (in 2000)
like 32 international

Codes

The United Arab Emirates have as codes:

Appendices

External bonds

  • Official site of the government of the United Arab Emirates
  • informative Site on the United Arab Emirates
  • Hotels with UAE
  • Guide on the United Arab Emirates

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