Capital: Abu Dhabi
Currency: Emirati Dirham (AED)
Borders: Oman 410 km, Saudi Arabia 457 km
The UAE stands for United Arab Emirates, and is a small nation
located within the Middle East. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to
the west and south, and by Oman to the east. The northern shores of
the UAE face the Arabian Gulf. The UAE has a relatively small
landmass. The total land area is 82,880 sq km, much of it desert,
punctuated by two main oases; Buraimi and Liwa. In the east,
adjacent to the Oman border, the terrain is mountainous. Elsewhere,
the majority of the country is comprised of a relatively flat
elevation. The main populated areas are along the north coast,
facing the Arabian Gulf. It is alongside this north coast that the
UAE’s main highway spans the distance between the country’s two
principle cities, the capital, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. That said, there
is also an extensive road network in the east of UAE.
The ethnic mix comprises of Emiratis, other Arabs, Iranians, South
Asians and other expatriates. The main religion is Islam and the
main language Arabic, although English is also widely spoken
especially in Dubai. The national unit of currency is the Emirati
Dirham.UAE is one of the wealthiest Arab
states. The discovery of oil has proven to be an important part of
Gulf economic history and the oil found in UAE in particular, has
been exploited successfully to create the stable UAE that exists
today. Abu Dhabi provides the world with nearly 10% of its oil,
making it the 3rd largest oil reserve in the Gulf itself. The
transport network consists of 4835 km of highways and the important
ports of 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Das Island, Khawr Fakkan, Mina' Jabal
'Ali, Mina' Khalid, Mina' Rashid, Mina' Saqr, Mina' Zayid and Umm al
Qaywayn.
The weather is similar to neighbouring Arab states and is best
described as hot and arid. During summer (June-Oct), temperatures
often exceed 38°C. During wintertime (Dec-Feb), rains arrive,
providing a cool relief to the usual heat that prevails at other
times of the year. At night it often drops close to zero in the
desert. |
