United Arab Emirates (UAE)

formerly Trucial States

Federation of seven states, eastern Arabian Peninsula.

They are the emirates of Abū Zabī (Abu Dhabi), Dubayy (Dubai), ʽAjmān, Al-Shāriqah (Sharjah), Umm al-Qaywayn, Raʾs al-Khaymah, and Al-Fujayrah. Area: 32,280 sq mi (83,600 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 32,550,000. Capital: Abu Dhabi. The indigenous inhabitants are Arabs, but there are a large number of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Iranian migrant workers. Languages: Arabic (official), English, Persian, Urdu, Hindi. Religions: Islam (official), Christianity, Hinduism. Currency: UAE dirham. The United Arab Emirates' low-lying desert plain is broken by the Ḥajar Mountains along the Musandam Peninsula. Three natural deepwater harbours are located along the Gulf of Oman. The UAE has roughly one-tenth of the world's petroleum reserves and significant natural gas deposits, the production of which are the federation's principal industries. Other important economic activities include fishing, livestock herding, and date production. The federation has one appointive advisory board; its chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. In 1820 the British signed a peace treaty with the region's coastal rulers. The area, formerly called the Pirate Coast, became known as the Trucial Coast. In 1892 the rulers agreed to entrust foreign relations to Britain. Although the British administered the region from 1843, they never assumed sovereignty; each state maintained full internal control. The states formed the Trucial States Council in 1960 and in 1971 terminated defense treaties with Britain and established the six-member federation. Raʾs al-Khaymah joined it in 1972. The UAE aided coalition forces against Iraq in the Persian Gulf War (1991).

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