A general look:
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) the transcription of which into Arabic is Dawlat al Imarat al Arabiyya al Muttahidah, is a Federation of 7 Emirates: Abu Dhabi (the capital), Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ra’s al-Khaimah and Fujairah, founded on 2 December 1971 (National Holiday). The President of the Arab Emirates is His Highness Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sovereign of Abu Dhabi, while the Vice President and Prime Minister is His Highness Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sovereign of Dubai.
From the geographical point of view, the UAE are situated to the South East of the Arabian Peninsula and border with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman. Of great importance is the fact that the UAE are fortunately exposed to the sea, which effectively washes their entire length and is a great “accomplice” in tourism, development and wellbeing. The morphology of the territory is substantially flat along the coast, gradually transforming into soft sand dunes inland, to become rugged mountain in the south along the border with Oman.
The surface area of the Arab Emirates, which is quite contained, is of around 82,880 Kms sq., of which about three quarters are occupied by the territory of the capital. On the basis of the 2005 census, the population was around 4,100.000 inhabitants, whose origin gives rise to a number of reflections: little more than a quarter of these (about one million inhabitants) are native to the place, while the remaining three quarters (about three million people) are foreigners (to a considerable extent Asians, and to a lesser extent coming from nearby Middle Eastern countries).
From the religious point of view, the country has a clear Muslim majority, but the practice of all religious faiths is allowed.
The official language is Arabic, alongside which English is the second official language, often dominant in business and in any event generally known at an advanced level.
The official currency is the Dirham (Dh or AED) which has an exchange rate with the Euro of circa 0.192500 and with the Dollar of circa 0.272309. The conversion ratio of the Dirham is officially linked to the United States Dollar.
International telephone prefix: 971. Internet extension: .ae
The economy of the country, in recent decades based on the wealth of the sub surface (in which oil and gas are abundant), and on fisheries and trade, has seen in relatively recent times an ever more exponential growth in tourism (high class, but not only), thanks to a farsighted policy, capable of creating the best conditions, from all points of view, for an international public which chooses this destination in an ever more forceful manner, both with a view to “holiday” and “business”. Alongside the tertiary sector, which is endowed with extraordinary dynamism and is undergoing continuous evolution, a position of importance is also deserved by industry in materials for building, ports and shipping, as well as some metals, pharmaceutical products and the production and processing of foods.
The climate plays an important role in the social and economic life of the United Arab Emirates. In winter, the climate is moderate with little rain, being dry and influenced by the inland desert areas, while in the summer it is very hot and humid (with peaks of 50° C). In the mountainous areas to the South, it is fresher ad less humid, even during the summer. For this reason, from the point of view of tourism, one speaks of a low season from April to mid November, while the high season is from the second half of November to the end of March.
Photograph provided courtesy of Dubai’s DTCM