United Arab Emirates
Overview
The United Arab Emirates, sometimes simply called the Emirates, is a country in Western Asia located at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Oman and Saudi Arabia, and has maritime borders in the Persian Gulf with Qatar and Iran.
The UAE is an elective monarchy formed from a federation of seven emirates, consisting of Abu Dhabi (which serves as the capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. [12] Each emirate is governed by a Sheikh and, together, they form the Federal Supreme Council; one of them serves as President of the United Arab Emirates. In 2013, the UAE’s population was 9.2 million, of which 1.4 million were Emirati citizens and 7.8 million were expatriates; the estimated population in 2020 was 9.89 million. Islam is the official religion and Arabic is the official language. The UAE’s oil and natural gas reserves are the sixth- and seventh-largest in the world, respectively.