United Arab Emirates

• population is heavily concentrated to the northeast on the Musandam Peninsula;
• the three largest emirates -- Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah -- are home to nearly 85% of the population

• strategic location along southern approaches to Strait of Hormuz, a transit point for crude oil;
• Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi) and Dubayy (Dubai) together account for over 90% of UAE's area and two-thirds of the population

noun:

Emirati(s)

adjective:

Emirati

total:

35.8 years (2025 est.)

male:

38.1 years

female:

29.8 years

• population is heavily concentrated to the northeast on the Musandam Peninsula;
• the three largest emirates -- Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah -- are home to nearly 85% of the population

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

2.47 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

3.25 male(s)/female

total population:

2.13 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

total:

4.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)

male:

5.5 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

4.4 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

79.9 years (2024 est.)

male:

78.6 years

female:

81.4 years

total:

2.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

0.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

0.14 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

1.65 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

10.7% (2025 est.)

male:

13.9% (2025 est.)

female:

2.4% (2025 est.)

• air pollution;
• water scarcity;
• lack of natural freshwater resources;
• land degradation and desertification;
• waste generation, beach pollution from oil spills

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Law of the Sea

urban population:

87.8% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

1.5% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

energy:

1,573.7 kt (2022-2024 est.)

agriculture:

47.4 kt (2019-2021 est.)

waste:

448.4 kt (2019-2021 est.)

other:

2.5 kt (2019-2021 est.)

municipal solid waste generated annually:

5.618 million tons (2024 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled:

24.5% (2022 est.)

municipal:

2.297 billion cubic meters (2022)

industrial:

55 million cubic meters (2022)

agricultural:

2.466 billion cubic meters (2022)

conventional long form:

United Arab Emirates

conventional short form:

none

local long form:

Al Imarat al Arabiyah al Muttahidah

local short form:

none

former:

Trucial Oman, Trucial States

abbreviation:

UAE

etymology:

self-descriptive country name; the name Arabia can be traced back at least as far as the ancient Egyptians, who referred to the region as "Ar Rabi;" "emirates" derives from amir , the Arabic word for "commander," "lord," or "prince;" the former name, Trucial States, refers to a maritime truce from 1820 between the British and the Arab sheikhdoms

name:

Abu Dhabi

geographic coordinates:

24 28 N, 54 22 E

time difference:

UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

etymology:

in Arabic, abu means "father," and dhabi refers to a personal name, Dhabi or Zabi, that comes from the word zab , or "gazelle"

history:

previous 1971 (provisional); latest drafted in 1979, became permanent May 1996

amendment process:

• proposed by the Supreme Council and submitted to the Federal National Council;
• passage requires at least a two-thirds majority vote of Federal National Council members present and approval of the Supreme Council president

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

the father must be a citizen of the United Arab Emirates; if the father is unknown, the mother must be a citizen

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

30 years

legislature name:

Federal National Council (Majlis Watani Itihadi)

legislative structure:

unicameral

number of seats:

40 (20 indirectly elected; 20 appointed)

electoral system:

other systems

scope of elections:

full renewal

term in office:

4 years

most recent election date:

10/7/2023

percentage of women in chamber:

50%

expected date of next election:

October 2027

highest court(s):

Federal Supreme Court (consists of the court president and 4 judges; jurisdiction limited to federal cases)

judge selection and term of office:

• judges appointed by the federal president after approval from the Federal Supreme Council, the highest executive and legislative authority consisting of the 7 emirate rulers;
• judges serve until retirement age or the expiration of their appointment terms

subordinate courts:

• Federal Court of Cassation (determines the constitutionality of laws);
• the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ra's al Khaymah have parallel court systems;
• the other 4 emirates have incorporated their courts into the federal system

note: the Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts and the Dubai International Financial Center Courts, the country’s two largest financial free zones, adjudicate civil and commercial disputes

chief of mission:

Ambassador Yousif AL OTAIBA (since 28 July 2008)

chancery:

3522 International Court NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 243-2400

FAX:

[1] (202) 243-2408

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://www.uae-embassy.org/

consulate(s) general:

Houston, Los Angeles, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Eric GAUDIOSI (since August 2025)

embassy:

Embassies District, Plot 38, Sector W59-02, Street No. 4, Abu Dhabi

mailing address:

6010 Abu Dhabi Place, Washington DC 20521-6010

telephone:

[971] (2) 414-2200

FAX:

[971] (2) 414-2241

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://ae.usembassy.gov/

consulate(s) general:

Dubai

description:

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black, with a wider vertical red band on the left side

meaning:

• the flag incorporates all four pan-Arab colors, which in this case represent fertility (green), neutrality (white), oil (black), and unity (red);
• red is a traditional color that was part of all the emirates' flags before their unification

title:

"Nashid al-watani al-imarati" (National Anthem of the UAE)

lyrics/music:

AREF Al Sheikh Abdullah Al Hassan/Mohamad Abdel WAHAB

history:

music adopted 1971, lyrics adopted 1986; Mohamad Abdel WAHAB also composed the music for Tunisia's and Libya's anthem

total World Heritage Sites:

2 ( both cultural)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud, and Oases Areas); Faya Palaeolandscape (c)

• high-income, oil-driven Middle Eastern economy;
• fastest GDP growth of Gulf states;
• diversification through tourism, construction, and services;
• strong foreign direct investment orientation;
• continued government investment and business-friendly reforms

total:

6.4% (2024 est.)

male:

4.1% (2024 est.)

female:

12.1% (2024 est.)

note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment

on food:

12.2% of household expenditures (2023 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco:

0.3% of household expenditures (2023 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.8% (2018 est.)

highest 10%:

20.5% (2018 est.)

note: % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population

Number of operational nuclear reactors:

4 (2025)

Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors:

5.35GW (2025 est.)

Percent of total electricity production:

19.7% (2023 est.)

consumption:

5.411 million metric tons (2023 est.)

exports:

82,000 metric tons (2023 est.)

imports:

5.512 million metric tons (2023 est.)

total petroleum production:

4.146 million bbl/day (2023 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

846,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

97.8 billion barrels (2021 est.)

production:

55.8 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)

consumption:

67.734 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)

exports:

6.863 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)

imports:

18.938 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)

proven reserves:

6.091 trillion cubic meters (2021 est.)

• most TV and radio stations state-owned, but many private organizations now operating in media free zones in Abu Dhabi and Dubai;
• widespread use of satellite dishes to access pan-Arab and other international broadcasts (2022)

total ports:

20 (2024)

large:

1

medium:

4

small:

9

very small:

6

ports with oil terminals:

17

key ports:

Abu Zaby, Jabal Az Zannah/Ruways, Khawr Fakkan, Mina Jabal Ali, Zirkuh

• the military is equipped with mostly modern imported armaments, and a smaller amount of domestically produced weapons;
• foreign suppliers have included China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Türkiye, and the US;
• the UAE's domestic defense industry produces or co-produces such items as armored vehicles, naval vessels, precision munitions, and unmanned aerial vehicles/drones for both internal use and export (2025)

• 18-40 for voluntary service;
• 18-30 years of age for compulsory national service for men with a 36-month service obligation for those without a secondary education and 11 months for secondary school graduates;
• women may volunteer for national service (11-month service obligation regardless of education) (2025)

note 1: compulsory service may be completed in the uniformed military, the Ministry of Interior, or other security institutions designated by the military leadership

note 2: the UAE military employs a considerable number of foreign personnel on contracted service

• has an ambitious and growing national space program;
• focused on satellite development, including communications, remote sensing, and navigation, as well as deep space exploration;
• is building expertise, infrastructure, technology, and research and development capabilities;
• has elected to use foreign partners to launch payloads from spaceports abroad;
• has looked to invest in foreign commercial space companies and develop global partnerships;
• has a foreign-assisted astronaut training program;
• seeking to establish UAE as an international hub for space education;
• founding member of the Arab Space Cooperation Group;
• works with major global and regional players, including China, Egypt, the ESA, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, and the US;
• sees its commercial space industry as a key to diversifying and developing the country’s non-oil economy;
• dozens of space companies operate in the UAE, including international and start-ups, plus several space-science research centers (2025)

• 1997 - initiated a national space sector
• 2009 - first remote sensing (RS) satellite (DubaiSat-1) developed jointly with South Korea and launched by Russia
• 2017 - announced Mars 2117 project, which included building a “Mars Science City” as the first step to establishing a human settlement on Mars within 100 years
• 2018 - first domestically produced RS satellite (KhalifaSat or DubaiSat-3) launched by Japan
• 2019 - first UAE astronaut (trained by Russia and US) in space on the International Space Station
• 2020 - signed US-led Artemis Accords for space and lunar exploration
• 2021 - became first Arab country to successfully place a probe (al Amal or Hope) in Mars orbit; announced plans to launch a probe in 2028 to land on an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter
• 2025 - domestically produced advanced RS/Earth imaging satellite (MBZ-SAT) launched by US