United Arab Emirates Country Profile

The United Arab Emirates or UAE is made of a federation of seven emirates along the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The United Arab Emirates, sometimes simply called the Emirates, (or pronounced Al Imarates – In Arabic) is a sovereign state in Western Asia 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 Emirates was formally united in 1971, with the city of Abu Dhabi serving as the capital. 

The UAE has seven states with Abu Dhabi as the Largest, Dubai as the second largest, Sharjah (Al-Shāriqah), ʿAjmān, Umm al-Qaywayn, and Raʾs al-Khaymah and Al-Fujayrah.

The History of The United Arab Emirates UAE

Historically the United Arab Emirates was a domain of individual Arab clans and families, the region now comprising the (UAE) emirates also has been influenced by Persian culture owing to its close proximity to Iran, and the spread of  Islam. Its porous maritime borders have for centuries invited migrants and traders from elsewhere.

It is a Muslim country with Shariah law governing the states and one of the most important and influential countries in the Middle East.

In the 18th century, Portugal and the Netherlands extended their holdings in the region but retreated with the growth of British naval power there; following a series of truces with Britain in the 19th century, the emirates united to form the Trucial States (also called Trucial Oman or the Trucial Sheikhdoms). The states gained autonomy following World War II (1939–45) when the trucial states of Bahrain and Qatar declared independent statehood.

Key facts about the UAE

The emirates comprise a mixed environment of rocky desert, coastal plains and wetlands, and waterless mountains. 

The port city of Dubai, located at the base of the mountainous Musandam Peninsula, is the capital of the emirate of Dubai and is one of the region’s most vital commercial and financial centres, housing hundreds of multinational corporations in a forest of skyscrapers.

The UAE Flag is made up of Red, Green, White and Black. The UAE currency is Dirham but often US dollars are accepted in most places.

The UAE national language is arabic and is spoken by all the idengenious population. With huge population of immigrants in the country Urdu/Hindi and Russain are widely spoken.

UAE weather is normally super hot, often too sunny and hot in the summer months.

UAE leadership

The President is also the Commander-in-Chief of the UAE Armed Forces. The current President is Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who became president on 3 November 2004, following the death of his father, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The UAE’s President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed. (See here more info: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14704227)

UAE key history dates

Add a couple of paragraphs about UAE’s history (Wikipedia style) followed by a bullet points list of top 5-10 key historic dates. (See here for more info: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14704414)

UAE culture (includes advice for foreigners and link to the Dubai page)

This section can simply cover the top 5 DOs and DON’Ts when in the UAE and dispel any myths.

UAE Festivals

This is one of the better lists I could find – we simply need to produce a similar list (no copy/paste as that penalises the website): https://traveltriangle.com/blog/festivals-in-united-arab-emirates/

Doing business in the UAE

The content of this section can be similar to this page: https://www.great.gov.uk/markets/united-arab-emirates/

Please refer to these links too:

https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/business/the-uae-an-ideal-investment-destination

https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/business/steps-to-start-a-business-on-the-mainland

UAE visas and entry requirements

Includes a brief cover of the main visa types: tourism, business, medical, residency and links to the official UAE government website for more information and/or links to service providers that can assist with visa applications). See: https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visa-and-emirates-id

UAE states, monarchy, political system and administration