United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula, between Saudi Arabia and Oman on the Persian Gulf. Abu Dhabi is the capital and by far the largest emirate, Dubai the largest city, Arabic the official language and English the usual language of business.

Julfar, a port in today's Ras Al Khaimah, served the Muslim invasion of Sasanian Persia in 637, and Portuguese ships set up bases on the coast around 1500. British campaigns of 1809 and 1819 against coastal towns led to a maritime truce in 1820, which gave the area its name of Trucial States, and treaties of 1892 made it a British protectorate. Pearl diving was the main trade until the cultured pearl and the slump of the 1930s ruined it. Oil found under the Umm Shaif pearl bed in 1958 was first exported in 1962. When Britain withdrew, six emirates formed the union on 2 December 1971, and Ras Al Khaimah joined on 10 January 1972.

Power lies with the Federal Supreme Council of the seven hereditary rulers, which chooses the president, while the Federal National Council has 40 members and only advises; voters first chose half of them in 2006. Abu Dhabi alone measures 67,340 km² (26,000 sq mi), about 87% of the land. Iran took the two Tunb islands by force on 30 November 1971, and the dispute over them and Abu Musa is unresolved.

ADNOC runs the oil and gas industry, and the Barakah plant was the first nuclear power station on the Arabian Peninsula. Trade, finance and tourism have grown around Dubai, where Jebel Ali is a major port and Dubai International Airport led the world in international passengers in 2014. Dubai also has the Burj Khalifa and Palm Jumeirah, and Abu Dhabi has the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and the Yas Marina Circuit. The Hope probe entered orbit around Mars on 9 February 2021, a first for an Arab country.