The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates that was formed in December 2, 1971. UAE occupies a total area of about 83,600 square kilometers (32,400 square miles), along the south-eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula between 22°50 and 26°N and between 51° and 56°25 E. Qatar lies to the west and north-west, Saudi Arabia to the west and south and Oman to the north, east and south-east.

Country Name Conventional Long Form : United Arab Emirates Local Long Form (Arabic) : Dawlat Al Imarat Al Arabiyya Al Muttahidah : Local Short Form (Arabic) : Al Imarat Abbreviation : UAE Emirates Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah Capital Abu Dhabi National Day Independence Day (from UK), 2 December (1971) President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (3 November 2004) Vice-President & Prime Minister HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (5 January 2006) Political System A federation with specific areas of authority constitutionally assigned to the UAE Federal Government and other powers reserved for member emirates Constitution Adopted provisionally on 2 December 1971, made permanent in 1996 Area 83,600 square kilometers Time UAE Standard Time is 4 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+4) International Dialing Code +971 Currency Emirati Dirham (Dh or AED), divided into 100 Fils Exchange Rate US$ 1 = AED 3.6725 The UAE Dirham has been officially pegged to the US dollar since February 2002 Language The official language is Arabic. English is widely understood and ranks alongside Arabic as the language of commerce Religion The official language is Arabic. English is widely understood and ranks alongside Arabic as the language of commerce Religion Islam. Practice of all religious beliefs is allowed Population 4.106 million (December, 2005) GDP AED 485.5 billion (2005, Current Prices) Emirates Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah Real GDP Growth 8.2% (2005) Non-Oil Sector Contribution to Nominal GDP 64% (2005) Foreign Direct Investment AUS$10 billion (2005) Industries Oil & Gas, Aluminum, Cement, Fertilizers, Commercial Ship Repair, Petrochemicals, Construction Materials, Pharmaceuticals, Tourism Oil Production 2.8 million barrels per day Oil Proven Reserves 98.1 billion barrels Natural Gas Production 65 billion cubic meters Natural Gas Proven Reserves 6 trillion cubic meters Fiscal Year 1 January to 31 December Weekend Friday and Saturday for government institutions. Many private companies operate a six-day week (with Friday as an off day) Exports AED 424 billion (2005) Free-Zone Exports AED 63.9 billion (2005) Re-Exports AED 139.5 billion (2005) Imports AED 261.2 billion (2005) Cultivated Areas 260,000 hectares, 3.1% of total territory Number of Date Palms Over 40 million Agriculture & Fisheries Products Dates, Green Fodder, Vegetables and Fruit; Livestock, Poultry, Eggs, Dairy Products; Fish Estimated Fisheries Catch 97,574 tons Flag Three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a wider vertical red band on the hoist side

Climate:

The UAE lies in the arid tropical zone extending across Asia and North Africa. Climatic conditions in the area are strongly influenced by the Indian Ocean, since the country borders both the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. This explains why high temperatures in summer are always accompanied by high humidity along the coast. There are noticeable variations in climate between the coastal regions, the deserts of the interior, and mountainous areas.

From November to March daytime temperatures average a very pleasant 24° C (75° F). Night-time temperatures are slightly cooler, averaging 13° C (56° F) and less than 5° C (40° F) in the depths of the desert or high in the mountains. Summer temperatures are high, and can be as high as 48° C (118° F) inland, but it is lower by few degrees in coastal. Humidity in coastal areas averages between 50 and 60 per cent, touching over 90 per cent in summer and autumn. Inland it is far less humid.

Local north-westerly winds (shamal) frequently develop during the winter, bringing cooler windy conditions. Prevailing winds, which are influenced by the monsoons, vary between south or south-east, to west or north to north-west, depending upon the season and location.

Average rainfall is low at less than 6.5 centimeters annually, more than half of which falls in December and January. Water temperatures in the Gulf exceed 33°C in summer, falling in winter to 16°C in the north and 22-24°C in the south.