The UAE's Seven Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is a federation which consists of seven emirates. The largest emirate is Abu Dhabi which contains the nation’s capital city Abu Dhabi. Five emirates have one or more exclaves, in addition to the main territory. The seven emirates:

• Abu Dhabi
• Ajman: 1 exclave
• Dubai: 1 exclave
• Fujairah: 2 exclaves
• Ras al-Khaimah: 1 exclave
• Sharjah: 3 exclaves
• Umm al-Quwain

There are two areas under joint control. One is jointly controlled by Oman and Ajman, the other by Fujairah and Sharjah. There is an Omani enclave surrounded by UAE territory, known as Wadi Madha. It is located halfway between the Musandam peninsula and the rest of Oman, on the Dubai-Hatta road in the Emirate of Sharjah. It covers approximately 75 square kilometres (29 sq mi) and the boundary was settled in 1589. The north-east corner of Madha is closest to the Khor Fakkan-Fujairah road, barely 10 metres (33 ft) away. Within the enclave is a UAE exclave called Nahwa, also belonging to the Emirate of Sharjah (formerly known as Bhubi Dhubhi). It is about 8 kilometres (5 mi) on a dirt

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The Climate in UAE

The climate of the UAE generally is hot and dry. The hottest months are July and August, when average maximum temperatures reach above 48° C (118° F) on the coastal plain. In the Al Hajar al Gharbi Mountains, temperatures are considerably cooler, a result of increased altitude. Average minimum temperatures in January and February are between 10°C (50°F) and 14°C (57°F). During the late summer months, a humid southeastern wind known as the sharqi makes the coastal region especially unpleasant. The average annual rainfall in the coastal area is fewer than 120 mm (5 in), but in some mountainous areas annual rainfall often reaches 350 mm (14 in). Rain in the coastal region falls in short, torrential bursts during the summer months, sometimes resulting in floods in ordinarily dry wadi beds. The region is prone to occasional, violent dust storms, which can severely reduce visibility. The Jebel Jais mountain cluster in Ras al Khaimah has experienced snow only twice since records began.

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The Geographical Area of UAE

The United Arab Emirates is situated in Southwest Asia, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia; it is in a strategic location along southern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil. The UAE lies between 22°50′ and 26° north latitude and between 51° and 56°25′ east longitude. It shares a 530-kilometer border with Saudi Arabia on the west, south, and southeast, and a 450-kilometer border with Oman on the southeast and northeast. The land border with Qatar in the Khawr al Udayd area is a source of ongoing dispute . The total area of the UAE is approximately 77,700 square kilometers. The country’s exact size is unknown because of disputed claims to several islands in the Persian Gulf, because of the lack of precise information on the size of many of these islands, and because most of its land boundaries, especially with Saudi Arabia, remain undemarcated. The largest emirate, Abu Dhabi, accounts for 87 percent of the UAE’s total area (67,340 square kilometers). The smallest emirate, Ajman, encompasses only 259 square kilometers (see figure).

The UAE stretches for more than 650 kilometers along the southern shore of the Persian Gulf. Most of the coast consists of salt pans that extend far inland. The largest natural harbor is at Dubai, although other ports have been dredged at Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and elsewhere. Numerous islands are found in the gulf, and the ownership of some of them has been the subject of international disputes with both Iran and Qatar. The smaller islands, as well as many coral reefs and shifting sandbars, are a menace to navigation. Strong tides and occasional windstorms further complicate ship movements near the shore.

The UAE also extends for about 90 kilometers along the Gulf of Oman, an area known as the Al Batinah coast. The Al Hajar al Gharbi (Western Al Hajar) Mountains, rising in places to 2,500 meters, separate the Al Batinah coast from the rest of the UAE. Beginning at the UAE-Oman border on the Persian Gulf coast of the Ras Musandam (Musandam Peninsula), the Al Hajar al Gharbi Mountains extend southeastward for about 150 kilometers to the southernmost UAE-Oman frontier on the Gulf of Oman. The range continues as the Al Hajar ash Sharqi (Eastern Al Hajar) Mountains for more than 500 kilometers into Oman. The steep mountain slopes run directly to the shore in many places. Nevertheless, there are small harbors at Dibba Al-Hisn, Kalba, and Khor Fakkan on the Gulf of Oman. In the vicinity of Al Fujayrah, where the mountains do not approach the coast, there are sandy beaches.

South and west of Abu Dhabi, vast, rolling sand dunes merge into the Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter) of Saudi Arabia. The desert area of Abu Dhabi includes two important oases with adequate underground water for permanent settlements and cultivation. The extensive Al Liwa Oasis is in the south near the undefined border with Saudi Arabia, and about 100 kilometers to the northeast is the Al Buraymi Oasis, which extends on both sides of the Abu Dhabi-Oman border.

Prior to withdrawing from the area in 1971, Britain delineated the internal borders among the seven emirates in order to preempt territorial disputes that might hamper formation of the federation. In general, the rulers of the emirates accepted the British intervention, but in the case of boundary disputes between Abu Dhabi and Dubayy, and also between Dubayy and Sharjah, conflicting claims were not resolved until after the UAE became independent. The most complicated borders were in the Al Hajar al Gharbi Mountains, where five of the emirates contested jurisdiction over more than a dozen enclaves.

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UAE's Political Way

The UAE’s political and governmental structure is composed within a framework of a federal presidential elected monarchy and composed of a federation of the seven Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm al Qaiwain.

The Presidency and Premiership of the United Arab Emirates is de facto hereditary to the Al Nahyan clan of Abu Dhabi and the Al Maktoum clan of Dubai. The President of the United Arab Emirates and the head of state is the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, is the ruler of Dubai and the head of government. The political influences and financial obligations of the Emirates are reflected by respective positions in the Federal government. While each Emirate still retains autonomy over own territory, a percentage of its revenue is allocated to the UAE’s central budget.

The federal system includes the executive branch which consists of the President, Vice President, the Federal Supreme Council (composed of the Emirates’ seven rulers), and a Cabinet, or Council of Ministers. The legislative branch consists of a parliamentary body, the Federal National Council. A constitutionally independent judiciary includes the Federal Supreme Court.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the union’s president from the nation’s founding until his death on November 2, 2004. The Federal Supreme Council elected his son, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president the next day. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the heir apparent.

The Supreme Council elects the Council of Ministers, while an appointed/elected forty-member Federal National Council, drawn from all the emirates, reviews proposed laws. The UAE’s parliamentary body represents the Emirates, and is half appointed by the rulers of the constituent states and the other half elected indirectly to serve two-year terms. The council carries out the country’s main consultative duties and has both a legislative and supervisory role provided by the Constitution.

There is a federal court system; all emirates except Ras al-Khaimah have joined the federal system; all emirates have both secular and Islamic law for civil, criminal, and high courts.

The UAE took its first steps towards indirect elections for the country’s parliament on National Day, December 2, 2005 upon the official announcement by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan which followed the formation of an Electoral College. A National Electoral Committee was created and the UAE’s first election occurred during mid-December 2006. The election and appointment of nine women (comprising 22.5 per cent of the Council) strongly signified advancement and political participation of women in the United Arab Emirates. The long-term objective is for the FNC to be wholly-elected.

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United Arab Emirates History

The United Arab Emirates was formed from the group of tribally organized Arabian Peninsula sheikhdoms along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf and the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Oman.

This area was converted to Islam in the 7th century; for centuries it was embroiled in dynastic disputes. It became known as the Pirate Coast as raiders based there harassed foreign shipping, although both European and Arab navies patrolled the area from the 17th century into the 19th century. Early British expeditions to protect the India trade from raiders at Ras al-Khaimah led to campaigns against that headquarters and other harbors along the coast in 1819 . The next year, a general peace treaty was signed to which all the principal shaikhs of the coast adhered. Raids continued intermittently until 1835 , when the shaikhs agreed not to engage in hostilities at sea. In 1853 , they signed a treaty with the United Kingdom, under which the sheikhs (the "Trucial Sheikhdoms") agreed to a "perpetual maritime truce." It was enforced by the United Kingdom, and disputes among shaikhs were referred to the British for settlement.

Primarily in reaction to the ambitions of other European countries, the United Kingdom and the Trucial Sheikhdoms established closer bonds in an 1892 treaty, similar to treaties entered into by the UK with other Persian Gulf principalities. The shaikhs agreed not to dispose of any territory except to the United Kingdom and not to enter into relationships with any foreign government other than the United Kingdom without its consent. In return, the British promised to protect the Trucial Coast from all aggression by sea and to help out in case of land attack.

In 1955, the United Kingdom sided with Abu Dhabi in the latter’s dispute with Saudi Arabia over the Buraimi Oasis and other territory to the south. A 1974 agreement between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia would have settled the Abu Dhabi-Saudi border dispute; however, the agreement has yet to be ratified by the UAE Government and is not recognized by the Saudi Government. The border with Oman also remains officially unsettled, but the two governments agreed to delineate the border in May 1999.

In the early 1960s Dubai was ahead of all the other states even that oil was not yet discovered in its territories. Abu Dhabi was behind until His Highness Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan became ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1967.

The British had started earlier a development office that helped in some small developments in the Emirates. The shaiks of the Emirates decided then to form a council to coordinate matters between them and took over the development office. They formed the Trucial States Council,  and appointed Adi Bitar; Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum’s Legal Advisor as Secretary General and Legal Advisor to the Council. The Council was terminated once the United Arab Emirates was formed

In 1968, the UK announced its decision, reaffirmed in March 1971 , to end the treaty relationships with the seven Trucial Sheikhdoms which had been, together with Bahrain and Qatar, under British protection. The nine attempted to form a union of Arab Emirates, but by mid-1971 they were unable to agree on terms of union, even though the termination date of the British treaty relationship was the end of 1971.

Bahrain became independent in August and Qatar in September 1971. When the British-Trucial Shaikhdoms treaty expired on December 1, 1971, they became fully independent.

The Rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai decided to form a union between their two Emirates independently, prepare a constitution, then call the Rulers of the other five emirates to a meeting and offer them to join. It was also agreed between both of them that Adi Bitar write the constitution and have it ready by 2 December 1971.

On December 2, 1971, at the Dubai Guesthouse Palace four other Emirates agreed to join and enter into a union of six Emirates called the United Arab Emirates. Ras al-Khaimah joined later, in early 1972.

The UAE became a positive element in the region and had an important role to play in engaging in good relations with all its neighboring countries. The UAE sent forces to liberate Kuwait during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War.

On November 2, 2004, the UAE’s first and only president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, died. His eldest son Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan succeeded him as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. In accordance with the Constitution, the UAE’s Supreme Council of Rulers elected Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan as UAE Federal President. Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan succeeded Khalifa as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

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The Seven States of United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة‎, transliteration: Dawlat al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) is a federation of seven states situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The seven states, termed emirates, are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain.

The UAE, rich in oil and natural gas, has become highly prosperous after gaining foreign direct investment funding in the 1970s. The country has a relatively high Human Development Index for the Asian continent, ranking 31st globally, and had a GDP purchasing power parity of $200.5 billion in 2009 according to the IMF.

Before 1971, the UAE were known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a nineteenth-century truce between Britain and several Arab Sheikhs. The name Pirate Coast was also used in reference to the area’s emirates in the 18th to early 20th century.

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