The United Arab Emirates is a prosperous state of the Islamic world. One of the richest and safest countries, whose capital is growing every year. What is the local population doing? What nations live in the UAE?
What country is this?
In the east of the Arabian Peninsula, in Asia, the state of the United Arab Emirates is located. In the name of this country there is one not quite familiar word "Emirates". Therefore, before talking about the UAE, let's deal with this. The emirate, just like the sultanate, imamate and caliphate, is a state of the Islamic world with a monarchical form of government. There are few emirates in the world. In the Middle East, Qatar and Kuwait are also among them.
UAE is a federation that consists of seven "kingdoms": Dubai, Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Umm al-Qaiwain and Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah. Members of each of them are included in the Supreme Council of Rulers, and he chooses the president of the country. At the moment, the president is the ruler of Abu Dhabi - the largest city, the capital of the country. The Government is headed by the Emir of Dubai.
Each emirate has its own executive authorities, accountable to the head of state. The government strictly controls all political and economic processes in the country, so the UAE is one of the most stable world states.
UAE on the map
The country is located in southwest Asia, surrounded by Saudi Arabia (from the south and west), Qatar (from the northwest), Oman (from the north and east). It is washed by the waters of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. The total area of the United Arab Emirates is 83,600 square kilometers. The capital of the state, as mentioned above, is the city of Abu Dhabi, located in the emirate of the same name, which occupies more than 85% of the entire territory of the country. The smallest "kingdom" - Ajman, occupies only 250 square meters. km.
The territory of the UAE is mainly covered with rocky and sandy deserts. There are mountains in the north and east of the state. This exotic country is characterized by a tropical desert climate. It's hot and dry here. The temperature in summer can reach up to +50 degrees. In winter, the average temperature drops to +23 degrees.
S alt deposits are found in coastal regions. The bowels of the UAE are rich in uranium, coal, platinum, nickel, copper, chromite, iron ore, bauxite, magnesite. Although the main treasures of the country are oil and gas. In terms of oil reserves, the United Arab Emirates ranks seventh in the world, and fifth in terms of gas reserves. For the next hundred years, the state is fully provided with these precious resources.
Arab populationEmirates
The country has about 9 million inhabitants. The population of the United Arab Emirates is not very densely settled. Approximately 65 people live on one square kilometer. This figure is considered normal for European rather than Asian countries. The state is characterized by a high level of urbanization, the urban population prevails over the rural.
The largest city is Dubai. Back in the early 2000s, more than 30% of the total population of the UAE lived in the city. The next cities in terms of significance and size are Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, El Ain, etc. The population of Abu Dhabi is approximately 900 thousand people.
Most of the population lives in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, only 25% of all residents are concentrated in the rest of the emirates. The influx of labor provides a significant increase in the number. Over the past 5 years, the population of the United Arab Emirates has increased by 2 million.
Population structure
Since the state of the UAE appeared on the world map, it has begun active economic development. This, of course, led to the appearance of immigrants from other countries. Men are more likely to come to work in the country, so in recent years the male population has almost tripled the female population. Among local residents, the representatives of the stronger sex make up about 50%.
The population of the United Arab Emirates is quite young, 80% of the inhabitants are under 60 years old. The number of people over 60 is approximately 1.5%. A high level of development and social security ensures lowmortality and an extremely high birth rate.
Indigenous people make up 20%, the remaining 80% are from other countries, mainly from Asia and the Middle East. Citizens of the country are 12% of the population. Europeans make up about 2.5%. The country is approximately 49% ethnic Arabs. The most numerous peoples of the UAE are Indians and Pakistanis. Bedouins, Egyptians, Omanis, Saudi Arabs, Filipinos, Iranians live in the state. Most of them come from countries with a low standard of living, such as Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Tanzania.
Religion and language
The United Arab Emirates is an Islamic state. Almost all of its citizens are Muslims. Most of them are Sunnis, about 14% are Shiites. Half of the visitors also adhere to the Islamic religion. Approximately 26% of immigrants are Hindus, 9% are Christians. The rest are Buddhists, Sikhs, Baha'is.
In each of the emirates there are Christian churches. However, the government carefully supports Islam and Sharia law. According to the legislation of the country, it is strictly forbidden to convert Muslims to another faith. For such a violation, up to ten years in prison are given.
The official language is Arabic. English is often used in business communication, most of the residents are fluent in it. In the conversation of local residents, Bedouin vocabulary is mixed with classical Arabic. Baloch, Bengali, Somali, Farsi, Telugu, Pashto are common among immigrants. The most popular languages are Hindi and Urdu.
Economy andlabor force
The foundation of the state's economy is oil and natural gas production. More than 2 million barrels of oil are produced per day. At the same time, foreign trade, re-export of goods previously imported to the UAE, agriculture, and tourism are developing. The strength of the United Arab Emirates is the telecommunications sector, as well as a developed transit transport system.
The economically active population is 1.5 million people, a third of it is represented by foreigners. A couple of decades ago, the government of the United Arab Emirates resolved the issue with the workforce by creating decent working conditions and high wages for immigrants. Thanks to this, a wave of people who want to earn money poured into the country. Now almost 80% of visitors work in the service sector, about 14% are laborers in the industrial sector, and only 6% are in agriculture.
Important positions in politics, economics, finance and justice are held only by citizens of the UAE. Recently, the state has been taking measures to limit the influx of immigrants into the country. Mostly illegal immigrants are trying to weed out.
Citizens and immigrants
The policy of the United Arab Emirates towards its citizens is very loyal. As mentioned above, they occupy only prestigious positions. Citizens of the country can start working already in adolescence, while their first salary is already about 4 thousand dollars. The older an Emirati Arab gets, the higher his salary.
Education andmedicine is completely free. With excellent academic performance, future students are allowed to choose any world university for study without the obligation to return to the country. Upon reaching the age of majority, each Arab of the UAE is en titled to a piece of land and a certain amount of money. Almost the same privileges apply to local women, except for land.
It is quite difficult for immigrants to obtain local citizenship. The easiest way to do this is for residents of Arab countries. To do this, they must live in the country for 7 years, residents of Qatar, Bahrain and Oman - 3 years. In order for a child to be recognized as a citizen, his father must officially be a local Arab, it is impossible to automatically obtain citizenship. The majority of the UAE population has only a work visa.
Conclusion
The United Arab Emirates supports and protects its citizens in every possible way. All of them have the right to prestigious positions, significant amounts of money and land. However, out of 9 million inhabitants of the country, the truly local population represents only a small part. Most of the inhabitants are workers who come from other countries. High salaries, good working conditions force huge flows of people to arrive in the UAE every year to work mainly in the service sector.
