by The most complicated borders were in the Western Hajar Mountains, where five of the emirates contested jurisdiction over more than a dozen enclaves. In general, the rulers of the emirates accepted the British interventions, but in the case of boundary disputes between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and also between Dubai and Sharjah, conflicting claims were not resolved until after the UAE became independent. 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.
Public schools in the country are free for citizens of the UAE, while the fees for private schools vary. The public schools are government-funded and the curriculum is created to match the United Arab Emirates’ development goals. Other religions also exist in the United Arab Emirates, including Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism, Baháʼís, and Druze.
Having assumed leadership of Abu Dhabi in 1966, he believed deeply that the emirates shared common history, culture and destiny. This is the story of how the emirates came together, why it mattered, and how that decision shaped the UAE we know today. Behind the colours and concerts lies a deeper story of bold leadership, difficult negotiations, and a shared belief that seven separate emirates could be stronger as one. Following the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team, the UAE served as the de facto home of the Pakistan national cricket team for nearly a decade, as well as hosting the Pakistan Super League. The UAE national cricket team has qualified for the Cricket World Cup on two occasions (1996 and 2015) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on two occasions (2014 and 2022). Notable grounds include the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in Sharjah, Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, and Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai.
The United Arab Emiratesb (UAE), also known simply as the Emirates,c is a country in West Asia, situated at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. Sharjah declared a ‘Child- and Family-Friendly” emirate Economically, the nation has travelled far beyond its early dependence on oil, with non-oil sectors now contributing over three-quarters of GDP. What began in 1971 as a bold political experiment between seven small Emirates has grown into a stable, secure and globally influential country. The UAE remains the only successful federal system in the Arab world to have endured and flourished over time. The country became officially known as Dawlat Al Imarat Al Arabiyya Al Muttahida – the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Eventually, the UAE passed laws banning the use of children for the sport, leading to the prompt removal of almost all child jockeys. Falconry, for example, has functioned as a national symbol since its inception in 1971. Aside from the leisure aspect, sports can play an important part in shaping national identity. The people of the United Arab Emirates have adopted most of their foods from other West and South Asian countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Pakistan, and India.
- British Members of Parliament (MPs) debated the preparedness of the Royal Navy to defend the sheikhdoms.
- On 14 May 2022, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was elected as the UAE’s new president after the death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
- The UAE is home to some pan-Arab broadcasters, including the Middle East Broadcasting Centre and Orbit Showtime Network.
- The United Arab Emirates is situated in the Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia; it is in a strategic location slightly south of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil.
This requirement is derived from Sharia law and has been federal law since 2005. Since September 2020, corporal punishment is no longer a legal form of punishment under UAE federal law. The UAE is also producing weapons and ammunition through Caracal International, military transport vehicles through Nimr LLC, and unmanned aerial vehicles collectively through Emirates Defence Industries Company. The UAE has begun production of a greater amount of military equipment, in a bid to reduce foreign dependence and help with national industrialisation. The UAE intervened in the Libyan Civil War in support of General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army in its conflict with the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). Gulf Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, showed interest in engaging with the Syrian transitional government to promote political transition and address regional concerns following the fall of the Assad regime.
A December 2024 report by European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR) highlights the country’s acute issue with unlawful, political persecution and absence of judicial independence. Repressive measures, including deportation, were applied on foreigners based on allegations of attempts to destabilize the country. Immigrant workers are often subject to harsh forms of the law within the country, and are often victims of arbitrary detention or torture within the country. In its 2025 Annual Report, Amnesty International has continuously identified severe human rights violations, particularly against freedom of assembly, freedom speech and an uptick in arbitrary arrest and torture. Human Rights Watch has reported on the country’s ongoing unfair mass trials, restrictions of freedom of speech and abuses to migrant labor forces. The country does not have any formal gaming laws, and therefore the project details about the casino were not completely made public.
A federal state that defied the odds
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the country’s first president (1971–2004), oversaw rapid development of the Emirates by investing revenues from newly found oil into healthcare, education, and infrastructure. Notable international tournaments hosted by the UAE have included the 2014 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, and three editions of the Asia Cup (1984, 1995, and 2018). There are a number of international cricket venues in the UAE, which are frequently used for international tournaments and “neutral” bilateral series due to the local climate and Dubai’s status as a transport hub. The headquarters of the International Cricket Council (ICC) have been located in the Dubai Sports City complex since 2005, including the ICC Academy which was established in 2009. Aside from the national prevalence of falconry, the UAE have played a formative role internationally in the co-ordination of UNESCO’s recognition of falconry as intangible heritage.
- This growth is mainly due to the influx of foreign workers into the country, making the national population a minority.
- The UAE has expanded its international influence, subsequently committing human rights abuses across national borders.
- Journalists who are arrested for violating this law are often brutally beaten by the police.
- The following year, Britain and a number of local rulers signed a maritime truce, giving rise to the term Trucial States, which came to define the status of the coastal emirates.
- The UAE introduced a mandatory military service for adult males, since 2014, for 16 months to expand its reserve force.
The historic Abu Dhabi–Dubai agreement
Foreigners living in the Emirates were allowed to follow their native country’s laws on divorce and inheritance. Recently, the emirate of Abu Dhabi opened a civil law family court for non-Muslims and Dubai has announced that non-Muslims can opt for civil marriages. Non-Muslim expatriates were liable to Sharia rulings on marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance, however, federal law was changed to introduce non-Sharia personal status law for non-Muslims.
Foreign relations
These developments are particularly evident in the larger https://chickenroadapp.in/ emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The UAE government implemented value-added tax (VAT) in the country from 1 January 2018, at a standard rate of 5%.While the government may still adjust the exact arrangement of the VAT, it is not likely that any new taxes will be introduced in the foreseeable future. Western states, including the United Kingdom, were also warned by the Emirati Trade Minister, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, to keep politics separate from trade and the economy, as it dilutes the agreements’ main objectives.
All associations have to be submitted to censorship guidelines and all publications have first to be approved by the government. In the UAE an association requires twenty individuals, none of which can have previous convictions and must be preauthorized and registered with the government. Freedom of association is also severely curtailed, and in most cases, banned under existing law. This development is expected to attract major gaming operators and contribute significantly to the country’s economy. The GCGRA also mandates player management tools, including deposit limits and cooling-off periods for online gaming.
Culture
In 2007, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum decreed that journalists can no longer be prosecuted or imprisoned for reasons relating to their work. The UAE is home to some pan-Arab broadcasters, including the Middle East Broadcasting Centre and Orbit Showtime Network. Six grand projects are planned, including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Three other poets from Sharjah, known as the Hirah group, are observed to have been heavily influenced by the Apollo and Romantic poets. The most famous Emirati writers were Mubarak Al Oqaili (1880–1954), Salem bin Ali al Owais (1887–1959), and Ahmed bin Sulayem (1905–1976).
Business and finance
On February 18, 1968, Sheikh Zayed met with Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the late Ruler of Dubai at Al Samha, near today’s Abu Dhabi–Dubai border. For the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Founding Father, the British withdrawal was not a setback but an opportunity. The discovery of oil in Abu Dhabi in 1962, followed by Dubai and Sharjah, transformed the region economically and politically.
This growth is mainly due to the influx of foreign workers into the country, making the national population a minority. They continue to face criticism for its ongoing contribution to climate change and human rights abuses, despite participating in these international events. They established a Soft Power Council in 2017 in order to address their international image. The country has been a leading supporter of Israel’s genocide in Gaza as well as funding the genocide in Sudan, through direct support and supply of weapons to the arab supremicist rebel group in the Sudanese civil war. The UAE has expanded its international influence, subsequently committing human rights abuses across national borders.
When Dubai’s oil exports commenced in 1969, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, was able to invest the revenues from the limited reserves found to spark the diversification drive that would create the modern global city of Dubai. As oil revenues increased, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, undertook a massive construction program, building schools, housing, hospitals, and roads. A number of undersea oil surveys were carried out, including one led by the famous marine explorer Jacques Cousteau. The tribal nature of society and the lack of definition of borders between emirates frequently led to disputes, settled either through mediation or, more rarely, force. In 1952, they formed the Trucial States Council, and appointed Adi Al Bitar, Dubai’s Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum’s legal advisor, as secretary general and legal advisor to the council. The British set up a development office that helped in some small developments in the emirates.
In 2023, the UAE’s legal system fell under international scrutiny, as the members of the British Parliament opened an inquiry into how the foreign business executives are treated in the country, in case of accusations of breaking the law. The seven sheikhs of the emirates then decided to form a council to coordinate matters between them and took over the development office. It is a federal semi-constitutional monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as its national capital. A united federation, he believed, would give the emirates strength, stability and international standing. The five most populous nationalities in the emirates of Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman are Indian (25%), Pakistani (12%), Emirati (9%), Bangladeshi (7%), and Filipino (5%).
In January 2008, France and the UAE signed a deal allowing France to set up a permanent military base in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The country had already signed a military defence agreement with the U.S. in 1994 and one with France in 1995. On 2 December 1971, six of the emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain) agreed to enter into a union named the United Arab Emirates. When the British-Trucial Sheikhdoms treaty expired on 1 December 1971, both emirates became fully independent. On 24 January 1968, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced the government’s decision, reaffirmed in March 1971 by Prime Minister Edward Heath, to end the treaty relationships with the seven trucial sheikhdoms.
Education
Dubai has an area of 3,885 square kilometres (1,500 square miles), which is equivalent to 5% of the country’s total area, excluding the islands. Abu Dhabi has an area of 67,340 square kilometres (26,000 square miles), which is 86.7% of the country’s total area, excluding the islands. The Emirate of Dubai is the most populous emirate with 35.6% of the UAE population. The country was ranked 91 out of 137 states and is far below the average scoring for development towards a democracy, and is the third least democratic country in the Middle East. The UAE ranks poorly in freedom indices measuring civil liberties and political rights. The UAE also has a National Youth Council, which is represented in the UAE cabinet by the Minister of Youth.
Before the establishment of the United Arab Emirates in 1971, the region was known as the Trucial States, a group of independent sheikhdoms along the Arabian Gulf coast.
The charge of piracy is disputed by modern Emirati historians, including the current ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan Al Qasimi, in his 1986 book The Myth of Arab Piracy in the Gulf. The harsh desert environment led to the emergence of the “versatile tribesman”, nomadic groups who subsisted due to a variety of economic activities, including animal husbandry, agriculture, and hunting. Individual rights such as the freedoms of assembly, association, expression, and the freedom of the press are severely repressed. The country has the most diversified economy among the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), having become less reliant on natural resources in the 21st century and increasingly focusing on tourism and business. The United Arab Emirates has the world’s seventh-largest oil reserves and seventh-largest natural gas reserves. As of 2024update, the UAE has an estimated population of over 10 million; Dubai is the country’s largest city.
France and the United States have played the most strategically significant roles with defence cooperation agreements and military material provision. Most officers are graduates of the United Kingdom’s Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, with others having attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Royal Military College, Duntroon in Australia, and St Cyr, the military academy of France. The UAE is considered to have the most capable military among the Gulf states. Pakistan was the first country to formally recognise the UAE upon its formation. The UAE tried to bring the matter to the International Court of Justice, but Iran dismissed the notion. Also, it is an observer in the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.
