50 Fun Facts About United Arab Emirates

How many emirates make up the United Arab Emirates?

Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. Bahrain and Qatar were meant to join but went their own way in 1971.

Which city is the national capital of the UAE?

Its emirate covers 87% of the country's land and holds most of the oil. Dubai is the biggest city but not the capital.

In which year did the UAE become an independent federation?

Six emirates united on 2 December 1971 as Britain ended its treaties; Ras Al Khaimah joined on 10 January 1972.

Which emirate joined the federation last, in January 1972?

Its ruler had held out over the Iranian seizure of the Tunb islands. It will host the country's first casino resort in 2027.

Before independence the emirates were a British protectorate known collectively as what?

The name came from 19th-century truces against piracy signed with Britain. The Trucial Oman Scouts kept the peace between the sheikhs.

Who was the UAE's first president, ruling from 1971 until his death in 2004?

Ruler of Abu Dhabi, he poured oil money into schools, hospitals and roads and is buried at the grand mosque that bears his name.

Before oil, which industry sustained the Gulf sheikhdoms until it collapsed in the 1930s?

The Depression and Japan's invention of the cultured pearl killed it, and India's post-war import tax finished it off, leaving deep poverty.

The Trucial Coast's first commercial oil strike came in 1958 at which offshore field?

The rig sat over an old pearl bed. Exports began in 1962; onshore, the Murban No. 3 well came in near Tarif in 1960.

Which famous French marine explorer led one of the undersea oil surveys off Abu Dhabi in the 1950s?

BP and the future Total had formed Abu Dhabi Marine Areas to explore the seabed the pearl divers had once worked.

On the eve of independence in 1971, Iran seized which islands claimed by the emirates?

Two British warships stood idle. Sharjah's ruler had already leased Abu Musa to the Shah for $3 million a year; the dispute is still unresolved.

Roughly what share of the UAE's population are Emirati citizens?

Indians alone make up about a quarter of residents in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman. The country has the world's highest net migration rate.

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai stands about how tall?

Just over half a mile. It was called Burj Dubai until its 2010 opening, when it was renamed for Abu Dhabi's ruler after a bailout.

In February 2021 the UAE became the first Arab country to reach Mars with a probe named what?

Al-Amal launched from Japan in July 2020. The UAE was only the fifth nation to reach Mars and the second to succeed on its first try.

How old was Abdullah Mohammed Al Maainah when he designed the UAE flag in 1971?

He won a nationwide design contest and later became a diplomat. The colours are the pan-Arab colours of unity.

The UAE's currency, the dirham, is pegged to what?

Each dirham is 100 fils. VAT of 5% arrived only in 2018 and there is still no personal income tax.

In which year did the UAE introduce value-added tax, at a rate of 5%?

It gave the government about 6% of revenue in its first year, loosening the grip of oil and gas, which still provide around 36%.

Which is the smallest of the seven emirates, at just 259 square kilometres?

Abu Dhabi, by contrast, is 67,340 square kilometres.

Which emirate is the only one with its coast on the Gulf of Oman rather than the Persian Gulf?

Its Hajar Mountains and east-coast beaches draw tourists, and its port lets oil bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

Wadi Madha, an exclave surrounded by the UAE and itself containing the UAE exclave Nahwa, belongs to which country?

The doughnut-within-a-doughnut sits in Sharjah's territory. Oman's Musandam Peninsula at the Strait of Hormuz is also cut off by the UAE.

The UAE shares land borders with only two countries. Which?

The Saudi border deal of 1974 was never ratified and a short frontier claimed with Qatar is disputed. Iran lies across the Gulf.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi holds which world record?

It has 82 domes, more than 1,000 columns and gold-gilded chandeliers, and Sheikh Zayed is buried in its grounds.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina was the first Formula One race to do what?

The twilight race has closed the F1 season since 2009 and decided the 2010 and 2021 championships.

To end the use of children riding racing camels, what did UAE camel races adopt instead?

Remote-controlled robots ride the camels while owners follow in 4x4s. Activist Ansar Burney is credited with pushing the reform.

Which traditional sport, a UAE national symbol since 1971, is UNESCO-recognised intangible heritage?

The falcon appears on the national emblem, and Abu Dhabi runs a dedicated falcon hospital.

In which year did the UAE make its only appearance at the FIFA World Cup?

They finished 24th of 24 in Italy. The team reached the Asian Cup final as hosts in 1996 and won the Gulf Cup in 2007 and 2013.

Which Premier League club is owned by a group controlled by Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed?

The group also owns New York City FC, Melbourne City, Girona and Palermo, among others.

The headquarters of which world sporting body has been in Dubai Sports City since 2005?

The UAE hosted the 2021 T20 World Cup and served as Pakistan's home ground for nearly a decade after the 2009 Lahore attack.

In August 2020 the UAE normalised relations with Israel under which US-brokered agreement?

Bahrain signed the same day. Abu Dhabi's Abrahamic Family House now holds a mosque, church and synagogue side by side.

In April 2026 the UAE announced it was quitting which organisation, partly to pump more oil?

The exit took effect on 1 May 2026, weeks after Iranian drone and missile strikes hit Emirati infrastructure during the Iran war.

Barakah, opened in the UAE, is the first facility of what kind on the Arabian Peninsula?

Built by a Korean consortium, its four reactors are meant to cut the carbon footprint of a country that ranks among the world's biggest per-capita emitters.

The UAE ranks about seventh in the world for reserves of which two resources?

Yet the economy is the most diversified in the Gulf; oil now contributes less than 1% of Dubai's output.

Which two cities together hold more than two-thirds of the UAE's population?

Dubai's emirate has about 36% of the population and Abu Dhabi's 31%. Dubai city alone passed four million in 2025, 92% of them expatriates.

In which year did Dubai declare itself a free port, laying the ground for its rise as a trade hub?

Founded as a pearling village in the early 18th century, it dredged and extended the Creek in 1961 and diversified away from oil from the 1990s.

Which language is the most widely spoken in the UAE, though Arabic is official?

It is the language of business and follows British conventions. Emirati Arabic is a variety of Gulf Arabic.

The UAE's male-to-female ratio of 2.2 to 1 is the second most lopsided in the world after which country?

Both are driven by armies of male migrant workers. Life expectancy in the UAE is the highest of any Arab country.

Which famous Emirati sweet, small deep-fried dough balls drizzled with date syrup, is served at celebrations?

Machboos, spiced rice with meat, and threed, bread soaked in stew, are the savoury staples, and coffee comes with cardamom or saffron.

Which city hosted the first Gulf Cooperation Council summit in 1981?

The UAE joined the Arab League on 6 December 1971 and the United Nations three days later.

In which year did the UAE hold its first national elections, for half the Federal National Council?

Only a hand-picked electorate voted, and the 40-member council remains advisory.

Which body of the seven ruling emirs is the UAE's highest authority and chooses the president?

By convention Abu Dhabi's ruler is president and Dubai's is prime minister. Mohamed bin Zayed became president in May 2022.

Which British prime minister announced in 1968 that treaties with the Trucial sheikhdoms would end?

Sheikh Zayed offered to pay the full cost of keeping British forces, and was refused. Heath's government confirmed the withdrawal in 1971.

Which two Gulf states were meant to join the federation but became independent separately in 1971?

Nine sheikhdoms had tried to agree terms; the two richest went it alone in August and September 1971.

Roughly what proportion of the UAE's population lives in cities?

The population grew from about 550,000 in 1975 to over 11 million by 2024, almost entirely through immigration.

Which theme park operator announced in 2025 its first Middle East park, in Abu Dhabi?

Yas Island already hosts Ferrari World and Warner Bros. World; Ras Al Khaimah's Wynn resort was licensed as the country's first casino.

The UAE sits just south of which strategic waterway through which much of the world's oil is shipped?

Oman's Musandam Peninsula, cut off from the rest of Oman by the UAE, forms the southern shore of the strait.

In 2020, the UAE hosted the entire season of which foreign cricket competition during the pandemic?

It had earlier hosted parts of the 2014 IPL and did so again in 2021, along with the Pakistan Super League.

Snow was first recorded in the UAE in December 2004 on which mountain cluster in Ras al-Khaimah?

It has snowed there only twice since records began, though hail has been sighted more often.

Sheikh Zayed's 1970s conservation programme that saved the Arabian oryx was based on which island?

Intensive hunting had brought the native fauna close to extinction; Arabian camels and leopards also survived thanks to the scheme.

Which Emirati club reached the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup final, losing to Real Madrid?

The same club won the AFC Champions League in 2003 and again in 2024.

What is Salik, launched in Dubai in July 2007?

The name means 'open' or 'clear'; RFID tags deduct a fee from a prepaid account at each tolling point.

Which emirate's Heritage District of 17 museums earned it the title Cultural Capital of the Arab World in 1998?

Abu Dhabi later built its own culture district on Saadiyat Island, home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.