50 free United Arab Emirates trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The United Arab Emirates went from pearl-diving sheikhdoms to skyscrapers and a Mars probe in one lifetime, and this quiz covers the whole story: the Portuguese forts, the pirate coast and the British truces, the collapse of pearling, the first oil at Umm Shaif in 1958, Britain's withdrawal, the union of 2 December 1971 under Sheikh Zayed, the seventh emirate that joined a month late, and the modern federation of Abu Dhabi's oil and Dubai's towers. Easy questions ask for the capital, the biggest city, the number of emirates and the tallest building on Earth; the harder ones want the smallest emirate, the Omani exclave inside Sharjah, the 19-year-old who designed the flag, the islands seized by Iran on the eve of independence, the year VAT arrived, the Grand Prix that starts in daylight and ends at night, and the probe named Hope. There is also falconry, robot camel jockeys, the dirham's peg, the world's biggest hand-knotted carpet, City Football Group and the day the UAE quit OPEC. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the country, its emirates and its history, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many emirates make up the United Arab Emirates?
Seven
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.
Q 02Which city is the national capital of the UAE?
Abu Dhabi
Its emirate covers 87% of the country's land and holds most of the oil. Dubai is the biggest city but not the capital.
Q 03In which year did the UAE become an independent federation?
1971
Six emirates united on 2 December 1971 as Britain ended its treaties; Ras Al Khaimah joined on 10 January 1972.
Q 04Which emirate joined the federation last, in January 1972?
Ras Al Khaimah
Its ruler had held out over the Iranian seizure of the Tunb islands. It will host the country's first casino resort in 2027.
Q 05Before independence the emirates were a British protectorate known collectively as what?
The Trucial States
The name came from 19th-century truces against piracy signed with Britain. The Trucial Oman Scouts kept the peace between the sheikhs.
Q 06Who was the UAE's first president, ruling from 1971 until his death in 2004?
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Ruler of Abu Dhabi, he poured oil money into schools, hospitals and roads and is buried at the grand mosque that bears his name.
Q 07Before oil, which industry sustained the Gulf sheikhdoms until it collapsed in the 1930s?
Pearling
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.
Q 08The Trucial Coast's first commercial oil strike came in 1958 at which offshore field?
Umm Shaif
The rig sat over an old pearl bed. Exports began in 1962; onshore, the Murban No. 3 well came in near Tarif in 1960.
Q 09Which famous French marine explorer led one of the undersea oil surveys off Abu Dhabi in the 1950s?
Jacques Cousteau
BP and the future Total had formed Abu Dhabi Marine Areas to explore the seabed the pearl divers had once worked.
Q 10On the eve of independence in 1971, Iran seized which islands claimed by the emirates?
The Tunbs and Abu Musa
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.
Q 11Roughly what share of the UAE's population are Emirati citizens?
About 11%
Indians alone make up about a quarter of residents in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman. The country has the world's highest net migration rate.
Q 12The Burj Khalifa in Dubai stands about how tall?
830 metres
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.
Q 13In February 2021 the UAE became the first Arab country to reach Mars with a probe named what?
Hope
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.
Q 21The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi holds which world record?
Largest hand-knotted carpet
It has 82 domes, more than 1,000 columns and gold-gilded chandeliers, and Sheikh Zayed is buried in its grounds.
Q 22The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina was the first Formula One race to do what?
Start in daylight and finish at night
The twilight race has closed the F1 season since 2009 and decided the 2010 and 2021 championships.
Q 23To end the use of children riding racing camels, what did UAE camel races adopt instead?
Robot jockeys
Q 14How old was Abdullah Mohammed Al Maainah when he designed the UAE flag in 1971?
19
He won a nationwide design contest and later became a diplomat. The colours are the pan-Arab colours of unity.
Q 15The UAE's currency, the dirham, is pegged to what?
The US dollar
Each dirham is 100 fils. VAT of 5% arrived only in 2018 and there is still no personal income tax.
Q 16In which year did the UAE introduce value-added tax, at a rate of 5%?
2018
It gave the government about 6% of revenue in its first year, loosening the grip of oil and gas, which still provide around 36%.
Q 17Which is the smallest of the seven emirates, at just 259 square kilometres?
Ajman
Abu Dhabi, by contrast, is 67,340 square kilometres.
Q 18Which emirate is the only one with its coast on the Gulf of Oman rather than the Persian Gulf?
Fujairah
Its Hajar Mountains and east-coast beaches draw tourists, and its port lets oil bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
Q 19Wadi Madha, an exclave surrounded by the UAE and itself containing the UAE exclave Nahwa, belongs to which country?
Oman
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.
Q 20The UAE shares land borders with only two countries. Which?
Oman and Saudi Arabia
The Saudi border deal of 1974 was never ratified and a short frontier claimed with Qatar is disputed. Iran lies across the Gulf.
Remote-controlled robots ride the camels while owners follow in 4x4s. Activist Ansar Burney is credited with pushing the reform.
Q 24Which traditional sport, a UAE national symbol since 1971, is UNESCO-recognised intangible heritage?
Falconry
The falcon appears on the national emblem, and Abu Dhabi runs a dedicated falcon hospital.
Q 25In which year did the UAE make its only appearance at the FIFA World Cup?
1990
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.
Q 26Which Premier League club is owned by a group controlled by Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed?
Manchester City
The group also owns New York City FC, Melbourne City, Girona and Palermo, among others.
Q 27The headquarters of which world sporting body has been in Dubai Sports City since 2005?
The International Cricket Council
The UAE hosted the 2021 T20 World Cup and served as Pakistan's home ground for nearly a decade after the 2009 Lahore attack.
Q 28In August 2020 the UAE normalised relations with Israel under which US-brokered agreement?
The Abraham Accords
Bahrain signed the same day. Abu Dhabi's Abrahamic Family House now holds a mosque, church and synagogue side by side.
Q 29In April 2026 the UAE announced it was quitting which organisation, partly to pump more oil?
OPEC
The exit took effect on 1 May 2026, weeks after Iranian drone and missile strikes hit Emirati infrastructure during the Iran war.
Q 30Barakah, opened in the UAE, is the first facility of what kind on the Arabian Peninsula?
Nuclear power plant
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.