Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the largest emirate and capital of the United Arab Emirates, occupying 84 per cent of the national landmass territory. It has 200 islands and a long coastline stretching 700km.
Abu Dhabi has become a centre for world-class sporting events such as: the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, the prestigious Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge cross-country rally and the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
About United Arab Emirates
Capital
Abu Dhabi city is the capital of the UAE Federation.
Founder
H. H. late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the first President of the UAE and is known as the Father of the Nation.
Political system
The UAE is a constitutional federation of seven emirates.
Official language
The official language of the UAE is Arabic. Other widely spoken languages include: Bengali, English, Farsi, Hindi, Malayalam, Mandarin, Nepali, Russian, Sinhalese, Tagalog and Urdu.
Religion
Islam is the official religion in the UAE; practice of other religions is allowed.
Location
The UAE is located in the North East of the Arab Peninsula and covers an area that looks like a triangle.
Area
The UAE area is approximately 71,023.6sq km of land, including some islands in the Arab Gulf, in addition to 27,624.9sq km of territorial water. Abu Dhabi accounts for 84 per cent of the country's total landmass.
Geographic coordinates
The UAE is situated at:
Longitude: 51° 35’ - 57°10’ east
Latitude: 22°35’ - 26°25’ north
Time
The UAE is 4 hours ahead of GMT.
Climate
The UAE maintains a desert climate. It is warm and sunny in the winter and during the summer, it is hot and humid. It is generally cooler in the eastern mountains.
Monetary unit/currency
The Emirati Dirham is the official currency of the UAE, abbreviated officially as AED. Unofficial abbreviations include Dh and Dhs.
The dirham is divided into 100 fils.
Coins are in the following denomination: AED 1, 50 fils and 25 fils.
Notes or bills are in the denomination of AED 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000.
Exchange rate
The UAE Dirham is pegged to the USD. 1 USD = AED 3.6725.
Working days
Government and semi-government offices operate from Sunday to Thursday.
Some private companies are closed only on Fridays while others are closed on both Fridays and Saturdays.
Telecommunications
International dialling code: +971
Nationality
All UAE citizens in the seven emirates carry the unified nationality of the UAE, which is recognised internationally. The demonym is Emirati.
Population
According to Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, the UAE's total population (nationals and expatriate residents) was 9,304,277 in 2017, as compared to 9,121,167 in 2016. Males outnumber females.
There are more than 200 nationalities living and working in the UAE. The expatriate community outnumbers the population of UAE nationals.
Indians form the largest foreign community in the UAE, followed by Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, other Asians, Europeans and Africans.
Imports and exports
The non-oil foreign trade (direct trade and free zones) amounted to 1.527.8trillion dirhams during 2017. The breakup is as follows:
Imports: 946.5 billion dirham
Non-oil exports: 181 billion dirham
Re-exports: 400.3 billion dirham.
Natural resources and energy
Oil and gas
The UAE holds 4 per cent of the world's proven oil reserves and 3.5 per cent of proven gas reserves, estimated at 97.8 million barrels and 6,091 cubic metres respectively.
The UAE is ranked as the seventh largest proved reserves of both oil and natural gas globally.
Most of the UAE' reserves (95 per cent of the nation's oil reserves and about 94 per cent of its gas reserves) are in Abu Dhabi, both offshore and onshore.
Electricity
Domestic supply is 220 volts. Sockets suitable for three-pin 13 AMPs plugs of British standard design are the norm. Appliances have two-pin plugs attached.
In 2016, the total installed capacity of electricity in the UAE reached 28761 megawatts (MW), which utilises natural gas.
The per capita consumption rate of electricity was 12,883 kWh per day in 2016.
Water
The water consumed in the UAE is mainly desalinated, with an average per capita consumption rate of 500 litres per day.
According to State of Energy Report 2015, the installed capacity for desalinated and groundwater reached 1,604 million imperial gallons (7,3 million cubic meters) per day, while the production of desalinated water was 441,016 million imperial gallons (2 billion cubic meters) per year as of 2016.
Tap water produced by desalination is safe to drink; however, bottled water is preferred by most residents and tourists and priced reasonably in general.
Solar energy
In 2013, the UAE was ranked third in the world in the production of concentrated solar power (CSP).
In 2016, roughly 333 GW.h of solar power was being generated in the UAE.
Nuclear energy
The UAE adopted a nuclear programme for production of electricity. Four reactors are being built at the nuclear power plant in Baraka in the Western Region of the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Upon the completion of this programme, a production capacity of up to 5600MW will be added to the national grid by 2020.
Source: Government.ae
About United Arab Emirates
Capital
Abu Dhabi city is the capital of the UAE Federation.
Founder
H. H. late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the first President of the UAE and is known as the Father of the Nation.
Political system
The UAE is a constitutional federation of seven emirates.
Official language
The official language of the UAE is Arabic. Other widely spoken languages include: Bengali, English, Farsi, Hindi, Malayalam, Mandarin, Nepali, Russian, Sinhalese, Tagalog and Urdu.
Religion
Islam is the official religion in the UAE; practice of other religions is allowed.
Location
The UAE is located in the North East of the Arab Peninsula and covers an area that looks like a triangle.
Area
The UAE area is approximately 71,023.6sq km of land, including some islands in the Arab Gulf, in addition to 27,624.9sq km of territorial water. Abu Dhabi accounts for 84 per cent of the country's total landmass.
Geographic coordinates
The UAE is situated at:
Longitude: 51° 35’ - 57°10’ east
Latitude: 22°35’ - 26°25’ north
Time
The UAE is 4 hours ahead of GMT.
Climate
The UAE maintains a desert climate. It is warm and sunny in the winter and during the summer, it is hot and humid. It is generally cooler in the eastern mountains.
Monetary unit/currency
The Emirati Dirham is the official currency of the UAE, abbreviated officially as AED. Unofficial abbreviations include Dh and Dhs.
The dirham is divided into 100 fils.
Coins are in the following denomination: AED 1, 50 fils and 25 fils.
Notes or bills are in the denomination of AED 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000.
Exchange rate
The UAE Dirham is pegged to the USD. 1 USD = AED 3.6725.
Working days
Government and semi-government offices operate from Sunday to Thursday.
Some private companies are closed only on Fridays while others are closed on both Fridays and Saturdays.
Telecommunications
International dialling code: +971
Nationality
All UAE citizens in the seven emirates carry the unified nationality of the UAE, which is recognised internationally. The demonym is Emirati.
Population
According to Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, the UAE's total population (nationals and expatriate residents) was 9,304,277 in 2017, as compared to 9,121,167 in 2016. Males outnumber females.
There are more than 200 nationalities living and working in the UAE. The expatriate community outnumbers the population of UAE nationals.
Indians form the largest foreign community in the UAE, followed by Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, other Asians, Europeans and Africans.
Imports and exports
The non-oil foreign trade (direct trade and free zones) amounted to 1.527.8trillion dirhams during 2017. The breakup is as follows:
Imports: 946.5 billion dirham
Non-oil exports: 181 billion dirham
Re-exports: 400.3 billion dirham.
Natural resources and energy
Oil and gas
The UAE holds 4 per cent of the world's proven oil reserves and 3.5 per cent of proven gas reserves, estimated at 97.8 million barrels and 6,091 cubic metres respectively.
The UAE is ranked as the seventh largest proved reserves of both oil and natural gas globally.
Most of the UAE' reserves (95 per cent of the nation's oil reserves and about 94 per cent of its gas reserves) are in Abu Dhabi, both offshore and onshore.
Electricity
Domestic supply is 220 volts. Sockets suitable for three-pin 13 AMPs plugs of British standard design are the norm. Appliances have two-pin plugs attached.
In 2016, the total installed capacity of electricity in the UAE reached 28761 megawatts (MW), which utilises natural gas.
The per capita consumption rate of electricity was 12,883 kWh per day in 2016.
Water
The water consumed in the UAE is mainly desalinated, with an average per capita consumption rate of 500 litres per day.
According to State of Energy Report 2015, the installed capacity for desalinated and groundwater reached 1,604 million imperial gallons (7,3 million cubic meters) per day, while the production of desalinated water was 441,016 million imperial gallons (2 billion cubic meters) per year as of 2016.
Tap water produced by desalination is safe to drink; however, bottled water is preferred by most residents and tourists and priced reasonably in general.
Solar energy
In 2013, the UAE was ranked third in the world in the production of concentrated solar power (CSP).
In 2016, roughly 333 GW.h of solar power was being generated in the UAE.
Nuclear energy
The UAE adopted a nuclear programme for production of electricity. Four reactors are being built at the nuclear power plant in Baraka in the Western Region of the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Upon the completion of this programme, a production capacity of up to 5600MW will be added to the national grid by 2020.
Source: Government.ae