Geography


    Source: This image is the intellectual property of TUBS. Redistribution under licence CC BY-SA 3.0

    Area: 83,600 km2 (0% water)
    Coastline: 1,318 km
    Terrain: Barren coastal plain, vast desert, mountains in the east
    Highest point: Jabal Yibir 1,527 m (northeast, close to the border with Oman’s exclave on the Musandam Peninsula)
    Climate: desert, cooler in the east
    Geographical population distribution: more than 80% of the population is concentrated in the coastal cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah
    Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas

    Demographics

    Population: 11,346,000 (2025)

    Annual population growth: ~0.58% (2022 est.)

    Population estimate for 2025: 11,346,000

    Age distribution (2025)
    0–14 – 14.45%
    15–64 – 83.65%
    65+ – 1.90%

    Fertility rate (children per woman): ~1.46 (2022 est.)

    Birth rate (births per 1,000 people): ~10.8 (2022 est.)

    Death rate (deaths per 1,000 people): ~1.56 (2022 est.)

    Median age: ~31.6 years (2025)

    Life expectancy (at birth): ~83.2 years (2025 est.)
    Men – ~82.4 years
    Women – ~84.4 years

    Net migration: ~3.45 migrants per 1,000 population (2022 est.)

    Languages: Arabic (official); English, Hindi-Urdu, Malayalam, Tagalog, Persian widely spoken

    Religions: Majority Muslim (Sunni & Shia); also Christians, Hindus, and others

    Ethnic groups: Population primarily of South Asian origin; small percentage of Emiratis (~11–12%)

    Economy

    GDP: $568.6 billion (2025 est.)

    GDP per capita: $51,290 (2025 est.)

    Annual GDP growth rate: ~4% (2025 est.)

    Public debt (% of GDP): — data for 2025 not available

    Inflation (CPI): ~2.1% (2025 est.)

    Unemployment: ~3.36% (2021)

    Imports: — data for 2025 not available

    Exports: — data for 2025 not available

    Global Competitiveness Report: — 2025 estimate not available

    Index of Economic Freedom: — 2025 estimate not available

    Income Inequality Index (Gini): 26.0 (2018)

    Prosperity Index: — 2025 estimate not available

    Key figures for Q1 2025 (Abu Dhabi):

    GDP: AED 291 billion (+3.4%)

    Non-oil economy: +6.1% YoY — 56.2% of total GDP

    Non-oil business activity (July 2025):

    PMI: 52.9 — sluggish expansion at a slower pace, due to geopolitical and tourism-related tensions.

    Military Power

    Active Personnel: 65,000 (2021)
    Land Forces: 45,000
    Navy:3,000
    Air Force: 5,000

    Defence expenditure (% GDP): 5.6% (2014)

    Politics and Government

    Government type: Constitutional monarchy

    President: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (since May 2022)
    Prime Minister / Vice‑President: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (since January 2006)

    Executive branch: The President acts as chief of state and the Prime Minister acts as head of government. The President and Vice President are both elected from among the members of the Federal Supreme Council (FSC) and by the FSC itself, for a 5-year term without any term limits. The FSC is the highest executive body and it consists of rulers of the seven emirates constituting the federation. The Prime Minister is nominated by the President and approved by the FSC while the Council of Ministers is nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the President.

    Legislative branch: The FSC is also the highest legislative body. The Federal National Council (FNC) is the country’s parliament and it mainly acts as a consultative body as it cannot initiate new laws. Its powers are limited to reviewing legislation, proposing amendments and discussing the annual budget. The FNC consists of 40 members who serve 4-year terms, of which 20 are appointed by the rulers of each Emirate and the other 20 are elected by the electoral college of each Emirate. The members of the electoral college are chosen by each Emirate’s leader and since 2019 all seats of the FNC are distributed equally among men and women.

    Judicial branch: The country’s judicial system consists of the Federal Judiciary and the parallel local independent judicial departments of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah. The Federal Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority and is comprised of 5 judges appointed by the President of the UAE upon approval of the FSC. The Court of Cassation is highest court at the local level of the Emirates that have their judicial departments. There are Courts of First Instance and Courts of Appel at the federal and local level. Other courts of the UAE’s’ court system include the Labour court, Sharia court, Civil courts, Commercial courts and criminal courts.

    Parliamentary parties (seats): There are none; political parties are banned.

    Last elections: Parliamentary elections 2019 – Turnout was 34.81% out of 337,738 voters
    Next elections: Parliamentary elections 2023

    Rule of Law - Human Rights

    Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International)
    71/100 (2020 - position 21/180)

    Rule of Law Index (World Justice Project)
    0.65/1 (2020 - position 30/128)

    Global Terrorism Index (Institute for Economics & Peace)
    0.048/10 (2019 – position 130/163)

    Fragile States Index (Fund For Peace)
    40.3/120 (2021 – position 151/179)

    Democracy Index (Economist Intelligence Unit)
    2.70/10 (2020 – position 145/167)

    Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders)
    43.13/100 (2021 – position 131/180)

    Freedom in the World Index (Freedom House)
    27/100 (2021)

    Sources

    United Nations (UN – Population Division, UNdata, UNcomtrade), World Bank, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED – St. Louis Fed), Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), Composition of Religious and Ethnic Group Project (CREG – Cline Center for Advanced Social Research, University of Illinois), Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), The UAE Government Portal, New York University School of Law, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), NationMaster