The Middle East up close: the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is on the Arabian Peninsula, on the coast of the Persian Gulf (also called the Arabian Gulf), next to Saudi Arabia and Oman.
It is a federation of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi (the capital and largest), Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. The federation was formed on 2 December 1971 by six emirates; Ras Al Khaimah joined in February 1972.
It has a hot desert climate: very hot summers and very little rain. Inland are sand dunes reaching into the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter); the Hajar Mountains rise in the east.

Before oil, coastal towns lived from pearl diving, fishing and trade by sea. The pearl trade collapsed in the 1930s, partly because cheaper cultured pearls from Japan flooded the market.
Oil was discovered off Abu Dhabi in 1958, and exports began in 1962. Dubai found oil in 1966.
Oil money paid for roads, ports, airports, schools, hospitals and new cities, and drew in large numbers of migrant workers. Today most of the UAE's residents are foreign nationals.

Oil will not last for ever, so the UAE has diversified its economy, especially in Dubai:
Trade: Jebel Ali Port (opened 1979) is one of the world's largest container ports.
Aviation: Emirates airline (founded 1985), and Dubai International is one of the world's busiest airports for international passengers.
Tourism and property: the Burj Khalifa (828 m, opened 2010) and the Palm Jumeirah, an artificial island built by land reclamation.
Challenges: almost no rivers, so most drinking water comes from desalination, which uses a lot of energy; high energy use for air conditioning; and pressure on fragile coastal and desert ecosystems. Dubai hosted the UN climate summit COP28 in 2023.