United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates (الإمارات العربية المتحدة),[11] The United Arab Emirates (الإمارات) is a federal monarchy located in the southern Persian Gulf .

It is a union of seven small kingdoms ( Amirates ) located in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. The capital is Abu Dhabi (city) and the largest city by population is Dubai . The Emirate of Abu Dhabi alone accounts for more than 85% of the area of ​​the United Arab Emirates. By convention , the emir of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi , the most powerful of the seven small kingdoms, is elected president of the United Arab Emirates , and each amir holds a cabinet position depending on the influence of the small kingdoms.

For example, Dubai is second in rank within the UAE, so the Emir of Dubai is the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. Because the United Arab Emirates gained independence from Britain relatively recently on December 2, 1971, only three people have become president so far, and all three of these people were the Emir of Abu Dhabi.

The areas of each of the seven kingdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates are as follows.

It borders Saudi Arabia and Oman , and is close to Iran and Qatar across the Persian Gulf. The border with Oman consists of several border crossings . The Musandam Peninsula on the Persian Gulf coast is Oman's border territory, and there is another inland border city of Oman called Mada (مدحاء) inside the UAE , and within it there is another border land of the UAE (Kingdom of Sharjah) called Nahwa (النحوة). However, citizens of Oman and the United Arab Emirates can move between the two countries with just an ID card without a passport, so this is not such a big problem.

Like many Middle Eastern countries, this country also has a serious water shortage. The annual precipitation is less than 100 mm, making it one of the top 10 water-scarce countries in the world . As a result, water is expensive and we rely heavily on desalination facilities . Recently, water shortages are becoming more serious due to population growth and desertification . Another problem is that the desalination process causes environmental destruction as the salinity of seawater increases. Because of this, there was even a serious proposal to bring icebergs from Antarctica and place them on the beach. #

Emirate (إمارة / ʾimāra) can be translated into Korean as 'small kingdom' or 'emirate'.[12] The official name of the United Arab Emirates (United Arab Emirates) refers to the union of seven emirates in the Arab world to form one country.[13] It is easy to think of it as vaguely similar to the United States , which was created by a union of states on the North American continent .

The term 'Arab Emirate', which was once used, can easily be misunderstood as the expression 'Emirate', which is a racist term on its face. Therefore, it is okay to call the Amir Kingdom a small kingdom and translate it into the Union of Arab Small Kingdoms, etc. The official language is Arabic , but English is widely spoken due to the influence of British rule and the large foreign population .

In Korea, both UAE and United Arab Emirates are used, but because the country's name is long, it is usually abbreviated in English.[14] It is often called . There are even people who don't know the UAE but know Dubai , and those who don't know much know that Dubai is the capital or even the name of the country. If you refer to the Emirate of Dubai, the name of the country is correct, but it is unlikely that someone who knows the Emirate of Dubai will confuse the capital of the United Arab Emirates with Dubai. For reference, the capital of UAE is Abu Dhabi .

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Qasr al-Watan , the presidential residence

The president and prime minister are elected by the Supreme Council of the seven kingdoms' emirs , and are generally discussed in advance to ensure unanimous results. However, although it is nominally elected by vote, in reality the Amir of Abu Dhabi, the most influential among the small kingdoms, is always elected as president, so in reality, the position of president is hereditary for life. The position of Vice President and Prime Minister, which is the position next to the President, is hereditary in Dubai, the second most powerful country. However, the remaining emirs do not hold ministerial positions or other key government positions, but this is because the power of the Supreme Council is so strong that they can manage the cabinet at will.

Because the seven small kingdoms are kingdoms, they have a presidential system, but they are closer to an electoral monarchy, like the Holy Roman Empire, where emirs have voting rights and elect a president from among themselves .

There is also a council with an advisory role, but half of the council is elected by the Supreme Council and the other half is elected by vote.

The Council can only give opinions and has no legislative powers or acting power like other national parliaments.

Political parties do not exist. They say there are no political parties because they can actually encourage division.

Among countries ruled by an autocratic monarchy, the corruption perception index is the highest. As of 2024, it has 68 points, which is higher than Korea , the United States , Taiwan , and France .

At the time of independence , the constitution stipulated that Abu Dhabi would be the temporary capital and that a new city called Alkarama would be built on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai border as the new capital, but in 1996 , it was given up and the temporary capital, Abu Dhabi , was declared the official capital.

The population is 11.35 million as of 2025, and the population is increasing at a very rapid rate. The 10 million mark was surpassed in 2022, and it increased by 13% in just three years.

Before the oil boom, the population of the United Arab Emirates was small, only 80,000 in 1955 and 90,000 in 1960. However, since the 1970s, the number of migrant workers exceeded 1 million in the 1980s and has continued to increase since then. Because of this rapid population growth, the country is considered one of the world's most male-dominated countries. This is because most migrant workers, excluding those working in certain occupations such as housekeepers and hairdressers, are men.

Sunni from early on Because they believed in Islam , Sunni Islam was designated as the state religion. However, among the foreign population, there are many non-Sunni Muslims, non-Islamic religion believers, no religion, and atheists. In order to smoothly attract talent, foreign religious denominations can also build religious facilities with government permission. However, specific requirements vary from emirate to emirate, and missionary work is prohibited. Conversion is illegal for UAE citizens. Religious facilities were built mainly by migrant workers from the Philippines , workers from Sri Lanka built a Buddhist temple, and there is also a Korean temple where Koreans gather. In this country as well, Korean churches serve as a window to the Korean community.

For this reason, most of the population of the United Arab Emirates is foreigners. However, despite the influx of foreigners, there are very few naturalized people, because of strict immigration laws. Officially, it is said that if you have lived in the country for more than 20 years, are fluent in Arabic, and have good character, you can apply for citizenship, but most people are blocked from this point due to the prerequisite of having lived there for 20 years first. Even if you complete the 20-year period and are fluent in Arabic at a local level, citizenship is rarely granted even if you meet the conditions due to concerns that the number of citizens will rapidly increase. Even if you are born in the United Arab Emirates, you are not given citizenship, so there are many cases where people have no citizenship even though they have lived in the United Arab Emirates for several generations. Therefore, only about 10% of the total population of the UAE has citizenship in the United Arab Emirates. source

On the contrary, it is said that there are some disadvantages to obtaining citizenship, so it is better not to obtain citizenship. I don't know exactly what it is, but even though I was born in the United Arab Emirates and have lived in the United Arab Emirates my entire life, I have to renew my visa every three years and the visa renewal fee is also quite high. And it often happens that people are caught and arrested during the visa renewal period and then deported. However, among Islamic countries, it is much more open to foreigners than Saudi Arabia , Iran , Brunei , and Afghanistan , which are notorious for their exclusivity . Of course, it is relatively more exclusive than Hong Kong , which accepts foreigners well and gives permanent residency to anyone with a 7-year visa, or Singapore, where it is not difficult to obtain permanent residency .

On September 17, 2018, the UAE government decided to issue special long-term residence visas to unemployed foreign retirees. # And on November 25, 2018, related laws were amended to issue residence visas valid for up to 10 years to highly educated foreigners who have invested large amounts of money or have professional skills. #

The obesity rate is high; more than 30% of the adult population is obese. This is largely due to living indoors due to the hot weather and enjoying fatty and sweet foods. Since most of the country's citizens do not have jobs due to oil money welfare, they often just hang out at home, so this also plays a role.

The United Arab Emirates is a country with an extreme, if not surprising, sex ratio. According to the CIA the Worldfactbook in 2017, the sex ratio is as high as 218:100, making it a seriously male-dominant country. The sex ratio of newborns is normal at 105:100, but the sex ratio is very distorted in the young and middle-aged. The reason is because of foreign workers, as explained in the paragraph above. Of the total population of about 11 million, only about 1 million are locals, and most workers are male, as they work in construction and manufacturing. In particular, the number of workers in South Asia, including India and Bangladesh, is approximately 5 million. At this point, it can be seen as South India, not a Middle Eastern country.

The sex ratio of newborns and children aged 0-14 is a normal ratio of 105:100, but the sex ratio of young people aged 15-24 rises to 147:100, and the sex ratio of adults aged 25-54 is even worse, reaching 320: 100 . In other words, there are three times more men than women. The sex ratio for middle-aged people between the ages of 55 and 64 is also 293:100 . At least, the sex ratio for those aged 65 and older is 169:100 . Although the average life expectancy of women is five years longer than that of men, the sex ratio imbalance is so severe that the ratio of the elderly is also male. The frontline region, which is said to have the highest gender imbalance in Korea, has a lower gender ratio.

Women don't come from abroad,[15] Local citizens often marry international marriages because they can pay cheaply or marry local men.[16] It is often very common to have foreign spouses or one of parents. However, the number of workers is overwhelming, so the sex ratio is distorted.

The official language is Arabic . And the Arabic language spoken in the United Arab Emirates also belongs to the Arabic dialect .

Arabic is the official language, but English is also widely used due to the influence of foreigners in the UAE. It was once ruled by Britain and is widely used because it is an internationally important language. Almost all signs are written in both Arabic and English, and most billboards are written in English. Many university lectures are taught in English. Because there are so many foreigners, you may get the feeling that English is the main language and Arabic is a secondary language. Even people born in the Emirates often converse in English. In fact, it is not just a legal official language, it is the same as a country where English is the official language, and foreigners have no problem living in English even if they do not know Arabic at all. In particular , large cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi have a significantly high proportion of English speakers.

In addition, there are many foreigners from South Asia , so Hindi , Urdu , Sinhala , and Bengali are also widely used.

Historically, it was not a colony of France , and French is not even spoken. However, unusually, it is registered as an associate member of the Francophonie . In fact, due to the French government's policy to restore the influence of the French language, the Francophonie receives many original member countries. In fact, anyone who comes is welcome. If there is at least one French speaker, they will be accepted. Let us now consider that Korea is also an observer country.

The state religion is Islam and most of the residents belong to the Sunni . However, unlike Iran and Saudi Arabia , it is free to guarantee religion freedom to trust other religions. Thus, in the United Arab Emirates, you can see the Hindu temple, the Christian church , the temple of Buddhism , and Sinagogg . However, it is illegal for Muslims to convert to other religions .

In September 2019, the United Arab Emirates government announced plans to complete the 'House of Abraham' religious complex in Abu Dhabi in 2022, which will house worship facilities for three religions . # Abu Dhabi City announced that the 'House of Abraham' is scheduled to open in 2022 and that construction is progressing smoothly. #

Complete relaxation of Sharia law. # It also announced that honor killings would be illegal. #

Wearing hijab is not compulsory.

Women arrested for nude filming in Dubai. # Compared to neighboring Arab countries, it is an open country, but such obscene acts are still viewed negatively according to Sharia law.

It is also closed for homosexuality, so homosexuals can be sentenced to death .

After the United Arab Emirates established diplomatic relations with Israel, a small Jewish community and rabbis emerged. # And on January 9, 2023, the United Arab Emirates decided to include Holocaust-related content in elementary and middle school curricula in accordance with the Abraham Accords . #

Originally, there was a grand roadmap to launch a union of nine emirates, but as not all plans go as planned, some people did not participate due to their own interests, so the launch of a smaller union than the original plan was inevitable. Only six emirates, excluding Ras al-Khaimah , Bahrain and Qatar , were selected to join the coalition. The following year, Ras Al Khaimah reversed his departure and decided to join, completing the current United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile , Bahrain and Qatar have not participated and are still operating as separate countries.

Since it is a federation of various forces, it has a unique two-track governance system that combines republicanism and monarchy. The UAE central government has adopted a system similar to the republican government, but each emirate still adheres to the monarchical Amir system. The position of president in the central government is inherited by the Amir of the Nahyan family of Abu Dhabi, the highest rank among the emirates, and the Amir of the Maktoum family of Dubai, the second highest rank, is the Vice President and Prime Minister, and the remaining five Amirs each hold ministerial positions and are hereditary.[17]

Below is a map of the emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

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On November 4, 2019, the UAE government confirmed a mixed field with large reserves of natural gas and oil, making it the world's sixth-largest oil reserve. #

Compared to the 1980s, the population has exploded and the total GDP has grown, but the GDP per capita has decreased. The PPP in 1971 and the PPP in 2021 are almost the same.

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It is the only Arab League member state to actively implement a space exploration plan. Various space projects are being pursued, including sending probes to the Moon and Mars.

The Mars exploration project is considered the most important project, and the name of the project is ' Mars 2117 '. It is a bold project to build a settlement on Mars within 100 years, led by Prime Minister and Emir of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in 2017. He built the 'Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC)' named after himself in Dubai, and also established the Ministry of Advanced Technology under the UAE administration, appointing Sara Al Amiri , a young scientist born in 1987, as the minister. Born in Iran, he is a leader in the development of various satellites even before the Mars Exploration Project, and is currently the Minister of Public Education and Advanced Technology and Chairman of the UAE Space Agency.

Rather than being limited to domestic production, we are making bold investments and recruiting talent through special clients, and we are particularly successful in recruiting Arab talent. Thanks to this boldness, we have achieved the following results.

On July 20, 2020, the Arab world launched the first Mars probe, Amal . (Related articles: #1 , #2 , #3 ) As a result, the United Arab Emirates became the first country in the Arab world and the 7th country in the world to launch a Mars probe, following the Soviet Union, the US, Japan, EU, China, and India ( #1 #2 ), and the 5th country in the world, following the US, the USSR, the EU, and India, to successfully enter Mars orbit. # Afterwards, the first photos of the surface of Mars were taken and transmitted to Earth. #

In 2020, the company announced plans to launch an unmanned spine in 24 years. #

He also selected female astronauts. #

Announced plans to launch an asteroid probe in 2028. #

We are also active in hydrogen energy development. #

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