United Arab Emiratesالإمارات العربية المتحدة

People have lived on this coast and in its oases for at least 7,000 years. Bronze Age communities of the Umm an-Nar culture built round stone tombs, some still visible at Hili near Al Ain and on the flanks of Jebel Hafeet, and traded copper from the Hajar mountains to Mesopotamia, whose texts call the region Magan. Iron Age villagers dug falaj channels to carry groundwater to palm gardens, a system still in use in Al Ain. Mleiha in Sharjah and Ed-Dur in Umm Al Quwain were trading towns in the centuries around the start of the common era.

Islam reached the region in the 7th century, and the coast became part of a world of Indian Ocean trade linking Oman, Persia, India and East Africa. Julfar, near today's Ras Al Khaimah, was a busy port in the medieval period. From the 16th century the Portuguese, then the Dutch and the British, competed for control of Gulf shipping. Local life depended on the date harvest, fishing, camel herding, and above all diving for pearls, which employed most men on the coast each summer.

In the early 19th century Britain accused the Qawasim, the seafaring rulers of Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah, of piracy against its Indian shipping and destroyed their fleet in 1819–20. A General Treaty of Peace followed in 1820, then a Perpetual Maritime Truce in 1853, which gave the region its British name: the Trucial Coast or Trucial States. An 1892 agreement handed Britain control of foreign relations. The rulers kept internal authority, and Britain kept other powers out of the Gulf on the route to India.

Dubai's modern story began in 1833, when members of the Al Bu Falasah section of the Bani Yas moved from Abu Dhabi to the Creek under the Al Maktoum family. In 1901–02 Sheikh Maktoum bin Hasher cut customs duties, drawing merchants from the Persian port of Lingeh; their descendants built the wind-towered houses of Al Fahidi. The collapse of the pearl trade in the late 1920s and 1930s, when Japanese cultured pearls and the global Depression arrived together, brought hunger to the coast for two decades.

Oil changed everything. Commercial finds came offshore from Abu Dhabi in 1958 and exports began in 1962; Dubai followed in 1966. When Britain announced in 1968 that it would withdraw from east of Suez, the rulers negotiated a federation. Six emirates formed the United Arab Emirates on 2 December 1971 under Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, with Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Dubai as vice president; Ras Al Khaimah joined in February 1972. Qatar and Bahrain, part of the early talks, chose independence.

Since 1971 the country has grown from a few hundred thousand people to more than ten million. Zayed spent oil revenue on roads, housing, schools and greening the desert; Rashid built the Port Rashid and Jebel Ali ports, the World Trade Centre and the airline that became Emirates. After Zayed died in 2004, his son Khalifa became president; Mohamed bin Zayed succeeded him in 2022. The 2008 property crash, the Abraham Accords of 2020, Expo 2020, and the April 2024 floods are the landmarks of the recent decades.

The UAE has one of the most unusual populations on earth. Of roughly ten to eleven million residents, only about a million are Emirati citizens. Indians form the largest group, followed by Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Egyptians and other Arabs, with sizeable British, Iranian, Chinese, Russian and African communities. Men far outnumber women because of the construction and service workforce. Almost all foreigners live here on employer-sponsored residence visas, and very few ever become citizens.

This shapes daily life for visitors. The hotel receptionist is likely Filipino, the taxi driver Pakistani, the waiter Kenyan or Nepali, the shopkeeper from Kerala. Neighbourhoods reflect origin: Karama and Bur Dubai for South Indians, Deira for Iranians and traders from Africa, Satwa for Filipinos. Emiratis are most visible in government offices, at family malls in the evening, and at heritage events, the men in white kandura and headcloth, the women in black abaya.

Emirati society is built on tribe and family. Descent from tribes such as the Bani Yas, Qawasim, Sharqiyin or Nuaimi still matters for marriage and status, and each emirate's ruling family sits at the top of a network of loyalty. The majlis, an open sitting room where a sheikh or senior family member receives visitors, remains a place to raise grievances and settle disputes. Citizens receive free housing plots, health care, education and well-paid public jobs, part of the social contract that oil revenue made possible.

The foreign workforce lives under the sponsorship system, known as kafala, which ties residence to an employer. Reforms since 2016 have allowed job changes and introduced wage protection and a midday outdoor work ban in summer, but rights groups still report unpaid wages, recruitment debts and cramped labour camps. At the other end, long-term Golden Visas since 2019 have made it easier for professionals, investors and retirees to stay for a decade.

Social rules have loosened quickly. Since 2020 unmarried couples may live together, alcohol is legal in private and licensed places for adults, and the weekend moved to Saturday–Sunday in 2022 to match global markets. At the same time the state remains conservative about speech, public behaviour, sexuality and religion, and enforces laws on insults, privacy and online posts strictly. Visitors live inside that mix of openness and control.

Islam is the official religion, and most Emiratis are Sunni Muslims following the Maliki and Hanbali schools, with a Shia minority among citizens and many more among Iranian, Iraqi and South Asian residents. The call to prayer sounds five times a day from thousands of mosques, most of them built and managed by the state, which also approves Friday sermons. Religion frames the calendar, the law on family matters, dress codes and public conduct.

Ramadan is the most visible part of religious life for a visitor. For a month, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, and everyone is expected not to eat, drink or smoke in public during daylight. Offices shorten hours, and the day's rhythm shifts to night: families break the fast at iftar, often with dates and water first, then crowd malls and tents until suhoor before dawn. Charity, including free iftar meals for workers outside mosques, is a large part of the month. Eid al-Fitr ends it with several days of holidays.

Other faiths are practised openly by foreign residents on land granted by the rulers. Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant churches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi draw huge congregations on Fridays and Sundays. A Hindu temple opened in Jebel Ali in 2022, and the large BAPS stone temple near Abu Dhabi opened in 2024. A Sikh gurdwara serves Jebel Ali, and a synagogue became public after 2020. Proselytising Muslims, however, is illegal, and leaving Islam has legal consequences.

The state promotes a message of tolerance as policy. A Ministry of Tolerance was created in 2016, Pope Francis celebrated a mass for about 180,000 people in Abu Dhabi in 2019, and the Abrahamic Family House on Saadiyat Island opened in 2023 with a mosque, a church and a synagogue side by side. Critics note that this tolerance applies to worship rather than to political or religious dissent, which remains tightly controlled.

Visitors meet religion mainly through mosque visits and daily courtesy. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and the Jumeirah Mosque in Dubai welcome non-Muslims outside prayer times, with dress rules and guided tours. Avoid walking in front of people praying, keep voices low near mosques, and avoid public criticism of religion, which is an offence.

Before oil, building on this coast used what was at hand: coral stone and gypsum, palm fronds, mangrove poles and mud. Palm-frond houses called barasti were cool and quick to rebuild. Wealthier merchants built courtyard houses of coral stone with barjeel, the wind towers that catch breezes from any direction and push them down into the rooms below. The restored lanes of Al Fahidi in Dubai, Sharjah's Heart of Sharjah quarter and Muharraq across the Gulf in Bahrain preserve that style.

Forts and watchtowers guarded oases and harbours. Al Jahili and Qasr Al Muwaiji in Al Ain, Al Fahidi Fort in Dubai (now the old home of the Dubai Museum), Fujairah Fort and Dhayah Fort in Ras Al Khaimah are the best-known. They are square mud-brick or stone enclosures with round towers, restored many times. The Al Bidya Mosque on the east coast, with its four small domes, is thought to date from the 15th century and is the oldest mosque still in use.

The modern skyline began with Dubai's World Trade Centre in 1979 and exploded after 2000. The Burj Al Arab (1999), the Burj Khalifa (2010, 828 m), the Palm Jumeirah and the Museum of the Future (2022) are statements of ambition as much as buildings. Abu Dhabi took a cultural route: Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi, under a vast perforated dome, opened on Saadiyat Island in 2017, with the Zayed National Museum, a Guggenheim and a natural history museum following in the same district — check opening status.

Traditional arts centre on poetry, music and craft. Nabati poetry, in the Gulf vernacular, is still composed and broadcast, and TV competitions like Million's Poet draw large audiences. Al-ayyala, a stick dance with drums and chanted verse performed by lines of men, and al-razfa are listed by UNESCO. Women's crafts include sadu weaving of camel and goat hair and talli, braided embroidery for dress cuffs. Falconry, also UNESCO-listed, remains a prestige sport with its own hospital in Abu Dhabi.

Sharjah has built the country's deepest arts scene. The Sharjah Biennial, running since 1993, and the Sharjah Art Foundation's restored buildings host contemporary art from the Global South. Dubai's Alserkal Avenue turned warehouses in Al Quoz into galleries, and Art Dubai each spring is the region's biggest art fair. Emirati artists such as Hassan Sharif, a pioneer of conceptual art, and Mohammed Kazem have exhibited internationally.

Emirati food grew out of scarcity. The desert gave dates, camel milk and occasional meat; the sea gave fish; trade brought rice, spices and dried limes from India and Persia. The result is a cuisine of rice cooked with spiced meat or fish (machboos), slow-cooked wheat and meat (harees), bread-soaked stews (thareed) and dried or salted fish, flavoured with cardamom, saffron, turmeric, cinnamon and loomi, the black dried lime. Many recipes are shared with Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.

Hospitality is the frame around every meal. A guest is welcomed with gahwa, light Arabic coffee spiced with cardamom and poured from a dallah into small handleless cups, and with dates. The host keeps refilling until the guest shakes the cup gently to show they are done. Refusing entirely can seem cold. Large platters of rice and meat are served on the floor or low tables at family gatherings and eaten by hand, right hand only.

Ramadan and the Eids are the high seasons of Emirati cooking. Iftar starts with dates, water or laban, then soups, harees and thareed, followed by sweets like luqaimat, fried dough balls in date syrup. Families send dishes to neighbours, and hotels run lavish iftar buffets. Breakfasts like balaleet, sweet vermicelli with omelette, and chebab pancakes appear on heritage café menus all year.

Most of what residents and visitors actually eat comes from migrant cuisines. Kerala and Pakistani cafeterias serve biryani, parotta and curry for a few dirhams; Levantine grills made shawarma and falafel the default street food; Iranian restaurants brought chelo kebab and saffron rice; Yemeni kitchens serve mandi. Karak, a strong spiced milk tea brought by South Asian workers, has become the unofficial national drink, sold at every petrol station.

At the top end, Dubai competes with global dining capitals. The Michelin Guide arrived in Dubai in 2022 and Abu Dhabi in 2023, and celebrity chefs run restaurants in hotels on the Palm and in Downtown. Emirati chefs have begun to put their own food on this stage, opening restaurants that serve updated machboos and camel dishes. Because nearly all food is imported, the country invests heavily in vertical farms and food security.

The UAE holds some of the world's largest oil reserves, around 90% of them in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and sovereign wealth funds such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala manage the proceeds and invest them globally. Abu Dhabi's wealth funds federal spending and has twice rescued other emirates, most visibly Dubai after its debt crisis in 2009. Oil and gas now make up well under half of GDP.

Dubai had little oil and chose trade. The Creek has been a re-export hub since the early 20th century; Jebel Ali, opened in 1979, is the biggest port in the Middle East, surrounded by a free zone where foreign companies can own their business outright. Emirates airline, founded in 1985, turned DXB into one of the busiest international airports in the world. Free zones for finance, media and technology copied the model across the emirates.

Tourism and property followed. Dubai receives around 18–19 million overnight international visitors a year (check), more than most European capitals, drawn by winter sun, shopping, events and the airline network. Foreign freehold property ownership since 2002 made the city a magnet for investors, with cycles of boom and bust. Abu Dhabi has built its own tourist offer around culture, Yas Island's theme parks and Formula 1. Ras Al Khaimah is building a large integrated resort with a casino, due around 2027 — check.

The state positions itself for a post-oil future. The UAE hosted COP28 in 2023, runs a nuclear power plant at Barakah, invests in solar parks, and sent the Hope probe to Mars in 2021. Etihad Rail, a national rail network for freight and, from 2026, passengers, links the Saudi border to Fujairah and is planned to join a wider Gulf railway. Artificial intelligence and data centres are the newest priority.

For visitors, the economy shows in price and service. Wages for migrant workers are low, so labour-intensive services like valet parking, delivery and cleaning are everywhere; hotels and alcohol are expensive because of fees and taxes. There is no income tax for individuals; a 5% VAT arrived in 2018 and a corporate tax in 2023. Road tolls, tourism fees and fines are among the ways the state collects revenue.