|pm-raw =
|area =32,278 sq. miles
|pop =4.4 million 9,900,000 (2020)|pop-basis =2006|gdp =$163 billion400,000,000,000 (2020)|gdp-year =2006|gdp-pc =$3740,000 404 (2020)
|currency =UAE dirham
|idd =
==Geography==
The UAE is a desert country, situated on the Arabian Penninsula Peninsula near the [[Strait of Hormuz]]; it shares an undefined boundary with [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Oman]].*Area: 82,880 sq. km<sup>2</sup>. (30,000 sq. mi.); about the size of Maine.
*Cities (2002 est.): Capital—Abu Dhabi (pop. 1,000,000); Dubai (pop. 860,000).
*Terrain: Largely desert with some agricultural areas.
The U.A.E. is a member of the following international organizations: UN and several of its specialized agencies (ICAO, ILO, UPU, WHO, WIPO); [[World Bank]], [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF), Arab League, Organization of the Islamic Conference, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the [[Non-Aligned Movement]].
===Freedom of Speech===
Criticizing the UAE government or officials is illegal and whoever does so is subject to 15 years of imprisonment.{{citation needed}}
==Defense==
Primarily in reaction to the ambitions of other European countries, the United Kingdom and the Trucial Sheikhdoms established closer bonds in an 1892 treaty, similar to treaties entered into by the U.K. with other Gulf principalities. The sheikhs agreed not to dispose of any territory except to the United Kingdom and not to enter into relationships with any foreign government other than the United Kingdom without its consent. In return, the British promised to protect the Trucial Coast from all aggression by sea and to help out in case of land attack.
In 1955, the United Kingdom sided with Abu Dhabi in the latter's dispute with Saudi Arabia over the Buraimi [[Oasis]] and other territory to the south. A 1974 agreement between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia would have settled the Abu Dhabi-Saudi border dispute; however, the agreement has yet to be ratified by the U.A.E. Government. The border with Oman also remains officially unsettled, but the two governments agreed to delineate the border in May 1999. Since that time, the U.A.E. has constructed a [[border fence ]] along the entire length with both Oman and Saudi Arabia. The new fence and checkpoints will likely be finished by 2008-2009.
In 1968, the U.K. announced its decision, reaffirmed in March 1971, to end the treaty relationships with the seven Trucial Sheikhdoms which had been, together with Bahrain and Qatar, under British protection. The nine attempted to form a union of Arab emirates, but by mid-1971 they were unable to agree on terms of union, even though the termination date of the British treaty relationship was the end of 1971. Bahrain became independent in August and Qatar in September 1971. When the British-Trucial Sheikhdoms treaty expired on December 1, 1971, they became fully independent. On December 2, 1971, six of them entered into a union called the United Arab Emirates. The seventh, Ras al-Khaimah, joined in early 1972.