United Arab Emirates Capital Abu Dhabi
Currency AED · United Arab Emirates dirham
Language Arabic
Area 98,648 km²
Since 1971
ISO ARE · AE
Population 11.5M as of 2025
Watermark portrait: Gérard Depardieu — THE COUNTRY —
Country in West Asia
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), also known simply as the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, situated at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal semi-constitutional monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as its national capital. The UAE borders Oman to the east and northeast, and Saudi Arabia to the south and southwest. It shares maritime borders with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran in the Persian Gulf, and with Oman in the Gulf of Oman. In 2024, the UAE had an estimated population of over 11 million. Dubai is the country's largest city. Islam is the state religion. Arabic is the official language while English remains the most spoken language and the language of business.
Text: Wikipedia — United Arab Emirates CC BY-SA 4.0 · revised 2026-07-31
Capital Abu Dhabi
Currency United Arab Emirates dirham (AED)
Official language Arabic
Drives on the Right
Calling code +971
Licence plate code UAE
Top-level domain .ae
Independence / founding 1971
Highest point Jebel Jais (1,911 m)
Lowest point Persian Gulf
Anthem Ishy Bilady Facts: Wikidata (CC0) · as of 2026-08-02 — LAND —
Land covered by forest
4.5% % of land area
#181 of 213 2023
Forest area
3,173 km²
#149 of 213 2023
Agricultural land
5.5% % of land area
#193 of 209 2023
Farmable (arable) land
0.7% % of land area
#193 of 206 2023
Land area
98,648 km²
#110 of 215 2023
— PEOPLE —
Population
11.5M people
#85 of 216 2025
Population growth
% per year
2025
Population density
148 people per km²
#78 of 215 2023
People living in cities
86.0% % of population
#44 of 216 2025
Urban population growth
% per year
2025
People living rurally
14.0% % of population
#173 of 216 2025
Population aged 0-14
16.0% % of population
#165 of 216 2025
Population aged 15-64
% of population
2025
Population aged 65+
% of population
2025
▸ ISSUE 7 MORE Age dependency ratio
% of working-age population
2025
Female population
% of population
2025
Births per woman
1 births per woman
#197 of 216 2024
Birth rate
9.8 /1,000 per 1,000 people
#160 of 216 2024
Death rate
per 1,000 people
2024
Net migration
people (5-year total)
2025
Migrants living in the country
% of population
2024
— MONEY —
Foreign reserves
$292.32B current US$
#15 of 177 2025
Income inequality (Gini)
0-100
2018
People below the poverty line
0.0% % of population
#13 of 147 2018
Income share held by richest 10%
%
2018
Income share held by poorest 10%
2.8% %
#84 of 147 2018
Stock market value
% of GDP
2024
Money sent home by workers abroad
$1.80B current US$
#73 of 186 2024
Foreign aid received
0.0% % of GNI
not enough data to rank 1995
Exchange rate
4 local currency per US$
#128 of 211 2025
▸ ISSUE 4 MORE Agriculture's share of the economy
0.8% % of GDP
#178 of 199 2024
Industry's share of the economy
% of GDP
2024
Manufacturing's share of the economy
9.4% % of GDP
#109 of 195 2024
Services' share of the economy
54.9% % of GDP
#122 of 202 2024
26 of 39 figures unavailable for United Arab Emirates.
— TRADE —
Exports
% of GDP
2023
Imports
92.2% % of GDP
#14 of 187 2023
Trade balance
14.6% % of GDP
#16 of 187 2023
Total trade (openness)
% of GDP
2024
Goods exported
current US$
2025
Goods imported
$618.88B current US$
#13 of 207 2025
Services exported
$181.32B current US$
#13 of 191 2024
Services imported
$116.65B current US$
#21 of 191 2024
Goods and services exported
$647.90B current US$
#18 of 191 2024
▸ ISSUE 3 MORE Goods and services imported
$516.87B current US$
#19 of 191 2024
High-tech share of exports
9.0% % of manufactured exports
#74 of 179 2023
Terms of trade
108 index
#78 of 206 2024
— HEALTH —
Life expectancy
83.1 yrs years
#21 of 216 2024
Life expectancy, women
84.3 yrs years
#33 of 216 2024
Life expectancy, men
years
2024
Infant deaths
3.8 /1,000 per 1,000 live births
#37 of 196 2024
Deaths under age 5
4.8 /1,000 per 1,000 live births
#39 of 196 2024
Maternal deaths
3 per 100,000 live births
#13 of 194 2023
Health spending
5.0% % of GDP
#127 of 193 2023
Health spending per person
$2,402 current US$
#35 of 193 2023
Physicians
3.0 /1,000 per 1,000 people
#61 of 187 2023
▸ ISSUE 10 MORE Nurses and midwives
6.2 /1,000 per 1,000 people
#60 of 196 2022
Hospital beds
1.9 /1,000 per 1,000 people
#96 of 157 2022
Access to clean drinking water
100.0% % of population
#31 of 214 2024
Access to basic sanitation
99.1% % of population
#51 of 213 2024
Suicide rate
2 per 100,000 people
#17 of 185 2021
Adults who smoke
9.0% % of adults
#28 of 166 2024
HIV prevalence
0.1% % aged 15-49
#43 of 153 2024
Tuberculosis cases
per 100,000 people
2024
Undernourishment
2.5% % of population
#58 of 168 2023
Children vaccinated against measles
98.0% % of children 12-23 months
#29 of 193 2024
— LEARNING —
Education spending
3.9% % of GDP
#109 of 190 2021
Education spending
14.8% % of government spending
#63 of 189 2021
Adult literacy
98.8% % aged 15+
#19 of 119 2024
Youth literacy
99.6% % aged 15-24
#27 of 126 2024
Primary school enrolment
108.0% % gross
#41 of 200 2024
Secondary school enrolment
102.1% % gross
#52 of 188 2024
University enrolment
63.7% % gross
#59 of 167 2024
Primary school completion
99.2% % of relevant age group
#45 of 180 2023
Pupils per teacher, primary school
25 pupils per teacher
#109 of 160 2016
▸ ISSUE 1 MORE Years of compulsory education
12.0 yrs years
#60 of 197 2025
— WORK —
Unemployment
2.2% % of labour force
#19 of 186 2025
Youth unemployment
6.5% % of labour force aged 15-24
#37 of 186 2025
Labour force participation
78.6% % aged 15+
#12 of 186 2025
Women in the labour force
53.0% % of women aged 15+
#94 of 186 2025
Men in the labour force
% of men aged 15+
2025
Labour force
7.6M people
#69 of 186 2025
Working in agriculture
1.4% % of employment
#170 of 186 2025
Working in industry
30.6% % of employment
#19 of 186 2025
Working in services
68.0% % of employment
#67 of 186 2025
▸ ISSUE 3 MORE Self-employed
% of employment
2025
Labour force with advanced education
77.9% % of labour force
#91 of 171 2023
Employed
76.9% % aged 15+
#11 of 186 2025
— CONNECTED —
People online
% of population
2024
Mobile phone subscriptions
per 100 people
2024
Fixed broadband subscriptions
41 per 100 people
#23 of 208 2024
Fixed telephone lines
21 per 100 people
#59 of 213 2024
Access to electricity
100.0% % of population
#113 of 214 2024
Access to clean cooking fuel
100.0% % of population
#58 of 189 2023
Electricity used per person
kWh per person
2023
Energy used per person
kg oil equivalent per person
2023
Air passengers carried
91.1M passengers
#12 of 165 2023
▸ ISSUE 8 MORE Air freight
million tonne-km
2023
Rail network
route-km
2021
Container port traffic
TEU
2024
Research and development spending
1.5% % of GDP
#29 of 127 2021
Patent applications by residents
69 count
#80 of 142 2021
Scientific journal articles published
7,075 count
#53 of 197 2023
Tourists arriving
8.1M count
#26 of 194 2020
Money earned from tourism
current US$
2020
1 of 18 figures unavailable for United Arab Emirates.
— NATURE —
Carbon emissions per person
tonnes per person
2024
Carbon emissions
201 Mt CO2
#175 of 203 2024
Greenhouse gas emissions
264 Mt CO2-equivalent
#172 of 203 2024
Protected land
19.2% % of land area
#92 of 213 2025
Protected coastal waters
12.0% % of territorial waters
#45 of 174 2025
Freshwater withdrawn
% of internal resources
2022
Renewable water available per person
m³ per person
2022
Renewable energy use
1.0% % of final energy consumption
#191 of 212 2021
Electricity from renewables
4.2% % of total
#172 of 206 2021
▸ ISSUE 3 MORE Electricity from fossil fuels
81.8% % of total
#134 of 209 2022
Electricity from nuclear power
19.7% % of total
#15 of 208 2023
Energy imported (net)
-171.5% % of energy use
#126 of 143 2022
— STATE —
Military spending
5.6% % of GDP
not enough data to rank 2014
Military spending
$22.76B current US$
not enough data to rank 2014
Military spending
17.0% % of government spending
not enough data to rank 2014
Armed forces personnel
63,000 people
#63 of 170 2020
Armed forces
1.0% % of labour force
#65 of 168 2020
Tax revenue
% of GDP
2024
Homicides
1 per 100,000 people
#23 of 158 2022