Middle East Research Institute - United Arab Emirates (Routledge Revival)

Routledge Revivals

First published in 1985, this study, focusing on United Arab Emirates, looks at the underlying reasons why certain political, economic and social events have taken place in the countrys history. It provides vital analysis of the political and economic issues of the country, and those that have affected it, as well as providing statistical material on all the key data of the political economy.

The book was originally published as part of the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) Reports on the Middle East which quickly established themselves as the most authoritative and up-to-date information on the state of affairs in the region.

Meri Report

Middle East Research Institute

First published in 1985
by Croom Helm

This edition first published in 2015 by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1985 Middle East Research Institute

The right of the Middle East Research Institute to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holder and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 85004114

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-90210-7 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-315-69755-0 (ebk)

MERI REPORT
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Middle East Research Institute University of Pennsylvania

1985 Middle East Research Institute
Croom Helm Ltd, Provident House, Burrell Row,
Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT
Croom Helm Australia Pty Ltd, First Floor,
139 King Street, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

United Arab Emirates. (MERI report)
1. United Arab Emirates
1. MERI II. Series
953'.053 DS247.T85
ISBN 0-7099-3547-1

Croom Helm, 51 Washington Street, Dover,
New Hampshire 03820. USA
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for.

Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd., Chippenham

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a federation of seven emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah), has a total area of approximately 84,650 square km (1 sq km = 0.386 sq mi). It extends for some 1,000 km along the shores of the lower Gulf and eastward of the Straits of Hormuz along the Gulf of Oman (1 km = 0.62 mi). Saudi Arabia borders it to the west and southwest and Oman to the south. (While many maps continue to show the UAE as adjoining Qatar at Khor al-Udaid, an agreement in 1974 gave Saudi Arabia a corridor to the Gulf between the two countries.)

Abu Dhabi, with a coastline of 480 km is the western most of the UAE emirates. Dubai, with a coastline of only 70 km lies to the east. Sharjah occupies areas on both sides of the Ras Musandam peninsula. Ras al-Khaimah lies on the west side of the the peninsula and at the foot of the Hajar mountains which divide the peninsula. The Hajar extend about 50 miles from north to south and are about 20 miles across. Within the UAE's borders peaks rise as high as 2,500 meters (1 m = 3.28 ft). Fujairah lies on the east side of the Musandam peninsula. Ajman and Umm al-Qaiwain, the two smallest emirates, each consist primarily of one coastal town.

Most of the population of the UAE lives in the coastal strip extending along the Gulf. The off-shore area is characterized by shallow water, coral reefs and islets. Inland, the salt flats and relatively featureless sandy coastal plain give way to sand dunes. These eventually merge with a gravel plain on its western flank and a narrow coastal plain along the Gulf of Oman where, at points, the mountains meet the sea.

The UAE has a subtropical arid climate. Temperatures range from 38 to 49 C (100 to 120 F) between May and November along the humid coast, and are higher (but drier) in the interior. Winters, by contrast, are temperate with temperatures ranging from 21 to 32 C (65 to 95 F). Rainfall is light and irregular, with most of it falling on or near the mountains. The average annual rainfall is 127 mm but may reach 381 mm in the mountains (1 mm = 0.039 inches).

The first national census in 1975 showed a population of 656,000, with 236,000 in Abu Dhabi, 207,000 in Dubai and 88,000 in Sharjah to account for nearly 80 per cent of the total. Ras al-Khaimah had a population of 57,000; Um al-Qaiwain had 17,000; Ajman 22,000 and Fujairah 26,000 in 1975. By 1982 it was estimated that the population had grown to 1,130,000, with most of the increase probably occurring in the three largest emirates. The native population is almost certainly less than 25 per cent of this total, and may be as little as 15 percent at present. Expatriate residents are, of course, concentrated in the oil-producing emirates. In Abu Dhabi, for example, foreigners comprise nearly 90 percent of the population. The population is now largely settled in urban areas, with the nomadic bedouin comprising less than one percent of the native population. The population density is 10.86 per sq km. While the native population has been growing by 3 to 3.5 percent annually, the expatriate population has been growing at a vastly higher rate due to immigration. Although there are other important tribes in the emirates, the seven ruling households are derived in most instances from the predominant tribe in the respective emirate. Virtually all natives of the UAE are Sunni Muslims, but there is a fairly large Shiite community in Dubai. Indians and Pakistanis are the largest of the expatriate groups, with South Asians representing 44 percent of the population. There are numerous Omanis, other Arabs, Iranians, East Asians (especially Filipinos and Koreans) and Europeans. Because the government discourages the immigration of families, 68 percent of the population is male, and 32 percent female.

There are no rivers or lakes in the UAE; natural water supplies come from wells or are brought in by underground canals from the mountains. The drilling of wells by local people has resulted in a degradation of the water table by increasing salinity which is spreading inland from the West coast. Desalination plants supply water to coastal areas. The five to ten percent of the land in the UAE that is arable is located mostly in the oases and in the plain adjacent to the mountains.