UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Situated along the south-eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, the United Arab Emirates is a unique slice of Arabia composed of seven different Emirates. The UAE’s nearly 750 km of coastline, offshore islands, coral reefs and salt marshes are offset quite spectacularly by sprawling stretches of gravel plain and barren desert.
The UAE lies in the arid tropical zone extending across Asia and North Africa. Climatic conditions in the area are strongly influenced by the Indian Ocean, since the country borders both the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Since the establishment of the federation in 1971, the seven Emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have forged a distinct national identity through consolidation of their federal status and enjoy an enviable degree of political stability.
The UAE's political system - a unique combination of the traditional and the contemporary - has underpinned this political success, enabling the country to develop a modern administrative structure while, at the same time, ensuring that the best of traditions of the past are maintained, adapted and preserved.
The UAE has acquired quite a reputation for itself in the global sphere, with unprecedented growth rates and an investor-friendly business ethos attracting multinationals from far and wide. Despite its oil-rich origins, the country has wisely chosen to diversify its wealth portfolio, with real estate, tourism, hospitality, communications and heavy industry forming the core of an abundantly healthy future base.