President, ruler of Abu Dhabi: Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
Population
5,314,317
584,578
Life Expectancy
76.710 years
74.420 years
Capital City
Abu Dhabi
Largest city
Dubai (population: 1,137,350)
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Human Development Index
0.903
0.591
GDP per capita
$48,800 US
Literacy Rate
77.9%
%
Corruption Perception Index
5.9
2.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
22.5%
0%
Wealthiest Citizens
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair & family ($7.8bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
2.400%
Death Penalty
Legal
Abolished
Political System
federation with specified powers delegated to the UAE federal government and other powers reserved to member emirates
parliamentary democracy
Independence date
2 December 1971 (from UK)
Religions
Muslim 96% (Shia 16%), other (includes Christian, Hindu) 4%
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Languages
Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
Emirati dirhams (AED) per US dollar - 3.673 (2008 est.), 3.673 (2007), 3.673 (2006), 3.6725 (2005), 3.6725 (2004) note: officially pegged to the US dollar since February 2002
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
3.100%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Area
83,600 km sq
28,896 km sq
Coastline
1,318 km
5,313 km
Climate
desert; cooler in eastern mountains
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
