Country · Asia
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates is a country in Western Asia. About 9.6 million people live there, in an area of 83 600 square kilometres. Its capital city is Abu Dhabi.
Picture credit: Fabio Achilli (CC BY 2.0) · traveljunction (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Meenakshi akhilesh (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the United Arab Emirates?
The United Arab Emirates lies in Western Asia, on the continent of Asia.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 2 672 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 1 318 km long.
It shares a border with 2 countries: Oman and Saudi Arabia.
How big is the United Arab Emirates?
The United Arab Emirates covers 83 600 square kilometres.
That is about 2 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 114th largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 115.2 people on every square kilometre.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in the United Arab Emirates?
About 9.6 million people live in the United Arab Emirates.
That is the 92nd biggest population in the world.
People here speak Arabic.
They pay with the United Arab Emirates dirham (د.إ).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 74 years.
The land of the United Arab Emirates
The land of the United Arab Emirates sits on average 149 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the flatter countries on Earth.
Its coast runs for about 1 318 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 66 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes the United Arab Emirates different?
Websites from here often end in .ae.
The United Arab Emirates and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in the United Arab Emirates.
It takes up about 0.06 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Asia the country ranks 33rd of 46 by size, and 28th by population.
The United Arab Emirates and its neighbours
Saudi Arabia, its largest neighbour, is about 25.7 times bigger.
Saudi Arabia has more people: 33.7 million against 9.6 million.
Nature and animals
The highest mountain in the country is Jebel Jais, at 1 892 metres.
How big is the United Arab Emirates compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 112 times as big as the United Arab Emirates: 9 372 610 km² against 83 600 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 2.9 times as big as the United Arab Emirates: 242 900 km² against 83 600 km². See both on one map
Questions children ask
What is the capital of the United Arab Emirates?
The capital of the United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in the United Arab Emirates?
About 9.6 million people live in the United Arab Emirates, which makes it the 92nd most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border the United Arab Emirates?
The United Arab Emirates borders Oman and Saudi Arabia — 2 neighbours in total.
How big is the United Arab Emirates?
The United Arab Emirates covers 83 600 square kilometres, making it the 114th largest country in the world. That is about 2 times the size of Switzerland.
What is the highest mountain in the United Arab Emirates?
The highest mountain in the United Arab Emirates is Jebel Jais, 1 892 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
Are there rivers in the United Arab Emirates?
The United Arab Emirates has no permanent river. Rain runs off in dry valleys that fill only after a downpour, so the water comes from wells, springs or desalination plants.
Which continent is the United Arab Emirates in?
The United Arab Emirates is in Asia, in the part called Western Asia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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