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(Al-Imārāt al-ʽArabīya al-Muttaḥidah). State of Southwest Asia (83,600 km²). Capital: Abu Dhabi. Administrative division: emirates (7). Population: 9.304.277 residents (2017 estimate). Language: Arabic. Religion: Muslims 76.9%, Christians 12.6%, Hindus 6.6%, Buddhists 2%, others 1.9%. Monetary unit: dirham (100 fils). Human Development Index: 0.864 (34th place). Borders: Persian Gulf (N), Gulf of Oman (NE) Oman (E), Saudi Arabia (S and W), Qatar (NW). Member of: GCC, Arab League, OCI, UN, OPEC and WTO.

HISTORY

The emirates that make up the current federation were founded by families from central Arabia. Against their essentially piracy activity (hence the name of Pirate Coast) the British government organized expeditions and forced the sheiks to a first peace treaty in 1820 and a second in 1853 (hence the name of the States of the Truce). Under the agreements, the British government assumed responsibility for the truce and thus, while not formally establishing a protectorate, the political direction of the sheikhdoms. In 1968 the seven emirates entered the Federation of Arab Principalities (which also included Bahrain and Qatar); in December 1971, six out of seven emirates formed the Federation of the United Arab Emirates, which Ras al Khaimah also joined in February 1972. The British forces left the region (late 1971) and the treaties limiting the sovereignty of the emirates were replaced, on 2 December of the same year, by a treaty of friendship with Great Britain. Sheikh Zaid bin Sultan an Nahayan, ruler of Abu Dhabi became president of the United Arab Emirates. In these years the exploitation of the subsoil for oil extraction began. In the following years, the United Arab Emirates implemented a slow process of integration. Despite conflicts and rivalries, in 1979 a new government, chaired by the prime minister of the Union, proposed to settle the differences between the Emirates over the text of the definitive Constitution, the unification of the armed forces and the abolition of internal borders. In the direction of unification, during the Gulf Cooperation Council (first meeting in May 1981 in Abu Dhabi), before disagreements between the two main members weakened the agreement reached. On the international level, the second half of the decade saw the resumption of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union (1985), with Egypt (1987), as well as, since 1989, with some Eastern European countries such as Romania and Poland. Visit clothesbliss.com for European expansionism in middle east.

During the conflict between Iran and Iraq, the United Arab Emirates had formally tried to maintain a certain equidistance, despite the aid to Iraq, proposing itself for mediation and in the final phase, however, offering landing to the French and British naval demining forces (1987). In the subsequent Gulf War (January-February 1991) following the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait (August 1990) an analogous military base function had been performed for the multinational intervention force that took the field against Iraq. In confirmation of this moderatism, in October 1994, the United Arab Emirates also approved the decision of the Gulf Cooperation Council to partially abolish the boycott against Israel to favor detente. Meanwhile, relations with Iran continued to be strained; in fact, in the course of 1999 a solution to the dispute for the possession of the three islands in the Strait of Ormuz (Great Tomb, Small Tomb, Abu Musa) was still not in sight. The moderate position taken by the United Arab Emirates after the Gulf War, however, was reconfirmed both in 1997, when they pronounced themselves in favor of an end to the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq, and in 1999, when they renewed their opposition to the repeated attacks by the United States on Iraq. On the domestic front, however, since the mid-1990s there have been numerous tensions, caused by the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, which was increasingly strengthening its presence in the country. In 1996, to stem the phenomenon and in an attempt to reaffirm the greater rights of the indigenous Arab population, the government implemented severe restrictive measures against foreigners, who made up three quarters of the population, increasing reports of human rights violations. In 1997 the UAE opposed an armed intervention in Iraq by the United States and in 2000 they decided to restore diplomatic offices in Iraq, consequently American diplomatic activities suspended their activities (2004). In 2004, following the death of Sheikh Zaid bin Sultan an Nahayan, his son Khalifa bin Zaid al Nahayan became ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates. The first elections in the country’s history were held in 2006; even if they were held by limited suffrage, they represented an important sign of democratization and a seat was won by a woman. In 2008 an agreement was signed with France for the installation of a permanent French military base in the country. In September 2020 United Arab Emirates. Bahrain and Israel signed the Abrahamic Agreements at the White House, which sanctioned the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two Gulf countries and the Jewish state. The agreement also provides for the launch of commercial relations between the three countries.