Disclaimer

Images may not show up because i have used my computer at home and certain formats may not appear on different software.

Interesting Facts about UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has more exposure to natural hazards than has been previously recognized. In the last 20 years the UAE has been subject to earthquakes, landslides, floods and tropical storms.

The Arabian Oryx is a type of cow found largely in the UAE. This breed of cow, however, has several physical features not shared by its domestic cousin. Both genders of the Oryx grow large horns that can be deadly when used, and they are also brown in color, which is useful as it allows them to blend in with their natural habitat. The UAE can also boast the presence of two distinct types of gazelle: the Sand Gazelle and the Arabian Mountain Gazelle, both beautiful but endangered species. The Arabian Leopard also calls this place home. This type of leopard, also on the brink of extinction, is much smaller than its Asian and African counterparts, and quite solitary.

Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the world's second wealthiest King, with an estimated wealth of 23 billion Dollars.
Sheikh Nahyan or Sheikh Khalifa is the current President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate among the seven.

Ahmed bin Majid, born in 1421 in Julphar, was known as the first Arab seaman and cartographer. His fame reached the West, because the navigator helped Vasco da Gama find his way from Africa to India

Ahlam is a leading female singer from Bahrain. She is very popular throughout the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf region. Ahlam became a UAE citizen in 1996 and is credited to as many as 9 music albums. This talented and appreciated singer, one of the most well known in the Arab world, is so much popular that a journalist stated: "if you want to be famous just publicly insult or offense Ahlam."

The United Arab Emirates is the third richest country in the world behind the US and China.

The population of the United Arab Emirates is 7,511,690, this is the thought to be the worlds fastest growth rate in the world, this is mainly due to the large amounts of immigrants. 

Born in Dubai, Abdul Qader Al Rais has risen from humble beginnings to become one of UAE's most accomplished artist. Many of his pieces have been awarded. He is rightly regarded as a leading light in the art world, both regionally and internationally. He developed his own style through experimentation. Abdul Qader Al Rais copied, revised and interpreted the work of prominent painters like: Monet, Renoir and Pissaro.

The United Arab Emirates is home to about 3,500 native plant species the most widely farmed indigeonous planrt is the date palm which is used for its dates and its bark.

You don't get much more powerful than HE Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, the UAE’s Minister for Foreign Trade.

The Emirati national has been challenging traditional opinions about women in business ever since she developed a system that cargo turnaround at Dubai Ports Authority from one hour to ten minutes.

History

1820 - Britain and local rulers sign a treaty to combat piracy along the Gulf coast. From this, and later agreements, the area becomes known as the Trucial Coast.
1950s - Oil is discovered.
1952 - The seven emirates form a Trucial Council.
1971 November - Iran occupies the islands of Greater and Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa.
Federation formed
1971 December - After independence from Britain, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujayrah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Qaywayn come together as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sheikh Zayed Bin-Sultan Al Nuhayyan presides over the federation.
1972 - Ras al-Khaymah joins the federation.
 1972 February - Federal National Council (FNC) is created; it is a 40 member consultative body appointed by the seven rulers.
1986 October - Sheikh Zayed Bin-Sultan Al Nuhayyan is re-elected as UAE president - his fourth term.
Coup attempt
1991 - UAE forces join the allies against Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait. 
1994 June - 11 of the 12 former BCCI executives accused of fraud are given jail sentences and ordered to pay compensation.

Islands disputed

1996 - Iran fuels the dispute over Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb by building an airport on Abu Musa and a power station on Greater Tunb.

1996 June - Two BCCI executives are cleared of fraud charges on appeal.

2006 March - Political storm in the US forces state-owned Dubai Ports World to relinquish control of terminals at six major American ports. Critics of the ports deal feared an increased risk of terrorist attack, saying the UAE was home to two of the 9/11 hijackers.

2008 January - France and the UAE sign a deal allowing France to set up a permanent military base in the UAE's largest emirate, Abu Dhabi.

2009 March - Sulim Yamadayev, a rival of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, died after an apparent assassination in Dubai.

2010 January - Burj Khalifa tower opens in Dubai as the world's tallest building and man-made structure. Known as Burj Dubai during construction, it was renamed after ruler of neighbouring Abu Dhabi and UAE president Sheikh Khalifa al-Nahyan at completion.

Brother of Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Khalifa, Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, cleared of charges that he tortured a business associate on a video circulated in 2009.

Palestinian militant leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh is killed in a Dubai hotel, in a hit widely blamed on Israel.







The First UAE president Zayed



The Burj Khalifa under construction



Language and Currency

The United Arab Emirates dirham was introduced December 1971. It replaced the Qatar and Dubai riyal at par. The Qatar and Dubai riyal had circulated since 1966 in all of the emirates except Abu Dhabi, where the dirham replaced the Bahraini dinar at 1 dirham = 0.1 dinar. The name Dirham comes from the Greek word


Drachmae, literally meaning "handful", through Latin. Due to centuries of old trade and usage of the currency, dirham survived through the Ottoman leadership.
The exchange rate at the moment is 1 AUD to 3.67885 Utd. Arab Emir. Dirham
There are a number of well known banks in the United Arab Emirates including : American Express, ANZ and the United Arab Bank.

The UAE Dirham

  

The Major languages spoken in the United Arab Emirates are English and Arabian. The Emireti's speak English because of the amount of business men and tourists that have a holiday or deal with business there. They speak Arabian because that is their natural language and their first language and this is the one thath they will probably be the language they use most but that will depend on the school and their proffession in later life.




Some traditional greetings in Arabian and in english

• 'Marhaba' ( Greetings ) reply with 'Marhabtein' ( meaning 'double greetings')
• 'Ahlan WA sahlan' ( You are welcome ) also reply: 'Marhabtein'
• 'SabaH al Kheir' (Good Morning) reply with: 'SabaH al Noor'
• 'Mas'al Kheir' (Good Evening) reply with : Ma'sal noor' (Note: Noor means 'light' thus, light of the morning/light of the moon for evening)
• Ma'asalama (Good Bye)
• ' ila-liqaa' (' see you' or 'until we meet again').  

Ten Must See PLaces

Atlantis, the Palm is a hotel resort at Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.The resort consists of two towers linked by a bridge, with a total of 1,539 rooms. There are two monorail stations connecting the resort to the main section of the Palm Jumeirah islands.The six star resort also includes the 16 ha (40 acres) Aquaventure theme water park, a 45,000 m² (480,000 sq ft) conference center, and 1,900 m² (20,000 sq ft) of retail space. The resort's also has a Dolphin Bay in which guests can swim and interact with dolphins at Atlantis. The Palm Jumeirah itself is one part of a trilogy including the larger Palms Jebel Ali and Deira, which are still under construction.

Burj Khalifa known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is currently the tallest structure in the world, at 829.84 m (2,723 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010, and is part of the new 2 km² development called Downtown Dubai  along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district. The total cost for the project was about US$1.5 billion

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is located in Abu Dahbi and is the worlds largest mosques. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was initiated by the late President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. His final resting place is located on the grounds beside the same mosque.

As the country’s grand mosque, it is the key place of worship for Friday gathering and Eid prayers. It is the largest mosque in the UAE and numbers during Eid can be more than forty thousand people.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a planned museum, to be located in Abu Dhabi, UAE. On Tuesday 7 March 2007, the Louvre in Paris announced that a new Louvre museum would be completed by 2012 in Abu Dhabi. The museum is to be located on the Saadiyat Island complex, and will be approximately 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft) in size. The final cost of the construction is expected to be between €83 million and €108 million.

Port Jebel Ali was constructed in the late 1970s to supplement the facilities at Port Rashid. The village of Jebel Ali was constructed for port workers, and it has a population of 300 people. Covering over 134 square kilometers (52 sq mi).  It is home to over five thousand companies from 120 countries of the world .With 67 berths and a size of 134.68-square-kilometer (52.00 sq mi), Jebel Ali is the world's largest man-made harbour and the biggest port in the Middle East.

Sir Bani Yas is a natural Island located 250 km (160 mi) southwest of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It lies 9 km (5.6 mi) offshore from Jebel Dhanna, which serves as a crossing point to other islands such as Dalma. Sir Bani Yas is 17.5 km (10.9 mi) from north to south and 9 km (5.6 mi) from east to west making it the largest, natural island in the United Arab Emirates. Located just off the shore of the Western region of Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas Island was originally home to Arabia's largest wildlife reserve. Spanning over 87 km² (34 sq mi), the reserve was established in 1971 by the late ruler and founder of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.  A bird sanctuary as well as a wildlife reserve, Sir Bani Yas showcases nature through activities such as adventure safaris, kayaking, mountain biking, archery, hiking and snorkeling.

This mountain watchtower in Hatta, in the Emirate of Dubai, is a well-preserved original structure that is perched above the oasis and designed to watch over the rocky desert region for many miles in each direction. This is reported to be one of the oldest such structure in the UAE.

Dibba Castle is on the Musandam Peninsula in Oman, mere kilometers across the border from the UAE and very close to the shore. It was built in the 1830s by the Al Shuhah tribe, and is a small but proper “castle” in the Western understanding of the word.

Abu Dhabi, literally means Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island sticking out into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper had an estimated population of 896,800 in 2009.

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the country's legislature. Dubai City is located on the emirate's northern coastline.

Sharjah  is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The emirate covers 2,600 km² (1,003 mi²) and has a population of over 800,000 (2008). The emirate of Sharjah comprises the city of Sharjah (the seat of the emirate), and other minor towns and enclaves such as Kalba, Dibba Al-Hisn and Khor Fakkan.









Sport



Soccer is the national sport of the UAE.



What:

Soccer national sport of the United Arab Emirates.

Who:

Soccer clubs Al-Ain,  Al-Sharjah, Al-Wahda, and Al-Ahli are the most popular teams and enjoy the reputation of long-time regional champions. 

Where:
The United Arab Emirates has a large football league and has had its national teams in the world cup on numerous accounts,although getting close to the finals a UAE team has never won a World cup final.


When:
In 1971 the United Arab Emirates Football Association (UAEFA) was created


Why:
The UAEFA was created because of the growing amount of players but these players had no eague to play in. The league has all ages from little under 5s to the 1st men team in which this league is not unlike the Australian A League.

Emireti people are very passionate about their soccer.

Climate

             Climate Graph for the United Arab Emirates

The climate in UAE varies throughout the year. Different cities in UAE also witness variation of climate in UAE. During the winter the temperature can go down to as low as 14°c degree and during the summer it can reach as high as 41°c. The wet season in the UAE is around winter/spring and the dry season is summer/autumn. It only rains about 28 days a year in the UAE and the average annual rainfall is 88.3mm.

Due to the soothing weather between the months of October and May travelers generally prefer to visit the country during this period. Tourists are advised to carry a sweater or an all weather Jacket during the winter in UAE. The climate in UAE is worst during June to September.  The best time of the year to travel to the UAE is from October tgrough to may as the temperatur during these months quite pleasant of about high twenties to the low thirties.

This picture was taken around december and this is the ideal tim for a holiday in this part of the world.

This is the middle of winter and it would not be a good idea to travel to the United Arab Emirates at this time of year.