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United Arab Emirates Geography 2020

SOURCE: 2020 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES











United Arab Emirates Geography 2020
SOURCE: 2020 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES


Page last updated on January 27, 2020

Location:
Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia

Geographic coordinates:
24 00 N, 54 00 E

Map references:
Middle East

Area:
total: 83,600 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
land: 83,600 sq km
[see also: Area - land country ranks ]
water: 0 sq km
[see also: Area - water country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data): 116

Area - comparative:
slightly larger than South Carolina; slightly smaller than Maine


Area comparison map:Area comparison map

slightly larger than South Carolina; slightly smaller than Maine

Land boundaries:
total: 1,066 km
[see also: Land boundaries - total country ranks ]
border countries (2): Oman 609 km, Saudi Arabia 457 km

Coastline:
1,318 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
[see also: Maritime claims - territorial sea country ranks ]
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
[see also: Maritime claims - exclusive economic zone country ranks ]
contiguous zone: 24 nm
[see also: Maritime claims - contiguous zone country ranks ]
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
[see also: Maritime claims - continental shelf country ranks ]

Climate:
desert; cooler in eastern mountains
More Climate Details

Terrain:
flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand dunes of vast desert; mountains in east

Elevation:
mean elevation: 149 m
[see also: Elevation - mean elevation country ranks ]
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Jabal Yibir 1,527 m

Natural resources:
petroleum, natural gas

Land use:
agricultural land: 4.6% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - agricultural land country ranks ]
arable land: 0.5% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - arable land country ranks ]
permanent crops: 0.5% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - permanent crops country ranks ]
permanent pasture: 3.6% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - permanent pasture country ranks ]
forest: 3.8% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - forest country ranks ]
other: 91.6% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use country ranks ]

Irrigated land:
923 sq km (2012)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]

Population distribution:
population is heavily concentrated to the northeast on the Musandam Peninsula; the three largest emirates - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah - are home to nearly 85% of the population

Natural hazards:
frequent sand and dust storms

Environment - current issues:
air pollution; rapid population growth and high energy demand contribute to water scarcity; lack of natural freshwater resources compensated by desalination plants; land degradation and desertification; waste generation, beach pollution from oil spills

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note:
strategic location along southern approaches to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil


NOTE: 1) The information regarding United Arab Emirates on this page is re-published from the 2020 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of United Arab Emirates Geography 2020 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about United Arab Emirates Geography 2020 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may have the following issues:
  a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
  b) The CIA sometimes assigns counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order.






This page was last modified 27-Jan-20
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