Talk:United Arab Emirates

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4.04 million was the population in 2003. I have made changes to the year 2005 and corrected to 2003. this can be verified from census data published by govt of UAE on their ministry of planning website http://www.uae.gov.ae/mop/UAE_figure/UAE_%2003.htm

I perosnally have no problem in having this data included, however I just wanted to put out a fyi that the 2003 figure listed on the website is an estimate, and not from a census. If I'm not wrong, the last census in UAE was in 1995.
Similar to this, the US Department of State has a population estimate of 4.3 million for UAE in 2004 [1]

Contents

[edit] There are two different population estimates quoted

The body of the article says 4.04 million (2005), but the sidebar says 2,563,212 (also 2005). What gives?

  • The CIA world fact book gives the sidepanel number but they say that the estimated population in 2005 including non-nationals is 3.44 million. Perhaps the source of the contributor was 4.04 million.--Adam 20:12, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
In my research, this contradiction exists between the CIA Factbook, the UN, and the government reports. Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are brought in from Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, etc. under private or pseudo-private contracts for commercial work (construction is a large industry). These people basically live in the country for 9+ months, but of course are only on a work visa. I believe 4 million is the UN number (who tend to watch migration patterns) and 2.5 is the government number.
Vector4F 06:47, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

The UAE's population can't possibly be less than 4 million people (including non-nationals), as Etisalat itself has 4 million customers. Therefore, the UAE's population must be more than 4 million people.--Maulik2005 13:53, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

According to an estimate on the US Department of State website [2], the population of Dubai in 2004 was 4.3 million. The most recent population statistics that can be found on the UAE government website is an estimate from 2003 (NOT a census). Since the US Department of State estimate is more recent, I am going with that and have included it in the article, and have provided a link to the specific page on the US Department of State website. --Jibran1 22:44, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Some population figures from various well-cited sources for such figures:

[edit] How come Dubai is now the largest city?

http://www.citypopulation.de/UAE.html

Abu Dhabi is the largest emirate, but Abu Dhabi city isn't the largest city... WhisperToMe 04:20, 21 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Abu Dhabi is the largest Emirate and city. Abu Dhabi city isn't just the island of Abu Dhabi it extends to Alshahama and further from the east, to the end of Musafah on the west and to Almafrag to the south. And thats what I'm sure about I'm not sure if it reaches further that that but it will due to the growth of the city and the country. Alromaithi 03:34, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Border mysteriousness

Quoth the article:

The border demarcation treaties of 1974 and 1977 between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were never made public. Therefore the exact border of the two countries is only known to their governments.

This is ... unusual. Does anyone know why this is being kept secret by the two governments? --Jfruh 01:06, 27 May 2005 (UTC)

That is a bit strange. Is that still accurate? *conspiracy*

As far as I know it is correct that only the governments know the exact location. The reason for this I can think of is "Why should the common people know that?". I guess this belongs to their official policy that nobody should know more than absolutely necessary. I lived in this country for about 2 years and I can tell you they like to keep things secret what means power to them. You also find also not much information for a arabic subjects in the internet because openness means loss of power. -ThorstenS 07:24, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hi guys. I have found the onshore border and have a copy of the 1974 demarcation. Just so you know the onshore co-ords are 51.5906 24.2494, 51.5906 24.1233, 52.5811 22.9358, 55.1372 22.6281, 55.2028 22.7006, 55.5000 23.5364, 55.5694 24.0000, 55.8500 24.0167, 55.9000 24.2167, 55.8333 24.1972 (WGS84)

I will try to integrate this into the main text ASAP. this should be correct as it was supplied by our boundary consultants! -- GeologyTom 16:06, 11 October 2006

Hi Tom, I've had to undo your addition to the article for the time being as you shouldn't refer to a talk page from within an article, and also because that information would need a citation. Can you give us a reference for the information? Thanks. -- Earle Martin [t/c] 16:09, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Sorry about that, will go off and read the etiquette pages! The source of this data is the "The Saudi Arabia - UAE Agreement of 21st August 1974" signed by His Majesty King Faisal Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, and His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates. It's not published by anyone in theory, as neither country published it through their governemtn system, so I have no real great references than that. Could someone reccomend the next thing to do (ie publish on wikisource, or just remove the bit saying there is no copies of the agreement). Regards.--GeologyTom 13:52, 12 October 2006 (UTC)


The Saudi-Iraqi neutral zone (1922–1981) and Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone (1922–1969) were also "private" matters.
Urhixidur 20:39, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Miscellaneous Topics

I would like to write a few words about some miscellaneous topics like Religious Freedom ,Labour Discrimination and Prostitution in the UAE. Would it be appropriate to mention it in this article ? 152.78.254.131 18:42, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

I have written some words in the German Wikipedia regarding what you mention. Should be fine to write it here in the English one. Will you do a translation from the German version or do you have some additional information? -Toshi 10:12, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
Wow ! The German version is certainly more elaborate than the English one. Can someone translate and merge the information onto the English version? Fitful 17:19, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
I don't know German. I can try some online German-English translators. 152.78.254.131 17:30, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
Can you write down your informations first. In case they are more compehensive then mine I can put them also on the German version. And later both can be merged together on each Wikipedia -Toshi 18:46, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
As these are potentially controversial topics, I need some time to research them before I can start writing. As I am presently busy with some personal work, don't expect anything too soon. I will eventually get around to writing it. 152.78.254.131 21:30, 22 July 2005
From time to time I move(d) sections from the Dubai-article which applies nationwide to the UAE-article. Today the labour issues for example -Toshi 06:42, 23 July 2005 (UTC)

Why not keep the info on the individual page as well? It can't hurt (knowledge being power), and it actually will help as some people may not go to the UAE page, but will visit the Dubai page. Information on New York labor issues would be included in the New York page even if a similiar situation exists in other cities in the United States. To limit that information to the United States page only would seem to obscure pertinent information.

This page specifically mentions the sex trade in Dubai, and yet no mention is made of this on the Dubai page.

I think since the UAE are not that large as the USA and most of the topics apply nationwide (prostitution is also in Abu Dhabi very common) and the full text should be on the UAE page. Parts of the text which applies to Dubai must be of course found on the Dubai page, so I agree with you. The text can be identic in some cases on both articles but the sections of the text which applies nationwide must be in the UAE article. I am just afraid that all information are predominately found on the Dubai page since Dubai is often mistaken as the whole UAE.
See my last move of labour issues, this issues apply nationwide and is not a Dubai-related problem hence the main text should be found on the UAE page. In the Dubai article you can copy the sections which apply for this Emirate (in this case I think all) and add some additional Dubai-specific information such as more inspection of the authorities on the Dubai page. -Toshi 07:25, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Structure of the article

Is it standard in the English Wikipedia to separate the main article to many smaller ones? Example: In United Arab Emirates there are the remark under the headlines such as "Main article ....". But if I check the information here such as "Emirates" and then the "Main article" Emirates of the United Arab Emirates there is no big difference. In German Wikipedia the Emirates of the United Arab Emirates was a stub and had already merged into the main article and then deleted. Other example is economy. Some more information on the external article on the upper part and the other have has statistics from CIA World fact book. My opinion is the statistics should be removed (+external link to the fact book created), new information merged into the UAE-Article and then delete the "Economy about UAE"-article. Since I am not familiar with the English Wikipedia customs I'd like to get some opinions about it. -Toshi 06:39, 23 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Duplicate links

The two external links mentioned at the bottom of the page: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/aetoc.html and http://www.country-data.com/frd/cs/aetoc.html#ae0056 contain the same material. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.93.35.193 (talk • contribs) 05:43, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The Al Nahyan Family

Most people know that the ruling family of the UAE is the Al Nahyan Family. For some reason, the name seems to be Al Nahayan at several times in the article United Arab Emirates. Why is this? --195.229.241.181 13:55, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

The corresponding wikipedia article for Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan follows the spelling in this article (not my doing). You can usually transliterate an Arabic name to English in no less than three different spellings (e.g. Koran, Quran, Alcoran). Typically, I use the spelling found in Oxford reference texts. --Vector4F 06:54, 14 December 2005 (UTC)


The correct spelling is Al Nahyan thats what's written in their passports. They are not the only ruling family in the UAE they are the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. As you know there are 7 Emirates in the UAE each with its own ruling family.Alromaithi 03:39, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 34th National Day

Happy UAE 34th National Day to all! --213.42.2.21 13:36, 2 December 2005 (UTC) December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Human Rights and Labor issues NPOV

All Human Rights Part should be removed or implemented on all countries. United States , United_Kingdom, India ,... all of them have serious human rights violations (see http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/usa/index.html ) but we don't read them in wikipedia!

Human_Rights_Watch http://www.hrw.org do not list United_Arab_Emirates as a country with human rights violations.

Do we have to add all the ugly Human Rights violations that USA, Uk, India, Israel, Germany, nether land, Denmark violated too?

The sentence: The United Arab Emirates also lacks a fair immigration and naturalization policy. does not seem to conform to NPOV. Perhaps someone can expand this.--Adam 16:22, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

I removed it. It is somewhat meaningless because it could be said of any country in the world. Almost every immigration policy is biased. UAE immigration is almost exclusively through sponsored, time-limited visas with classifications for students, special dispensation, business, and labor (all of them with an overhead fee). The UAE really doesn't give out citizenship, to my knowledge, except by native birth (no duel citizenship). --Vector4F 07:06, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

The UAE gives citizenships to people who speak Arabic, are Muslims and had been living there for a long period of time. The UAE gives citizenships to people from Yemen, Oman, Iran and other Persian and Aftican descendants. Alromaithi 03:45, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Racial Discrimination

Hii..absolutely love Wikipedia and the freedom it gives..

Can I write on the extreme discrimination which goes around here? Also unneccesary laws and extreme prostitution where teens as small as 13 yrs go?

Prostitution is illegal in the UAE. There is no such racial discrimination in the UAE constitution. The only kind of discrimination in the UAE is Cultural discrimination amd it's common in every part of the world. Alromaithi 03:52, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

but worse in some parts than others. 165.146.108.78 15:11, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
Asians get picked on because they're passive, not to mention that in alot of cases, because they are poor they have no alternative but to leave their country and work in the Middle East, and the Arabs know this, and use it to their advantage. Arabs in western countries routinely cry foul of any hint, real or imagined, of discrimination against them. Yet they do it in their country of origin. Arabs who say it's not true are liars.Lastcharlie 05:55, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] This is why wikipedia will never be a trustworthy resource...

By reading the comments some people made below, it seems they are only interested in promoting their own views on this country... "human rights" issues are now discussed in the 4th paragraph... although important it is not supposed to appear so high up in chain of information... you notice how the "human rights" issues in the "united states" article, as regarding guantanamo and the current lack of privacy and liberty are not even mentioned in the article at all...

Encarta = worth the money Wikipedia = should be sued and shut down... all biased info crazy people promote...

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 194.125.79.84 (talk • contribs) 13:27, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Microsoft wishes that Encarta was as popular and as widely-used as Wikipedia. --AladdinSE 08:55, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Child slavery

I returned this link Sport of Sheikhs - Emmy and duPont award winning documentary on child slavery in the UAE. The UAE always claimed it did not practice child slavery. Even after they changed the laws and promised to enforce them, evidence continues to emerge of systematic violations in the camel racing industry. This 2006 award-winning documentary is recent. They had video proof. Let's not whitewash it. --AladdinSE 08:47, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Sounds reasonable. But the article now says, "According to Antislavery.org, UAE has been found to use child jockeys in camel racing, violating both human rights laws and child sex laws." Unless they routinely force jockeys to have sex with camels, someone had better change this. Dan 07:55, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

There is no info on the antislavery.org website about UAE violating child sex laws. The original phrasing was more accurate and comes from an HBO documentary (above), where supposed trainers admit trainers sodomize the boys. In the second part they show the butt of a child they purportedly rescued who claimed he was recently raped. I could not tell that, though I have no trained eye, and only viewed it once. Finally, the creators of the documentary apparently assert the problem has been solved. (see again http://www.ansarburney.org/videolinks/video-hbo1.html) This should be included, as it is the most recent update, from an apparently sincere source. Though in the format: it is reported...

Someone desided to delete this, will retry to add it.

My relative is a camel racer, he used to have child Jockeys'. When I asked him about the Human rights thing he told me that he saves the lives of these young children living in poverty in their home countries (Persia). He brings their whole family and gives them food and shelter. I believe it was a humanitarian thing. But the sport was dangerous thats why the country of the UAE banned the use of human child race jockeys. Instead my cousin now has a Mercedes Benz car key and presses the unlock button to activate the robot jockey. I guess this historic racing event became modernised with 21st century robots thanks to the Human rights organization. These robots sit just like a normal jockey with a plastic stick turned by a motor to whip the camel. This robot cost around $8,000 and was invented by a UAE national. Alromaithi 04:04, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Arab League template

Is there any reason why this template should not be used? I noticed that it was reverted when an anon editor put it in. --AladdinSE 01:21, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Since there are no objections, I am returning the template.--AladdinSE 00:27, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Neutrality?

I am very concerned about the neutrality of the article, in particular the 'Human rights and labor issues' section. In my opinion, there is just too much UAE-bashing going on over there. An opposing side of the argument should be put in, in order to make the section more neutral. I request all you of reading this, to please review that section. I am half-tempted to put up a NPOV tag. --Jibran1 07:52, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

Well...if you have verifiable proof to debunk the info given then why dont you put it up?Lastcharlie 06:01, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Someone please review the human rights paragraph...

As someone who's lived in the UAE for more than a decade i may be biased... but bias aside i still don't see the point of putting "Human rights and labor issues" so high up on the list... also it's very hard hitting from all aspects... "illegal sex industry"... the same could be said about every city in the US... what is the point of adding that? Will that bit of information help anyone make up their mind about the place? It might even put people off visiting... which would be a shame...

Oh and just to prove that this paragraph should be removed... "The United States Department of State has cited..." Since when was the USDOS a voice for freedom and liberty? I am sure if the issue was put to a vote people would have the entire paragraph removed or at least shifted to a seperate page altogether.

Let's keep this place as informative as possible without resorting to propagating someone's or some small group's spiteful agenda.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 213.202.188.231 (talk • contribs) 21:13, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

No country should be looked at through rose-coloured glasses. Why should the UAE be treated any different?Lastcharlie 06:03, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Number of migrant workers

I've had a look at the 2003 Human Rights Watch reports on UAE, and none of them claim that 90 percent of the workers are immigrants from South Asia. According to http://hrw.org/english/docs/2003/09/19/uae6388.htm 90 pecent of workers are migrants. There is no mention of the demographics of these immigrants.

[edit] Relationships with Mexico

Can anyone please inform me of their relationships with Mexico?

There is no known relationship with Mexico.Alromaithi 04:07, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Coat of arms

The link to the coat of arms of UAE at the top of the page leads to the coat of arms of Saudi Arabia. GilliamJF 05:52, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for this hint. I have fixed the wrong entry. -Toshi 11:47, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Supermarkets of UAE

Someone from UAE please check out List of supermarkets article and add a list for supermarkets from UAE. I have just added Carrefour.

Shijaz 19:08, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Update population

Data was released in July 2006 based on the 2005 nationwide census that puts the current population at 4,104,695. The CIA factbook is off by a huge margin and the page needs to updated to reflect this new data. I would do it myself but I'm not sure how to properly modify the country facts. Source: http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/Government/10056248.html


[edit] Fourth richest country? And references...

The CIA list claims they are four, but on the wiki list they show up significantly lower - at 23. They also show up lower on the earthtrends site. Is CIA the most trustable source?

This article is kind of a mess, particularly the human rights section. Needs more references. Saying stuff like that really needs to be backed up by something. And why are there so many broken/pretend reference tags...? --Karafias 04:58, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Hi there...yeah, in away the whole page needs to be more organized. But as far as references for Human rights are concerned, you may look at Dubai and look at all the human rights and labour issues. You might also want to do a google search and help come up with some links and photos. And besides, you really have to be to a particular country for sometime, if you want to know what goes on there. I'll assume you havent been to or worked in the UAE, thats why what's written might look false to you. But infact, its all the truth. Thanks.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.26.206.130 (talk • contribs) .
Obviously, I believe it has some merit, or I would have removed it. Everyone has their own opinion of what "The Truth™," is but, everyone disagrees. It's human nature to distort facts to fit to our own point of view. Citing references and facts is how we keep wiki from degenerating into a personal soapbox. It may be true, some of it probably is true, but how do we know? I could add an "alien abduction" section, and claim that the entire UAE government actually came from mars. Without sources, it's just as credible as some of the sections in this article. I'm not saying it isn't true, I'm saying that sources must be cited for controversial subjects - i.e, secret prisons where they execute people. --Karafias Talk • Contributions 22:56, 14 October 2006 (UTC)


Yeah, ok...I'll put up some references asap; but do help me with the search when you have time, just a couple of 'em. That way also you will know that its not just my opinion. ;) Secondly, could you revert the edit done by one Ffares on 15 Oct? He has removed one of the website references. Thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.26.206.129 (talk • contribs) 05:19, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

I'll help you to put up some serious human rights violations in Australia. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 195.229.242.86 (talk) 22:17, 7 December 2006 (UTC).

This is true that It is 4th Richest country & Nowadays it going for 1st Rank I mean try for that & look at GDP growth increases per year. It is not dependant on Oil.

[edit] Map of the individual Emirates

This country is a federation of 7 Emirates. The article needs a map showing the 7 Emirates and their territories. TiffaF 06:34, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dubai is bigger than Abu Dhabi?????

The article about Dubai says it's population is 1,241,000 and that about Abu Dhabi says it's population is 1,850,230 so why the does this article say Dubai is the largest city of the UAE, not Abu Dhabi? Or is it because of the area? Well, it's the same, Abu Dhabi's larger!!! Even the Wikipedia's in the other languages say that... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.101.191.215 (talk • contribs) 10:30, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, I would like to think that it means Abu Dhabi Emirate. You are correct, Dubai city is bigger than Abu Dhabi city. But Dubai Emirate isnt. As to why Abu Dhabi has 1.8 mill. people is that it includes Al Ain and other small oil cities. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.166.57.135 (talk • contribs) 12:06, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Poor Page

This is one of the poorest country pages on Wikipedia. Anybody with the interest or the time, please choose a section, EXPAND and IMPROVE. "History" is in desperate need of some attention. Jaw101ie 20:46, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

I fully concur to that view. I have never been in Asia and I have come across the page by chance today browsing the Qatar and surroundings... immediately the section on Human rights has struck me as something far too long and perhaps biased for article that should be the first information to anyone interested in knowing something about UAE. It might be mentioned, especially when referenced, but the way it is now it is like fist between eyes. Ruziklan 20:55, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
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