)

Executive branch: president, vice president, Supreme Council of Rulers,
prime minister, Council of Ministers

Legislative branch: unicameral Federal National Council

Judicial branch: Union Supreme Court

Leaders:
Chief of State--President Shaykh Zayid bin Sultan Al NUHAYYAN of Abu Dhabi
(since 2 December 1971); Vice President Shaykh Rashid bin Said Al MAKTUM
of Dubayy (since 2 December 1971;

Head of Government--Prime Minister Shaykh Rashid bin Said Al MAKTUM
of Dubayy (Prime Minister since 30 April 1979); Deputy Prime Minister Maktum bin
Rashid al MAKTUM (since 2 December 1971)

Political parties and leaders: none

Suffrage: none

Elections: none

Communists: NA

Other political or pressure groups: a few small clandestine
groups are active

Member of: Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), GCC, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdullah bin Zayed
AL-NAHAYYAN; Chancery at Suite 740, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW,
Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 338-6500;
US--Ambassador Edward S. WALKER, Jr.; Embassy at Al-Sudan Street,
Abu Dhabi (mailing address is P. O. Box 4009, Abu Dhabi); telephone p971o (2)
336691; there is a US Consulate General in Dubai

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a
thicker vertical red band on the hoist side

- Economy
Overview: The UAE has an open economy with one of the world's higher
levels of income per capita. This wealth is based on oil and gas, and the
fortunes of the economy fluctuate with the prices of those commodities. Since
1973, when petroleum prices shot up, the UAE has undergone a profound
transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a
modern state with a high standard of living. At present levels of production,
crude oil reserves should last for over 100 years.

GNP: $23.3 billion, per capita $11,680; real growth rate - 2.1% (1988)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5-6% (1988 est.)

Unemployment rate: NEGL (1988)

Budget: revenues $3.5 billion; expenditures $4.0 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1989 est.)

Exports: $10.6 billion (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--crude oil
75%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates; partners--US, EC, Japan

Imports: $8.5 billion (c.i.f., 1988 est.); commodities--foo