International disputes: location and status of boundary with Saudi
Arabia is not final, defacto boundary reflects 1974 agreement; no
defined boundary with most of Oman, but Administrative Line in far
north; claims two islands in the Persian Gulf occupied by Iran:
Lesser Tunb (called Tunb as Sughra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye
Tonb-e Kuchek in Persian by Iran) and Greater Tunb (called Tunb al
Kubra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg in Persian by
Iran); claims island in the Persian Gulf jointly administered with
Iran (called Abu Musa in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Abu Musa in
Persian by Iran); in 1992, the dispute over Abu Musa and the Tunb
islands became more acute when Iran unilaterally tried to control
the entry of third country nationals into the UAE portion of Abu
Musa island, Tehran subsequently backed off in the face of
significant diplomatic support for the UAE in the region

Climate: desert; cooler in eastern mountains

Terrain: flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand
dunes of vast desert wasteland; mountains in east
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Jabal Yibir 1,527 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 2%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 98%

Irrigated land: 50 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: lack of natural freshwater resources being overcome
by desalination plants; desertification; beach pollution from oil
spills
natural hazards: frequent sand and dust storms
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Hazardous
Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not
ratified - Biodiversity, Law of the Sea

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

People
------

Population: 3,057,337 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 35% (male 542,848; female 519,952)
15-64 years: 64% (male 1,277,829; female 683,282)
65 years and over: 1% (male 22,246; female 11,180) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 4.33% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 26.43 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 3.03 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 19.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
1