United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates on the eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, facing the Arabian Gulf to the west and the Gulf of Oman to the east. The union was formed on 2 December 1971. Abu Dhabi is the capital and Dubai the largest city. The country covers about 83,600 square kilometres and has more than 11 million people. In that fairly compact space you find open desert, rugged mountains and two very different coasts, so a two-hour drive can take you from red dunes to a beach framed by peaks.

Abu Dhabi is an island city that pairs modern architecture with heritage. It holds the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with its 82 white domes, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, opened in 2017 beneath a latticed metal dome, and Qasr Al Hosn, built in 1761 and the oldest building in the city. Dubai pairs the 828-metre Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, with its old creek, where wooden abra boats still ferry people between the banks, and Al Fahidi Fort, built in 1787.

To the north, Sharjah has museums and a restored historic heart, and was named World Book Capital for 2019. Inland on the border with Oman lies Al Ain, the garden city of oases. Its cultural sites were the first in the country to join the World Heritage List, in 2011, among them the Hili tombs from the third millennium BC.

In Ras Al Khaimah a 36-kilometre road climbs Jebel Jais close to the country's highest ground, where snow has fallen in rare winters. On the east coast, Fujairah sits between the Hajar Mountains and the Gulf of Oman. It is home to Al Bidya Mosque, thought to date from 1446 and built of stone and mud, and to Wadi Wurayah, inscribed as World Heritage in 2026. In the southwest, Liwa Oasis curves along the edge of the Empty Quarter, near the Moreeb Dune, about 300 metres high.

The best time to visit is winter, from December to February, when the weather is mild; in July and August average highs on the coast can pass 48 °C. The currency is the UAE dirham and the time zone is UTC+4. The local kitchen is simple and generous: machboos, harees and luqaimat, with Arabic coffee and dates offered to every guest. Getting around is easy, with modern roads, signs in Arabic and English and short distances between cities. The explore journey goes deeper, emirate by emirate.[1,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,3,15,16,17,18,19,2,20]Source1. United Arab Emirates · Wikipedia5. Abu Dhabi · Wikipedia6. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque · Wikipedia7. Louvre Abu Dhabi · Wikipedia8. Dubai · Wikipedia9. Dubai Creek · Wikipedia10. Al Fahidi Fort (Dubai Museum) · Wikipedia11. Sharjah · Wikipedia12. Al Ain · Wikipedia13. Hili Archaeological Park · Wikipedia3. United Arab Emirates — World Heritage properties · UNESCO World Heritage Centre15. Jebel Jais · Wikipedia16. Fujairah · Wikipedia17. Al Bidya Mosque · Wikipedia18. Wadi Wurayah · Wikipedia19. Liwa Oasis · Wikipedia2. Climate of the United Arab Emirates · Wikipedia20. Emirati cuisine · Wikipedia