…an independent state on the south coast of the Persian Gulf, west of the Gulf of Oman; population 4,798,500 (est. 2009); official language, Arabic; capital, Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates was formed in 1971 by the federation of the independent sheikhdoms formerly called the Trucial States: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah (joined early 1972), Sharjah, and Umm al-Qaiwain…
