Geography
United Arab Emirates is placed in Persian Gulf from the North-Eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. It's bordered by Saudi Arabia in South and West, and Oman in East. It's Northern coast faces Iran across the Persian Gulf, while Qatar is Just 50 km (30miles) to the North-West.

Weather
From May to September humidity is high and daytime temperature commonly is around 40 degree (C) and over in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Rainfall is non-existent between May and October, and negligible for much of the rest of year-though it can turn foul in December and January, which can make getting around tricky.

Background Information
Full country name: United Arab Emirates (U.A.E)
Area: 83,600 sq. km (32,400 sq. miles)
Population: 2 million
Capital city: Abu Dhabi (pop. 365,000)
People: Arab (87%), Pakistani (9%), Iranian (2%)
Language: Arabic
Religion: Islam
Government: Monarchy with Federal Council

Economic profile
GDP: US $ 70 billion
GDP Per head: US $ 25,000
Annual growth: 3%
Inflation: 5%
Major industries: Oil, Gas, Petrochemicals, fishing

Entry Information
When to go there: The best time of the year to visit the UAE is between November and April, when the weather is at it's best.
Visas: British citizens and nationals of most Gulf Countries do not require visas. All other visitors are required to have visas. Note that if your passport shows evidence of travel to Israel you will be denied entry to the UAE.

How to get there
The best way is to get there by airplane; some regional passengers get there by ship.

Getting around
Emirates is a small country; all use bus or car to get around.

Transportation
Between cities: Bus or Car
In cities: Bus, taxi

Money and costs
Currency: UAE Dirham (DH)
Relative costs:
Budget meal: US $ 3-5
Moderate restaurant meal: US $ 5-10
Top-end restaurant meal: US $ 10 and upwards
Budget room: US $ 15-40
Moderate hotel: US $ 40-80
Top-end hotel: US $ 80 and upwards

Electricity:
220 V ( 240 V in Abu Dhabi), 50HZ

Time zone:
GMT/UTC plus 4 hours.

Media:
Publications, radio and TV are in Arabic; only some limited are in English.

Communication:
Telephone, Fax, Post, Email, Mobile, Internet

Weights and Measures:
Metric System

Business hours
Government: 8-16
Shopping: 8-13 and 15-22
Weekend: Friday and Saturday

Art and Culture
Most Arab people are Muslims (Sunni) and have a culture as Saudi Arabia. Here, also found a big number of non-Arabic residents: Two different cultures. i.e., Arabs get around only in afternoons as their tradition, but the rest have all their works, Shopping... During the whole day; only 2-3 hours, cities are closed because of hot humid weather at noon.
Their most important crafts are: Silver, Stone, Ceramic, Pottery and spinning.

Embassies:
All of placed in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.