United Arab Emirates Human Geography

GENERALITY

State of Asia, located in the Arabian Peninsula at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, overlooking what was once called, with clear reference to the activity carried out by the coastal populations, the Pirate Coast.The seven Emirates of Abu Dhabi arepart of the State , Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain, Ras al Khaimah and Fujayrah, also known in the past as the Truce States, in memory of the peace concluded in 1853 between Great Britain and the pirates of the area. Dedicated for centuries to sea raids, pearl fishing and nomadism, ruled by the Persians, Portuguese and English before the rise of the two tribal confederations Bani Yas and Qawassim (respectively ancestors of the rulers of four of the current domains), the United Arab Emirates United remained until the discovery of oil a fundamentally depressed region divided by conflicts between the various sheikhdoms. Within a few decades, the collapse of the pearl market (1930) and the beginning of the exploitation of black gold reserves (starting from the 1960s) changed the configuration of the country and its perspective, transforming it into one of the richest states in the world. Modernization and widespread well-being in the area are eloquently exemplified by the urban and architectural development of the city of Dubai, a candidate to quickly become the true nerve center of the Middle East for foreign investments, services and trade and whose urban symbols (from the tallest skyscrapers of the world, to artificial beaches to futuristic projects of cities under the sea) are now intrinsically connected with the imaginary of the entire country. However, economic growth and transformations have not found an equal response in the political and social sphere: the process of democratic reform has in fact only been started in recent times and the oligarchic power expressed by the emirs still informs most of the institutions, as well as the tradition still invests many of the costumes.

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Over the last few decades, the population of the Emirates has undergone a particular evolution: the country’s growth rate in the period 2002-2007 was 4.5%; according to localtimezone, the residents of the country amounted to over 4 million people, a surprising figure, if compared with that of less than twenty years earlier (179,000 residents in 1968). Between 2005 and 2017, the population increased from just over four million to almost 9.5 million. Between 2015 and 2020, the growth rate stood at 1.4%. This demographic increase is largely due to massive immigration from the Asian countries of the Middle East, attracted by the demand for manpower linked to mining activities and by the wave of well-being following the discovery and exploitation of oil fields in Abu Dhabi and Dubai: it is estimated that about 70% of the workforce is of foreign origin. This massive presence regulated during the nineties of the twentieth century also by legislative measures aimed at containing the phenomenon of illegal immigration, is also the cause of the disproportion between the sexes within the population: with two thirds of the residents of male gender, the UAE is the country in the world with the largest number of men. The ethnic composition of the United Arab Emirates is made up of This massive presence regulated during the nineties of the twentieth century also by legislative measures aimed at containing the phenomenon of illegal immigration, is also the cause of the disproportion between the sexes within the population: with two thirds of the residents of male gender, the UAE is the country in the world with the largest number of men. The ethnic composition of the United Arab Emirates is made up of This massive presence regulated during the nineties of the twentieth century also by legislative measures aimed at containing the phenomenon of illegal immigration, is also the cause of the disproportion between the sexes within the population: with two thirds of the residents of male gender, the UAE is the country in the world with the largest number of men. The ethnic composition of the United Arab Emirates is made up of Arabs for 15% and Asians for 75%. If the former are concentrated above all in the oases and are dedicated to agricultural activities, the latter populate urban centers and deal with commercial activities. The population density of the country 111.5 residents / km² has also increased by almost one and a half times compared to the latest surveys; urbanization is quite widespread and two thirds of the population is concentrated in cities. The rest of the population lives along the coasts, dedicated to activities related to fishing, while about 10% of the residents are nomads. The largest and most populous of the Emirates is that of Abu Dhabi, which extends from the border with Qatar to Oman and Dubai; it includes some villages of the fertile and well-populated oasis of Buraimi, however, claimed by Oman and Saudi Arabia. The demographic size of Dubai is also relevant, extending between the Pirate Coast and the Gulf of Oman, whose center is one of the most lively and populous in the country. The residents of the other emirates, who are more scarce in resources, instead seek accommodation in the coastal centers economically enlivened by oil and related traffic.