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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة, Dawlat al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) is a federation of seven emirates situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The UAE consists of seven states, termed emirates, which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. The capital and second largest city of the United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi. It is also the country's center of political, industrial and cultural activities.
Before 1971, the UAE were known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a nineteenth-century truce between Britain and several Arab Sheikhs. The name Pirate Coast was also used in reference to the area's emirates in the 18th to early 20th century.
The political system of the United Arab Emirates, based on the 1971 Constitution, comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. Islam is the official religion and Arabic is the official language.
The UAE, is rich in oil and natural gas, and possesses one of the most developed economies in the Middle East and is currently the thirty-sixth largest economy by nominal GDP, and is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita gross domestic product, with a nominal per capita GDP of $54,607 as per the IMF. The country is eleventh largest in purchasing power and has a relatively high Human Development Index for the Asian continent, ranking 31st globally. The United Arab Emirates is classified as a high income developing economy by the IMF.
The United Arab Emirates is a founding member of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, and the a member state of the Arab League. It is also a member of the United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the OPEC, and the World Trade Organization.