The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven states that has grown from a quiet backwater to one of the Middle East's most important economic centres. The capital city is Abu Dhabi.
One of the most famous geographical largest land reclamation feature is the Palm Islands in Dubai. UAE is the most popular toursit destination in the world.
Football is a most popular sport, followed by shooting. UAE won the first Olympic gold medal in Athens 2004 in shooting by Ahmed al-Maktoum.
The U.A.E. has short torrential rain burst during the summer months often resulting in flooding of dry riverbeds called Wadi. Temperatures during the summer can reach 48 °C in some places and during the winter go as low as 10 °C.
A dry and dusty wind known as the Sharqi blows from the southeast with gusts up to 80 km/h and can make living on the coast unpleasant during the late summer months.
With sand storms reaching up to a thousand meters high it often shuts down airports for short periods of time.
The UAE is blessed with a rich heritage that encompasses architecture, sports, occupations, traditions, arts, crafts, food, places of historical and archaeological importance, lifestyle and values imbibed in Islam.
Camel racing is one of the historical tradional sport. Arabian horse breeding is also highly prized.
UAE has become of the major tourist and trade destinations in the world.
