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Geography
Geography
Lying at the north-eastern part of the Arabian Peninsular the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is bordered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the South and West, and the Sultanate of Oman to the East and North. It has a coastline on both the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf and is South of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
The country is made up of seven different emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujeirah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain), which were all formally independent sheikhdoms - while the term emirate comes from the ruling title of emir, the rulers in this region are called Sheikhs. The total area of the country is about 83,600 square kilometers, much of which lies in the Abu Dhabi emirate. With an area of 3,885 square kilometers, Dubai is the second largest emirate.
Golden beaches dot the country's 1,318 kilometers of coastline, 100 kilometers are on the Gulf of Oman . The Arabian Gulf Coast is littered with coral reefs and over 200 islands, most of which are uninhabited. Sabkha (salt-flats), stretches of gravel plain and desert characterise much of the island region.
Dubai itself and the surrounding area consist of flat desert and sabkha. However, to the East rise the Hajar Mountains (the word 'Hajar' is Arabic for rock). Lying close to the Gulf of Oman, they form a backbone through the country, from the Mussandam Peninsula in the North, through the Eastern UAE and into Oman. The highest point is Jebel Yibir at 1,527 meters.
Most of the Western part of the country lies in the Abu Dhabi emirate and is made up of the infamous Rub Al Khali or Empty Quarter desert which is common to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman. The area consists of arid, stark desert with spectacular sand dunes, broken by an occasional oasis. It's the largest sand desert in the work, covering nearly a quarter of the Arabian Peninsula and has dunes rising in places to well over 300 meters!!
Visitors to Dubai will find a land of startling contrasts, from endless stretches of desert to rugged mountains and modern towns. The city of Dubai itself is situated on the banks of a creek, a natural inlet from the Gulf that divides the city neatly in two.