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The
Country
Introduction he United Arab Emirates was
established in 1971 as a federation of seven emirates, Abu Dhabi, Dubai,
Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain and Fujairah. The rulers
comprise the Federal Supreme Council, FSC, which elects the country's
President and Vice President at five-yearly intervals from amongst its
members. HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, has
been President since 1971, and HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Ruler of Dubai, has been Vice President (also concurrently Prime Minister)
since 1990. The Council of Ministers is chosen by the Prime Minister in
consultation with the President, and is the executive arm of Government.
The Federal National Council, or parliament, has 40 members, drawn from
each of the emirates, and has a legislative and supervisory role and can
amend proposed federal legislation. The judicial structure is headed by
the Federal Supreme Court. There are also local governments in each of the
emirates, while each major urban centre has a Municipality for local
affairs. The traditional 'majlis' system of open discussion between the
tribal leaders and their people has evolved into an important, although
informal, part of the UAE's governing system. no more than
a handful of cars and scarcely a building more impressive
than the crumbling mud-brick forts and watchtowers of Abu
Dhabi and Dubai, where now high-rise stacks, gilded domes
and minarets tower over wide boulevards, where cascades of
water are flaunted with conspicuous opulence, and where
acres of shrubs burgeon on the desert shore, stood sleepy
settlements of reed, coral and mud-brick houses, sweltering
on sand spits and islands in the most ferocious summer
heat.
Tribesmen would harvest the unreliable winter rains by
stretching a sail with a hole in its center between two
poles, and in the merciless heat of the Arabian summer would
trap the cooling winds by the ingenious use of wind-towers
made of sackcloth or cotton. On the sun-blasted terraces of
the Hajar Mountains, subsistence farmers eked out a bitter
existence, and in the interior the hardy Bedouin scoured the
dunes of the great Empty Quarter for pasture. In the hot
months, members of these various groups would come together
to work as divers in the pearl-yielding oyster beds which
flourished in the warm, shallow waters of the Gulf For
almost three millennia the economy of this region was bound
up with the pearling fleet, culminating in a boom that was
only ended by the invention, in the 1920s of the cultured
pearl. Country
History Each of the states has its own ruler, together they comprise the highest body of the federal government, the Supreme Council of Rulers. The council elects from its members a president and vice president. The federation is also governed by a prime minister and a 40 member consultative assembly called the Federal National Council.
Climatic
Conditions Between the months of November and March a moderate, warm climate prevails during the day at an average temperature of 26°C, and a slightly cooler climate prevails throughout the night at an average temperature of 15°C. The humidity tends to rise in the summer months, between June and August. Prevailing winds, influenced by the monsoons, vary between south or southeast, to west or north to northwest depending upon the season and location. Average rainfall is low at less than 6.5 centimeters annually and more than half of the average rainfall occurs in December and January.
but hotels and airports are often quicker and are open outside banking hours. Money changers tend to have a wider range of currencies but their rates may be higher. Exchange rates are published daily.
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