FAX: (2) 4435441

consulate(s) general: Dubai

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a thicker vertical red band on the hoist side

United Arab Emirates Economy

Economy - overview: The UAE has an open economy with a high per capita income and a sizable annual trade surplus. Its wealth is based on oil and gas output (about 33% of GDP), and the fortunes of the economy fluctuate with the prices of those commodities. Since 1973, the UAE has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. At present levels of production, oil and gas reserves should last for more than 100 years. Despite higher oil revenues in 1999-2000, the government has not drawn back from the economic reforms implemented during the 1998 oil price depression. The government has increased spending on job creation and infrastructure expansion and is opening up its utilities to greater private-sector involvement.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $54 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $22,800 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3%

industry: 52%

services: 45% (1996 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%

highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.5% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 1.4 million (1998 est.)

note: 75% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (July 1998 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: services 60%, industry 32%, agriculture 8% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues: $6.5 billion

expenditures: $7.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Industries: petroleum, fishing, petrochemicals, construction materials, some boat building, handicrafts, pearling

Industrial production growth rate: 4% (2000)

Electricity - production: 36.7 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100%

hydro: 0%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 34.131 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: dates, vegetables, watermelons; poultry, eggs, dairy products; fish

Exports: $46 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: crude oil 45%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates

Exports - partners: Japan 30%, India 7%, Singapore 6%, South Korea 4%, Oman, Iran (1999)

Imports: $34 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food

Imports - partners: Japan 9%, US 8%, UK 8%, Italy 6%, Germany, South
Korea (1999)

Debt - external: $12.6 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $NA

Currency: Emirati dirham (AED)

Currency code: AED

Exchange rates: Emirati dirhams per US dollar - central bank mid-point rate: 3.6725 (since 1998); 3.6711 (1997), 3.6710 (1995-96)

Fiscal year: calendar year

United Arab Emirates Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 915,223 (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 1 million (1999)

Telephone system: general assessment: modern system consisting of microwave radio relay and coaxial cable; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubai

domestic: microwave radio relay and coaxial cable

international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; submarine cables to Qatar, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan; tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia

Radio broadcast stations: AM 13, FM 7, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios: 820,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 15 (1997)

Televisions: 310,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .ae

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: 400,000 (2000)

United Arab Emirates Transportation

Railways: 0 km

Highways: total: 4,835 km

paved: 4,835 km

unpaved: 0 km (1998 est.)

Waterways: none

Pipelines: crude oil 830 km; natural gas, including natural gas liquids, 870 km

Ports and harbors: 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Das Island, Khawr Fakkan,
Mina' Jabal 'Ali, Mina' Khalid, Mina' Rashid, Mina' Saqr, Mina'
Zayid, Umm al Qaywayn

Merchant marine: total: 70 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,094,256 GRT/1,421,333 DWT

ships by type: cargo 16, chemical tanker 3, container 17, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 24, roll on/roll off 6, specialized tanker 1 (2000 est.)

Airports: 40 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 22

over 3,047 m: 8

2,438 to 3,047 m: 3

1,524 to 2,437 m: 4

914 to 1,523 m: 3

under 914 m: 4 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 18

over 3,047 m: 1

2,438 to 3,047 m: 1

1,524 to 2,437 m: 4

914 to 1,523 m: 9

under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 2 (2000 est.)

United Arab Emirates Military

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense, paramilitary (includes Federal Police Force)

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 778,842

note: includes non-nationals (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 420,484 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 25,482 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.6 billion (FY00)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.1% (FY00)

United Arab Emirates Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: location and status of boundary with Saudi Arabia is not final, de facto boundary reflects 1974 agreement; boundary with Oman has not been bilaterally defined; northern section in the Musandam Peninsula is an administrative boundary; claims two islands in the Persian Gulf occupied by Iran: Lesser Tunb (called Tunb as Sughra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek in Persian by Iran) and Greater Tunb (called Tunb al Kubra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg in Persian by Iran); claims island in the Persian Gulf jointly administered with Iran (called Abu Musa in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Abu Musa in Persian by Iran) - over which Iran has taken steps to exert unilateral control since 1992, including access restrictions and a military build-up on the island; the UAE has garnered significant diplomatic support in the region in protesting these Iranian actions

Illicit drugs: growing role as heroin transshipment and money-laundering center due to its proximity to southwest Asian producing countries and the bustling free trade zone in Dubai

@United Kingdom

United Kingdom Introduction

Background: Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside of the European Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. Regional assemblies with varying degrees of power opened in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 1999.

United Kingdom Geography

Location: Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France

Geographic coordinates: 54 00 N, 2 00 W

Map references: Europe

Area: total: 244,820 sq km

land: 241,590 sq km

water: 3,230 sq km

note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries: total: 360 km

border countries: Ireland 360 km

Coastline: 12,429 km

Maritime claims: continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries

exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM

territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the
North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast

Terrain: mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Fenland -4 m

highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m

Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica, arable land

Land use: arable land: 25%

permanent crops: 0%

permanent pastures: 46%

forests and woodland: 10%

other: 19% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 1,080 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has meet Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and hopes to reduce even more); small particulate emissions, largely from vehicular traffic, remain a problem; solid waste continues to rise and recycling is very limited

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber
83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

United Kingdom People

Population: 59,647,790 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 18.89% (male 5,778,415; female 5,486,114)

15-64 years: 65.41% (male 19,712,932; female 19,304,771)

65 years and over: 15.7% (male 3,895,921; female 5,469,637) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.23% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 11.54 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 10.35 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female

total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.82 years

male: 75.13 years

female: 80.66 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.73 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.11% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 31,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 450 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Briton(s), British (collective plural)

adjective: British

Ethnic groups: English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%,
Ulster 1.8%, West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%

Religions: Anglican 27 million, Roman Catholic 9 million, Muslim 1 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 400,000, Hindu 350,000, Jewish 300,000 (1991 est.)

Languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales),
Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling

total population: 99% (1978 est.)

male: NA%

female: NA%

United Kingdom Government

Country name: conventional long form: United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland

conventional short form: United Kingdom

abbreviation: UK

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: London

Administrative divisions: England - 47 boroughs, 36 counties*, 29
London boroughs**, 12 cities and boroughs***, 10 districts****, 12
cities*****, 3 royal boroughs******; Barking and Dagenham**,
Barnet**, Barnsley, Bath and North East Somerset****, Bedfordshire*,
Bexley**, Birmingham***, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton,
Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Bradford***, Brent**, Brighton and
Hove, City of Bristol*****, Bromley**, Buckinghamshire*, Bury,
Calderdale, Cambridgeshire*, Camden**, Cheshire*, Cornwall*,
Coventry***, Croydon**, Cumbria*, Darlington, Derby*****,
Derbyshire*, Devon*, Doncaster, Dorset*, Dudley, Durham*, Ealing**,
East Riding of Yorkshire****, East Sussex*, Enfield**, Essex*,
Gateshead, Gloucestershire*, Greenwich**, Hackney**, Halton,
Hammersmith and Fulham**, Hampshire*, Haringey**, Harrow**,
Hartlepool, Havering**, Herefordshire*, Hertfordshire*,
Hillingdon**, Hounslow**, Isle of Wight*, Islington**, Kensington
and Chelsea******, Kent*, City of Kingston upon Hull*****, Kingston
upon Thames******, Kirklees, Knowsley, Lambeth**, Lancashire*,
Leeds***, Leicester*****, Leicestershire*, Lewisham**,
Lincolnshire*, Liverpool***, City of London*****, Luton,
Manchester***, Medway, Merton**, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes,
Newcastle upon Tyne***, Newham**, Norfolk*, Northamptonshire*, North
East Lincolnshire****, North Lincolnshire****, North Somerset****,
North Tyneside, Northumberland*, North Yorkshire*, Nottingham*****,
Nottinghamshire*, Oldham, Oxfordshire*, Peterborough*****,
Plymouth*****, Poole, Portsmouth*****, Reading, Redbridge**, Redcar
and Cleveland, Richmond upon Thames**, Rochdale, Rotherham,
Rutland****, Salford***, Shropshire*, Sandwell, Sefton,
Sheffield***, Slough, Solihull, Somerset*, Southampton*****,
Southend-on-Sea, South Gloucestershire****, South Tyneside,
Southwark**, Staffordshire*, St. Helens, Stockport,
Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent*****, Suffolk*, Sunderland***,
Surrey*, Sutton**, Swindon, Tameside, Telford and Wrekin****,
Thurrock, Torbay, Tower Hamlets**, Trafford, Wakefield***, Walsall,
Waltham Forest**, Wandsworth**, Warrington, Warwickshire*, West
Berkshire****, Westminster***, West Sussex*, Wigan, Wiltshire*,
Windsor and Maidenhead******, Wirral, Wokingham****, Wolverhampton,
Worcestershire*, York*****; Northern Ireland - 24 districts, 2
cities*; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge,
Belfast*, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown,
Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn,
Derry*, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North
Down, Omagh, Strabane; Scotland - 32 council areas; Aberdeen City,
Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, The Scottish Borders,
Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire,
East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of
Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde,
Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney
Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South
Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, Eilean
Siar (Western Isles), West Lothian; Wales - 11 county boroughs, 9
counties*, 2 cities and counties**; Isle of Anglesey*, Blaenau
Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff**, Ceredigion*,
Carmarthenshire*, Conwy, Denbighshire*, Flintshire*, Gwynedd,
Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire*, Neath Port Talbot, Newport,
Pembrokeshire*, Powys*, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea**, Torfaen, The
Vale of Glamorgan*, Wrexham

Dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory,
British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar,
Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint
Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and
Caicos Islands

Independence: England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales was enacted under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284; in the Act of Union of 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanent union as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927

National holiday: Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, celebrated on the second Saturday in June (1926)

Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; British courts and legislation are increasingly subject to review by European Union courts

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)

head of government: Prime Minister Anthony C. L. (Tony) BLAIR (since 2 May 1997)

cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister

elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the prime minister is the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons (assuming there is no majority party, a prime minister would have a majority coalition or at least a coalition that was not rejected by the majority)

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament comprised of House of Lords (consists of approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy) and House of Commons (659 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier)

elections: House of Lords - no elections (some proposals for further reform include elections); House of Commons - last held 7 June 2001 (next to be held by NA May 2006)

election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Labor 412, Conservative and Unionist 166, Liberal Democrat 52, other 29

note: in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland Parliament (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only at the end of 1999 and was rescinded in February 2000); in 1999 there were elections for a new Scottish Parliament and a new Welsh Assembly

Judicial branch: House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life);
Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising
the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown
Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary

Political parties and leaders: Conservative and Unionist Party
[William HAGUE]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev.
Ian PAISLEY]; Labor Party [Anthony (Tony) Blair]; Liberal Democrats
[Charles KENNEDY]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Ieuan Wyn JONES];
Scottish National Party or SNP [John SWINNEY]; Sinn Fein (Northern
Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP
(Northern Ireland) [John HUME]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern
Ireland) [David TRIMBLE]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers'
Union; Trades Union Congress

International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Sir Christopher J. R. MEYER

chancery: 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: (202) 588-6500