Geography

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) lies in Southwest Asia, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia. Its strategic location along southern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz makes it a vital transit point for world crude oil.

The country shares a 19-km border with Qatar on the northwest, a 530-km border with Saudi Arabia on the west, south, and southeast, and a 450-km border with Oman on the southeast and northeast. The land border with Qatar in the Khawr al Udayd area is a source of ongoing dispute.

The total area of the UAE is approximately 77,700 square kilometres, although the country's exact size is unknown, partly due to disputed claims to several islands in the Persian Gulf, and partly because most of its land boundaries, especially with Saudi Arabia, remain undemarcated. The largest emirate, Abu Dhabi, accounts for 87% of the UAE's total area (67,340 square kilometres). The smallest emirate, Ajman, encompasses only 259 square kilometres.

Physiography and Boundaries

The UAE stretches for more than 650 km along the southern shore of the Persian Gulf. Most of the coast consists of salt pans that extend far inland. The largest natural harbour is at Dubai, although other ports have been dredged at Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and elsewhere. Numerous islands are found in the gulf, and the ownership of some of them has been the subject of international disputes with both Iran and Qatar. The smaller islands, as well as many coral reefs and shifting sandbars, are a menace to navigation. Strong tides and occasional windstorms further complicate ship movements near the shore.

The UAE also extends for about 90 km along the Gulf of Oman, an area known as the Al Batinah coast. The Al Hajar al Gharbi (Western Al Hajar) Mountains, rising in places to 2,500 m, separate the Al Batinah coast from the rest of the UAE. Beginning at the UAE-Oman border on the Persian Gulf coast of the Ras Musandam (Musandam Peninsula), the Al Hajar al Gharbi Mountains extend southeastward for about 150 km to the southernmost UAE-Oman frontier on the Gulf of Oman. The range continues as the Al Hajar ash Sharqi (Eastern Al Hajar) Mountains for more than 500 km into Oman. The steep mountain slopes run directly to the shore in many places. Nevertheless, there are small harbours at Diba al Hisn, Kalba and Khor Fakkan on the Gulf of Oman. In the vicinity of Al Fujayrah, where the mountains do not approach the coast, there are sandy beaches.

South and west of Abu Dhabi, vast, rolling sand dunes merge into the Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter) of Saudi Arabia. The desert area of Abu Dhabi includes two important oases with adequate underground water for permanent settlements and cultivation. The extensive Al Liwa Oasis is in the south near the undefined border with Saudi Arabia, and about 100 km to the northeast is the Al Buraymi Oasis, which extends on both sides of the Abu Dhabi-Oman border.

Prior to withdrawing from the area in 1971, Britain delineated the internal borders among the seven emirates in order to pre-empt territorial disputes that might hamper formation of the federation. In general, the rulers of the emirates accepted the British intervention, but in the case of boundary disputes between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and also between Dubai and Sharjah, conflicting claims were not resolved until after the UAE became independent. The most complicated borders were in the Al Hajar al Gharbi Mountains, where five of the emirates contested jurisdiction over more than a dozen enclaves.

Exclaves and Enclaves

There is an Omani enclave surrounded by UAE territory, known as Wadi Madha, located halfway between the Musandam peninsula and the rest of Oman, in the Emirate of Sharjah. It covers approximately 75 sq km (29 sq mi) and the boundary was settled in 1969. The north-east corner of Madha is closest to the Khor Fakkan-Fujairah road, barely 10 metres (33 ft) away.

Within the enclave is a UAE exclave called Nahwa, also belonging to the Emirate of Sharjah. It is about 8 km (5 mi) on a dirt track west of the town of New Madha. It consists of about forty houses with its own clinic and telephone exchange.