The United Arab Emirates (formerly the Trucial States) is a country in Arabia comprised of a federation of independent states. It has a total area of 83, 600 km2. The climate is desert; cooler in the eastern mountains. The terrain is comprised of a flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand dunes of vast desert wasteland and mountains in the east. Natural resources are crude oil and natural gas. The religion is 96% Muslim of which 16% are Shia; 4% Christian, Hindu, and other. The official language is Arabic with Farsi and English widely spoken in the major cities and Hindi and Urdu also spoken. The Trucial States were a British protectorate from the 19th century until independence in 1971 when they changed their name to the United Arabe Emirates. Research United Arab Emirates
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Gazetteer
Research United Arab Emirates