div content
Country Profile - United Arab Emirates (U.A.E)
United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) Representative
Is a federation situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Iran. Capital city is Abu Dhabi. Largest city is Dubai. Major language is Arabic. President, ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed. Vice president and Prime Minister, ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Population is about 4.7 million (UN, 2010). Area is about 77,700 sq km (30,000 sq miles). Major religion is Islam. Monetary unit 1 Dirham = 100 fils. Internet domain is .ae. International dialling code +971.

The politics of the United Arab Emirates take place in a framework of a federal, presidential, elective monarchy. The UAE is a federation of seven absolute monarchies: the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah and Umm al-Qaiwain. The President of the United Arab Emirates is its head of state, and the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates is its head of government, including foreign affairs, security and defense, nationality and immigration issues, education, public health, currency, postal, telephone and other communications services, air traffic control, licensing of aircraft, labor relations, banking, delimitation of territorial waters and extradition of criminals. All responsibilities not granted to the national government are reserved to the emirates.

Human rights are legally protected by the Constitution of the United Arab Emirates, which confers equality, liberty, rule of law, presumption of innocence in legal procedures, inviolability of the home, freedom of movement, freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of communication, freedom of religion, freedom of council and association, freedom of occupation, freedom to be elected to office and others onto all citizens, within the limit of the law.

The constitution provides for freedom of speech but there is strong regulatory and political control of media content. The law authorizes the state to censor both domestic and foreign publications prior to distribution and prohibits criticism of the government, rulers and ruling families, and other friendly governments. Publications must be licensed and follow official guidelines on reporting. Foreign publications are censored before distribution. Journalists tend to practise self-censorship. UAE has a lot of daily and tabloid press, televisions and radios. A lot of users for the internet, by June 2010 there were 3.8 million users. But the government censors web content, and the only internet service provider in the country is owned and operated by a government corporation, the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat). Both high-speed and dial-up users find themselves directed to a proxy server that maintains a list of banned websites and blocks material deemed inconsistent with the "religious, cultural, political, and moral values of the country."

Travel Advisory for Journalists

Practice the forms of self-censorship particularly when covering issues such as local politics, culture, religion, or any other subject the government deems politically or culturally sensitive, if not, the journalist can face harsher measures, including termination and deportation.