The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is one of seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates. It is the largest emirate, accounting for 87% of the nation's total land area or 67,340 km (26,000 sq mi).
Abu Dhabi also has the second-largest population of the seven emirates. In 2024, the emirate's population had grown to 4,135,985. The city of Abu Dhabi, after which the emirate is named, is the capital of both the emirate and the federation.
The Eastern Region (Arabic: ٱلْمِنْطَقَة ٱلشَّرْقِيَّة, romanized: Al-Minṭaqah Aš-Šarqiyyah), officially known as Al Ain Region (Arabic: مِنْطَقَة ٱلْعَيْن, romanized: Minṭaqat al-ʿAyn), is one of three Municipal Regions in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It forms the southeastern part of the United Arab Emirates. Its main settlement is the eponymous city of Al Ain, located on the country's border with Oman, about 160 km (99 miles) from the city of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirate and country. Compared to the Western Region, it is also a rather remote region of the Emirate, but smaller by area, and is not known to hold reserves of gas or petroleum, but is agriculturally important.
Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's second-most populous city, after Dubai. The city is situated on a T-shaped island, extending into the Persian Gulf from the central-western coast of the UAE.
Abu Dhabi is located on an island in the Persian Gulf, off the Central West Coast. Most of the city and the Emirate reside on the mainland connected to the rest of the country. As of 2023, Abu Dhabi's urban area had an estimated population of 2.5 million, out of 3.8 million in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), headquartered in the city, is estimated to manage approximately US$1 trillion in assets, making it the world's third-largest sovereign wealth fund after Norway's Government Pension Fund Global and China's CIC. Abu Dhabi itself has over a trillion US dollars' worth of assets under management in a combination of various sovereign wealth funds headquartered there.
The Trucial States, also known as the Trucial Coast, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, or Trucial Oman, was a group of tribal confederations to the south of the Persian Gulf (southeastern Arabia) whose leaders had signed protective treaties, or truces, with the United Kingdom between 1820 and 1892.
The Trucial States remained an informal British protectorate until the treaties were revoked on 1 December 1971. The following day, six of the sheikhdoms—Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah—formed the United Arab Emirates; the seventh, Ras Al Khaimah, joined on 10 February 1972.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Arabic: زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان, romanized: Zāyid bin Sulṭān Āl Nahyān; 6 May 1918 – 2 November 2004) was an Emirati politician, philanthropist, and the founding father of the United Arab Emirates. Zayed served as the governor of Eastern Region from 1946 until he became the ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, and served as the first president of the United Arab Emirates from its independence on 2 December 1971 until his death in 2004. He is referred in the United Arab Emirates as the Father of the Nation for being the principal driving force behind the unification of the United Arab Emirates.
Zayed replaced his older brother Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan as the ruler of Abu Dhabi on 6 August 1966 after Shakhbut was deposed through a bloodless coup by members of the ruling family with British support.
The Liwa Oasis (Arabic: وَاحَـة لِـيْـوَا, romanized: Wāḥat Līwā) is a large oasis area in the Western Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.
Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, officially "Abu Dhabi Region" (Arabic: مِنْطَقَة أَبُو ظَبِي, romanized: Minṭaqat Abū Ẓabī), also called "Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area", is the municipal region in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi that contains the city of Abu Dhabi, distinct from the Eastern and Western municipal regions of the Emirate. Abu Dhabi City is the capital of both the Emirate and the United Arab Emirates, and has its own local government.
The president of the United Arab Emirates (Arabic: رئيس دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة), or the Raʾīs (رَئِيْس), is the head of state of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The president and vice presidents are de jure elected every five years by the Federal Supreme Council, and the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates is de jure appointed by the president. De facto, the ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi holds the presidency and the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai holds the premiership. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the UAE Armed Forces. The United Arab Emirates is the only presidential monarchy in the world.