The United Arab Emirates is a small country, but very rich. Liquid gold – oil – provides a fairly high standard of living and stable wages, which even by European standards can be considered solid, and for most countries in Asia and Africa, they are simply outrageous.
Population of the UAE (United Arab Emirates)
The population of the UAE is growing rapidly. If back in 2006 it was about 2.5 million people, then more than 4 million, then the last announced figure is more than 8 million inhabitants. But it is not the birth rate that ensures such a jump, but a powerful influx of foreign citizens who come to the country to work or move to permanent residence.
At the moment, the citizenship of the United Arab Emirates has hardly a quarter of those people who work and live here permanently. Moreover, the indigenous local population is only 11% – they are the descendants of the nomads of the Baniyaz and Kawasim tribes.
For example, in Dubai, the largest city in the UAE, some four years ago, 1.7 million people lived. Of these, only 147 thousand of the population (less than 10%!) Could rightfully be considered citizens of the country, the remaining one and a half million were expatriates.
Immigrants from neighboring Arab countries with a lower standard of living, citizens of Southeast Asia (India, the Philippines, Pakistan) are actively flocking to the Emirates. They seek to earn money from Somalia, Tanzania and Ethiopia, and “specialists” from Europe arrive. The “Slavic” diaspora alone numbers about 70 thousand citizens of Belarus, Ukraine and, of course, Russia (at least 25 thousand).
If you do not take into account the wealthy people who invest in the local economy, then most of our compatriots are engaged in construction or in the tourism business. The latter are especially needed in the country, because it is Russia that is one of the main “sources” of the tourist flow today. About 1 million Russian-speaking vacationers visit the Emirates annually. To serve them “at the level”, local firms are happy to hire our compatriots.
But the most powerful foreign power in the UAE is immigrants from India, there are at least a third of them in the country, followed by Pakistan. However, this is far from a “white bone”, Asian expatriates are usually hired for the lowest paid jobs. Since in their homeland these people could not count on such salaries (sometimes simply because of widespread unemployment), they settled in the Emirates for a long time and for a long time.
Sex ratio
In recent years, a rather interesting situation has developed in the country in terms of the sex ratio: the male population of the UAE is twice as large as the female. But these are just statistics. In fact, there is no mysticism, the indigenous population is divided into “boys-girls” in a 50/50 ratio. But with expatriates, the situation is different.
Most of those who came to work from other countries are men, moreover young, not burdened by families. In the Emirates, they simply have no one to create “cells of society” with. Is it any wonder that in this country the representatives of the “stronger sex” are somewhat “carnivorous” staring at pretty Russian tourists. Interethnic marriages are not uncommon – in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in recent years, the population has increased somewhat at the expense of “Russian wives”.
It is in Dubai that the situation is most tense in this regard – the female population (even taking into account the foreign citizens who settled on this land) is 4 times less than the male population. It is understandable why the attention shown on the street to an unfamiliar lady “from the local” is equated with a criminal offense.
Urbanization
The total area of the UAE is about 84 thousand square kilometers. But these are by no means forests and fields. Unlike resorts and more or less large cities, most of the country’s interior is occupied by almost lifeless sandy or rocky deserts and mountain spurs with rather sparse vegetation. Therefore, it is easy to explain the fact that urbanization in the United Arab Emirates has reached unprecedented proportions.
Hardly a quarter of the local population lives outside the cities. Typically, these are either expatriates working in the oil industry, or rare agricultural workers who cultivate oases in the desert. Their life does not shine with comfort and simplicity – there are practically no rivers and lakes on the territory of the United Arab Emirates, the dried-up channels are filled for some time during heavy winter rains, but not for long.
Usually settlements arise around rare springs where dates, cereals and orchards are grown. Half of these lands are located in the largest emirate of Abu Dhabi. Nomad pastoralists move their herds from one region to another. For the most part, the local population trгфуuaeies to settle in coastal areas, fishing, pearl mining, and some national folk crafts (such as carpet weaving or minting jewelry).
As for Dubai, it simply broke all urban records – 97% of local residents have found permanent shelter in the capital of this emirate. It is no coincidence that the city is considered the most densely populated in the UAE.
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