The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates on the eastern side of the Arabian peninsula, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. It has coastlines on the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, with Saudi Arabia to the west and southwest, and Oman to the southeast and also on the eastern tip of the Musandam Peninsula as well as an Omani enclave within its borders. It is a country rich in history and culture and an easy starting point for travels in the Middle East.
The seven emirates (imarat, singular - imarah) that make up the UAE are: Abu Dhabi (Abu Zaby), Ajman, Fujairah, Al Fujayrah), Sharjah (Ash Shariqah), Dubai (Dubayy), Ra's al Khaymah and Umm al Quwain. The largest of these is Abu Dhabi, while probably the most well known is Dubai.
The United Arab Emirates is a modern and dynamic country. To some, it is an advanced and clean country, to others a tourist "Disneyland". For most Western tourists, the UAE offers an environment that is extremely familiar. The malls are extraordinarily modern, filled with virtually any product available in the West (save sexually explicit material; movies are censored, as are, to some extent, magazines). Alcohol is widely available at many restaurants and bars in Dubai and in the tourist hotels of every other emirate save Sharjah.
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Middle East 
