Out of Seven, One Trivia Quiz

Answer: Abu Dhabi

The largest emirate (occupying almost 90% of the land area of the United Arab Emirates) is also the location of the nation's capital, the city of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi has a lot of open space - despite its relatively massive size, it is only second in population to Dubai, at the time of writing (with Sharjah coming up in third spot).

The region of this emirate used to be called Milh (Arab for salt), and one of its islands still carries that name. 'Dhabi' is an Arabic word for a type of gazelle that used to be commonly found in the area, and 'Abu' means father, so this emirate's name means Father of the Gazelle.

When the United Kingdom announced that it was withdrawing from the Persian Gulf by 1971, it was Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who saw the potential of uniting the local emirates to form a single country that would work together in control of the vast oil resources - a commodity that was going to help the UAE forge their way into a modern economy. He became the first President of the UAE. Technically, this position is held for five years, and could be held by any of the hereditary emirate rulers who form the Federal supreme Council of Rulers; in practice it has always been the head of Abu Dhabi who has held the position.

Answer: Ajman

With an area of 259 sq km (100 sq mi), Ajman occupies less than 1% of the nation's area, but it ranks fourth for population. Its capital (also named Ajman) is on the north-eastern end of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman urban complex. The emirate of Sharjah surrounds the main portion of Ajman (barring, of course, its coast on the Persian Gulf), and separates it from the two agricultural exclaves of Manama and Masfout.

At the time of joining the UAE, the city of Ajman was little more a village, with around a thousand residents, and a migratory population that arrived for the fishing season, and moved on to other areas for seasonal work, such as date harvesting.

Answer: Fujairah

Fujairah, on the eastern end of the UAE, has a coastline on the Gulf of Oman, rather than on the Persian Gulf. Its location leads to it having significantly more rain than the other emirates, mostly in the rainy season, December through March. In 2012, the Habshan-Fujairah oil pipeline was opened, providing an overland route from the onshore Habshan oilfield in Abu Dhabi to Fujairah.

It was built to reduce the amount of oil travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, and increase oil supply security in the Middle East.

Answer: Dubai

One of the tallest buildings in the world (the tallest, when it opened in 2010), the Burj Khalifa is just over half a mile high, including its spire. It was built as part of a project to expand tourism, and was named after the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Its design reflects Islamic traditions, with setbacks meaning that the interior floorspace gets smaller as you move up, and the external areas act as terraces. Outside the front of the building, the Dubai Fountain provides the world's largest choreographed fountain display. On a clear day, people on the topmost observation deck can catch a glimpse of Iran, nearly 100 miles away.

Answer: Ras Al Khaimah

When Great Britain announced in 1968 that they would be withdrawing troops from the area then known as the Trucial States, the rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai agreed to work together to get the other smaller emirates in the region to join together for mutual support.

The original plan had nine emirates, but after a stormy meeting in 1969 Bahrain, Qatar and Ras Al Khaimah walked out of the talks, so were not part of the United Arab Emirates when it was established on 18 July 1971. Ras Al Khaimah joined the UAE on 10 February 1972, impelled by the Iranian annexation of the Tunbs (Greater Thumb and Lesser Thumb) islands in the Strait of Hormuz.

The islands remain a source of contention.

Answer: Ajman

Ajman has two exclaves - villages that are part of Ajman, but surrounded by another state. Manama, separated from the rest of the emirate by Sharjah territory, was developed as an agricultural area when the pearl industry crashed in the 1920s, to provide a more secure economic basis for the emirate. Access to Masfout is more complicated - after crossing through Sharjah, you still need to cross a bit of the emirate Ras Al Khaimah, then some of Oman. Territorial lines in the desert can be somewhat theoretical, since many villages maintain their traditional alliances with larger towns and cities.

Answer: Sharjah

There is archaeological evidence of human habitation in the Sharjah region for over 120,000 years. In the 19th century they became one of the Trucial States, sheikhdoms with which Great Britain had treaties to offer them military protection as part of protecting the trade routes to India. In that time, Sharjah prospered from the pearl industry, until that market collapsed in the 1920s and '30s due to war and the development of cultured pearls. When the Trucial States agreement ended, the Trucial States became (eventually) the United Arab Emirates. Sharjah City, on the Persian Gulf coast, is the only major settlement, and forms a mega-city with Dubai to the south and Ajman to the north.

The exclaves of Kalba, Dibba Al-Hisn, and Khor Fakkan provide Sharjah with ports on the Gulf of Oman, making it the only emirate with coasts on both of these bodies of water. The Al Hefaiyah Conservation Centre, located in the mountains near Kalba, opened in 2016, and features Arabian leopards, now thought to be extinct in the wild in the UAE.

Answer: Umm Al Quwain

There's not a lot happening in the second-smallest and (currently) least populous emirate in the UAE. Most of the population is found in the capital city, Umm Al Quwain; there is also an inland town of Falaj Al Mualla, located at the site of an oasis which it guards with a fort that includes three watch towers.

Due to its lack of oil and gas, Umm Al Quwain turned to reliance on trade and tourism ahead of the other emirates, and it is working on industrial growth. There was a period in the 1970s when a company was exploring for oil in waters near the island of Abu Masu that were thought to belong to Umm Al Quwain, but Sharjah claimed them, then Iran seized them, rendering the question of the exploration license moot. Later negotiations have resulted in Umm Al Quwain being allocated 15% of the revenue from that site, but they still do not own it.

Answer: Ras Al Khaimah

Jebel Jais is located on the border between Ras Al Khaimah and Oman, with its actual peak on the Omani side of the border. There is a prominence (which means an area that is slightly higher than its surround, in this case about 10 m or 33 ft) on the UAE side which has a height of 1,892 m (6,207 ft), the highest elevation in the country. If, however, you want the peak to be more pronounced, you might favour the claims of Jebel Al Mebrah (also known as Jabal Yibir), with a height of 1,727 m (5,666 ft) as the highest peak. It is also in Ras Al Khaimah.

Among other plans to develop the area for tourism, the world's longest zip line opened on Jebel Jais in February 2018. It is 2,832 m (9,291 ft) long, and the hardy (or foolish) folk who use it travel at speeds of up to 150 kph (93 mph). Fans of road cycling may recognise Jebel Jais as the location of one of the most difficult (and highly-prized) stages of the UAE Tour, first held in 2019.

Answer: Fujairah

Al-Badiyah Mosque, located (unsurprisingly) in the village of Al-Badiyah, is thought to have been built around the middle of the 15th century, using mud and bricks. It was long thought to be the oldest mosque in the UAE, before the ruins of a mosque dating back over 1000 years were discovered in Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi in 2018. Also known as the Ottoman Mosque (in reference to the era in which it was built), it is unusual for having only four domes, and no minaret.