United Arab Emirates

Federation of seven emirates formed in 1971.

☾ The Coming of Islam

Early Islam on the Trucial coast

Islam reached the south-eastern Arabian coast — the historic Trucial states that federated as the United Arab Emirates in 1971 — in the 7th century, as eastern Arabia entered the faith in the earliest Islamic era.

☾ Religious Composition

A Sunni-majority federation with a vast expatriate population

Emirati nationals are predominantly Sunni Muslim, with a Shiʿi minority; because a large majority of residents are foreign workers, the country also hosts very substantial Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and other communities.

Demographic shares are approximate; most residents are non-citizen expatriates.

At a glance