DEMOGRAPHICS
General Information
Population – approximately 11 mil. people (87th in the world).
The country has one of the highest annual population growth rates in the region, which is about 2,89%.
The age structure of the population is characterized by a significant predominance of the working-age population, which is associated with a large number of labor migrants. The median age of a UAE resident is 33,4 years. About 20,4% of the population is under 15 years old, 78,7% – aged 15-64, and 0,9% – over 65 years old.
The sex ratio indicator: 2,28 men per one woman.
Population density – 131,6 people per square kilometer. The population is distributed unevenly, concentrated mainly in large city-emirates. The share of the urban population is 87,3%.
Ethnic and Confessional Composition
Ethnic Composition
The UAE is characterized by high ethno-cultural diversity, with the share of the indigenous population being about 20%. The largest groups by origin: people from South Asia - over 6 mil. people, including Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis; people from other Asian countries - over 1,3 mil. people, including Filipinos, Iranians, as well as rapidly growing Chinese and Vietnamese diasporas; people from Middle Eastern countries - Egyptians, Syrians, Lebanese. The number of people from Western countries is estimated at approximately 600 thousand people, the most numerous being British (over 120 thousand), Canadians (40 thousand), French (30 thousand) and Australians (15 thousand).
Confessional Composition
The dominant religion – Islam (76,9% of the population), mainly Sunni. Shia communities exist in Dubai and Sharjah. Christians constitute about 12,6% of the population, Hindus and Buddhists – about 8,6%. There are also small groups of adherents of other religions.
State Language
The official language of the United Arab Emirates is Arabic. Modern Standard Arabic (fus'ha) is taught in schools and used in official documents and written communication.
Due to the unique demographic composition, many other languages are common in the UAE. English is widely spread as a lingua franca, especially in business, tourism, and international communication. The majority of residents speak it. Persian, also known as Farsi – about 500 thousand. Hindi – about 3 mil. Malay – about 1 mil. Bengali – about 350 thousand. Tagalog – about 300 thousand. Telugu – about 450 thousand people.
The spoken language of the indigenous population (approximately 1 mil. people) is the Emirati dialect of Arabic (a variety of the Arabian dialect), which has unique phonetic and lexical features and contains borrowings from Persian, Hindi, and Urdu.