James Baquet Who hasn’t heard of Dubai, site of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building? (Its records of “highest occupied floor” and “highest observation deck” have been surpassed by Shanghai Tower.) Dubai is also famed as a Middle Eastern business and transport hub and — less auspiciously — for having in 2014 the second-most expensive hotel rooms in the world (after Geneva, Switzerland). Of not-quite-equal fame is the euphoniously-named Abu Dhabi. Why do I mention that? Because in fact neither Dubai nor Abu Dhabi are countries in the usual sense. Instead, with five less-well-known sisters — Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain — they are part of the federation known as the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi is the capital. The emirates are the successors to the “Trucial States,” tribal confederations which had signed a truce with the British in 1820, essentially making them a British protectorate. In 1971, it became clear that it would be better if these “sheikhdoms” (as they were then called) became independent. Together, the seven occupy 83,600 square kilometers and have about 9.15 million people. The religion is Islam, and the languages, Arabic and English. Each emirate has an absolute monarch, an emir (a type of Muslim ruler); one of these (customarily that of Abu Dhabi, by far largest of the seven in area) is elected as president of the UAE, and the emir of Dubai (again by custom) is prime minister. The seven emirs together constitute the Federal Supreme Council. The UAE is on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia lies to its south, and Oman to its east (with an exclave of Oman on the tip of the peninsula north of Ras al-Khaimah). The Persian Gulf is to the northwest, and the Gulf of Oman to the northeast. Describing the location of each emirate is nearly impossible, as almost all are divided into two or more discontiguous parts. Oddly, the UAE population has at least five times more expatriates than citizens. The country has the world’s seventh-largest oil reserves. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. in a way that promises success 2. not connected 3. league, autonomous states with a centralized government 4. gone beyond, exceeded 5. viewing platform 6. peace agreement 7. people living outside their home country 8. according to agreed-upon practice 9. nice-sounding 10. center of activity | 