About Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is the capital and the second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates and also capital of the largest of the UAE's seven member emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper had a population of 921,000 in 2013 accordingly to the Central Intelligence Agency statistics. With an area of around 67,340 square kilometers, roughly equal to the 86 percent of the country's area exclusive of islands. This emirate consists of three main areas: the city of Abu Dhabi, the eastern region and the western region.

Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seat of the United Arab Emirates Government, home to the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE, who is from this family. Abu Dhabi has grown to be a cosmopolitan metropolis. Its rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the relatively high average income of its population, has transformed Abu Dhabi to a larger and advanced metropolis. Today the city is the country's center of political and industrial activities, and a major cultural and commercial centre, due to its position as the capital.

Abu Dhabi is home to important financial institutions such as the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the corporate headquarters of many companies and numerous multinational corporations. One of the world's largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to diversify its economy in recent years through investments in financial services and tourism. Abu Dhabi is the second most expensive city for expatriate employees in the region, and 67th most expensive city in the world. Fortune magazine and CNN stated in 2007 that Abu Dhabi was the richest city in the world.

Abu Dhabi's climate is subtropical and arid, with temperatures that vary from warm and sunny in winter and hot and humid during the summer months. Sunny blue skies prevail throughout the year and rainfall is infrequent as the rest of the country.