Page 39 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter One

(sing, falaj) which were dug by hand at a still-disputed point in
history. The seven aflaj in use at present yield some 10 million cubic
metres of water a year. Additional water is obtained from wells sunk
to the water table at between 5 and 30 metres’ depth.
This brief description indicates two predominant features of Abu
Dhabi’s geography: firstly its vast areas of desert reaching towards
the uninhabited interior of the Peninsula, and secondly its coastline,
which is difficult of approach both from the land and by sea. These
two features limit the population's choice for establishing settle­
ments. Thus the territory of about 67,000 square kilometres is not
evenly populated but has three sizeable population centres, where
the majority of the Stale’s 450,000 people live: the capital on the
island of Abu Dhabi, with an estimated 250,000 inhabitants; the al
’Ain area near the Oman mountains, with an estimated population of
120,000; and the Llwa oases, which have only a few permanently-
inhabited villages, but which attract a migratory population of
several hundred during the hot summer months.
The nature of the coastal sabkhah and of the desert is such that
communication between these centres has been extremely difficult
until recently. Abu Dhabi and al ’Ain are now connected by a dual-
carriageway road 160 kilometres long. A tarred road was recently
built along the coast to link up Abu Dhabi with the Qatar and Saudi
Arabian road network and to complete the coastal road system
between Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ra’s al Khaimah in the north-east of
the UAE. There is now an asphalted road to the Llwa, and more roads
are being constructed both across the State and around the
periphery. In addition to the international airport on Abu Dhabi
Island there are landing-strips for small aircraft in the Llwa and at
several other locations in the country which are used by the military
or the operating oil companies. The airstrip at al ’Ain will soon be
replaced by a modern airport. A new international airport is under
construction 60 kilometres from the centre of Abu Dhabi town in the
direction of Dubai. Now the population travels by four-wheel-drive
car to the remote regions in preference to the traditional means of
transport through the desert: the camel.

Dubai
The geographical conditions of neighbouring Dubai give this member
State of the UAE a distinctly different character, although it, too, has
the desert and the sea as its predominant features. The territory of

U