The United Arab Emirates Listen/juːˌnaɪtɨd ˌærəb ˈɛmɪrɨts/, sometimes simply called the Emirates or the UAE, is an Arab country in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing sea borders with Qatar and Iran. The UAE is a federation of seven emirates, each governed by a hereditary emir, who choose one of their members to be the president of the federation.