A diverse and globally connected emirate, Abu Dhabi is the federal capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Home to more than 200 nationalities, Abu Dhabi is a growing global financial centre, a thriving innovation hub, a leading energy producer, and a world-class tourist destination and cultural hub.
Abu Dhabi is the largest emirate in the UAE and is divided into three regions: Abu Dhabi City, Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
Abu Dhabi City is the commercial and cultural centre of the emirate. Located on the coast of the Arabian Gulf, it consists of several islands, including Yas Island, home to many entertainment attractions, and Saadiyat Island, the location of Louvre Abu Dhabi, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, and many other artistic and cultural landmarks.
Al Ain features several sites of cultural importance – including UNESCO world heritage sites – and Jebel Hafeet, which is Abu Dhabi’s highest peak at 1,240m above sea level.
Al Dhafra is an important centre of agriculture and hosts the annual Liwa Date Festival. There are also several oil and gas fields in the region.
Abu Dhabi is renowned for its heritage and tribal history, which stretch back more than two millennia to the Stone Age, when it is believed that the first inhabitants began settling in the region.
The Bani Yas tribe, from which the ruling Al Nahyan family is directly descended, first settled around the Liwa Oasis in 1761. Until the discovery of oil in 1958, Abu Dhabi’s main export was pearls. Today, Abu Dhabi is one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of oil and gas. Abu Dhabi is also an alternative and renewable energy pioneer. For example, the world’s largest solar energy field, Al Dhafra Solar PV, is located in the emirate, as is leading renewables incubator Masdar City.
Also, Abu Dhabi is home to the Arab world’s first nuclear energy facility, Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. The emirate plans to rely on renewable energy to generate 50 per cent of its power needs by 2030.
Through its leading international financial centre, ADGM, the emirate is advancing its position on the global financial map. ADGM is home to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange ADX, the largest stock exchange in the UAE by market capitalisation, as well as a dedicated crude oil commodity derivatives exchange at ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, which trades ADNOC's flagship Murban Abu Dhabi crude oil futures contracts, alongside ADNOC’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas. ADGM hosts a thriving ecosystem for fintech startups and SMEs.
Abu Dhabi is also rapidly diversifying its economy by implementing initiatives and policies to create opportunity, stimulate innovation and enhance the contribution of the private sector to the emirate’s GDP.
Abu Dhabi is a world-leading, dynamic hub for innovation with a thriving research and development ecosystem, supported by several initiatives and entities established to advance the economic sector in the emirate that are contributing to the growth of the emirate’s knowledge- and innovation-based economy.
In 2020, the Advanced Technology Research Council, the first of its kind in the Middle East, was launched to set and oversee the emirate’s strategy for R&D and to invest in knowledge development to enable breakthrough discoveries.
Abu Dhabi is strengthening its position as a global centre for research development and innovation through targeted investments and strategic sector development. The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO)plays a central role in enabling high-growth sectors to thrive by attracting innovative, future-focused companies to the emirate.
This vision is being implemented through specialised economic clusters, such as the Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry (SAVI) for smart mobility, Health, Endurance, Longevity and Medicine (HELM) for life sciences and AgriFood Growth and Water Abundance (AGWA) for food and water security. Each cluster combines infrastructure, regulation, talent and policy to create a fully integrated innovation ecosystem.
Backed by a dedicated Trade and Industry arm, ADIO also ensures a thriving, business friendly industrial environment to drive the sector’s growth and attract high-value manufacturing investments through a range of comprehensive support services.
Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, Hub71, and ADIO’s expanding network of international partners further support innovators by connecting them with the tools and opportunities to scale regionally and internationally.
Innovation is facilitated through co-investment, public-private partnerships, regulatory support and collaboration with institutions such as Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.
Together, these initiatives are positioning the emirate as a platform for innovation and emerging industries, offering a launchpad for global companies to grow and expand their operations from Abu Dhabi.
The Abu Dhabi way of life is built upon cultural values of diversity, inclusivity and tolerance. Home to more than 200 nationalities, the emirate offers a world-class quality of life where modernity exists in harmony with traditional Emirati hospitality.
Abu Dhabi prides itself on its heritage and tribal history, which stretches back more than two millennia. The preservation and promotion of its history, culture and natural wonders in a rapidly growing economy has allowed modern artistic expression to blend with human values of diversity, inclusivity and harmony.
This is particularly evident at Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first museum in the world to explore the world’s shared humanity by highlighting similarities across civilisations. The museum has laid the groundwork for a new type of cultural collaboration centred on the creation of the first universal museum.
The emirate’s commitment to tolerance and interfaith harmony is also seen in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, a masterpiece of modern Islamic architecture and design, open to people of all faiths and beliefs, as well as the Abrahamic Family House, where a mosque, church and synagogue share the same grounds.
Abu Dhabi emirate is spread across 67,340sqkm, including more than 200 natural islands. Its strategic location at the nexus of three continents means that Abu Dhabi benefits from global connectivity, with two-thirds of the world’s population within an eight-hour flight.
The emirate features a rich biodiversity that supports a vital ecosystem of plants and wildlife. Coastal mangroves and indigenous wildlife exist in harmony with an economy focused on rapid advancements in sustainability.
Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) holds an extensive and strategic environmental mandate, serving as the principal regulator and guardian of Abu Dhabi’s natural resources. Guided by the UAE leadership’s vision for sustainability, EAD balances ambitious environmental protection with economic development, leveraging more than 25 years of expertise, and pioneering the use of artificial intelligence and advanced technologies across its operations.
From restoring iconic species, such as the Arabian Oryx, to managing the world’s second-largest dugong population and establishing the GCC’s first Plant Genetic Resources Centre, EAD is a leader of science-based conservation. Its marine achievements include restoring more than 1 million coral colonies with a 95 per cent success rate in coral restoration, 97 per cent of fisheries now come from sustainable stocks, and launching the largest coral garden initiative in the Middle East, while its terrestrial work includes mapping more than 100,000 native trees and leading large-scale desert rehabilitation.
With 20 protected areas under the Sheikh Zayed Protected Areas Network, EAD safeguards critical biodiversity across land and sea.
The agency has also developed landmark policies, such as the Single-Use Plastic Policy – removing more than 360 million single-use plastic bags – and a bottle return scheme that has collected in excess of 100 million plastic bottles.
EAD also plays a pivotal role in climate action through the Abu Dhabi Climate Change Strategy and Adaptation Plan, while ensuring cleaner air, protected groundwater, healthier soils, and improved waste management through integrated regulation and cutting-edge monitoring.
Through its robust inspection and permitting system, strategic partnerships, and public engagement, particularly with youth, EAD continues to set new regional and global benchmarks in environmental governance, conservation innovation and sustainability leadership.