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Capitals of the world
Abu Dhabi, capital of United Arab Emirates: facts and figures
Abu Dhabi is the capital of United Arab Emirates. It has about 1,500,000 residents, which makes it the 91st most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 8 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Doha, 302 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
| Continent | Asia |
| City population | 1,500,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 91st of 172 |
| Elevation | 8 m |
| Founded | not reported |
| Time zone | Asia/Dubai |
| Coordinates | 24.45° N, 54.38° E |
| Country population | 11,513,149 residents |
| Country GDP | 552.3 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $50,274 |
| Life expectancy | 83.1 years |
| Internet users | 100.0 % |
| Big Mac price | AED 19.00 (about $5.17) |
Climate through the year
Abu Dhabi averages 21.3 °C in winter and 34.9 °C in summer. January is the coldest month of the year and July the warmest, and the city receives 57 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 20.3 °C |
| February | 20.9 °C |
| March | 23.8 °C |
| April | 27.4 °C |
| May | 31.4 °C |
| June | 33.8 °C |
| July | 35.5 °C |
| August | 35.5 °C |
| September | 33.6 °C |
| October | 30.7 °C |
| November | 26.8 °C |
| December | 22.7 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Rainfall: 3rd driest capital in the world (57 mm).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Doha is the closest capital to Abu Dhabi.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Doha | Qatar | 302 km |
| Muscat | Oman | 420 km |
| Manama | Bahrain | 429 km |
| Riyadh | Saudi Arabia | 779 km |
| Kuwait City | Kuwait | 837 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Abu Dhabi to a place and a number you already know: it is 302 km from Doha, and it is the 91st largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how United Arab Emirates compares with every other country on figures like these, the most expensive Big Mac index ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Big Mac price: The Economist's Big Mac index, from its published dataset. The index covers about 55 economies, so most capitals here have no figure.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Abu Dhabi is the capital of United Arab Emirates, in Asia, with about 1,500,000 residents, averaging 21.3 °C in winter and 34.9 °C in summer.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of United Arab Emirates?
Abu Dhabi is the capital of United Arab Emirates. It has about 1,500,000 residents and lies in Asia.
How many people live in Abu Dhabi?
About 1,500,000, which ranks Abu Dhabi 91st of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Abu Dhabi?
Abu Dhabi averages 21.3 °C in winter and 34.9 °C in summer, with 57 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Abu Dhabi?
A Big Mac costs AED 19.00 (about $5.17) there. GDP per capita in the country is $50,274, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Doha, capital of Qatar: facts and figures
Doha is the capital of Qatar: 2,400,000 residents, 2 m above sea level, 19.3 °C in winter and 35.6 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Muscat, capital of Oman: facts and figures
Muscat is the capital of Oman: 1,700,000 residents, 21 m above sea level, 21.8 °C in winter and 34.3 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Manama, capital of Bahrain: facts and figures
Manama is the capital of Bahrain: 660,000 residents, 6 m above sea level, 18.6 °C in winter and 34.7 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.