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Updates: 

The U.A.E. census has released preliminary figures for the 2005 population. I also found historical population figures on that site.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-3 was published on 2002-08-20. It shows only one change under the United Arab Emirates: a cedilla is added to the letter 'Z' in Abu Zaby (their preferred spelling of Abu Dhabi). The cedilla was there in the original ISO 3166-2 standard, but was omitted in Newsletter I-2 (see next item).

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-2 was published on 2002-05-21. It shows only one change under the United Arab Emirates: the spelling of Ras al Khaymah is changed to Ra's al Khaymah.

FIPS PUB 10-4 is the U.S. Federal standard for administrative divisions of countries. On December 1, 1998, in Change 1 to FIPS PUB 10-4, the country code for the United Arab Emirates was changed from TC to AE. Concomitantly, the first two letters in the codes for the individual emirates were changed, as shown below. The older code, TC, is derived from the name "Trucial States". The country became known as "United Arab Emirates" in 1971.

More recent census data have become available for the United Arab Emirates, as shown in the table.

Country overview: 

Short name	UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
ISO code	AE
FIPS code	TC
Language	Arabic (ar)
Time zone	+4
Capital	Abu Dhabi

 

During the 19th century, Great Britain made a series of agreements with seven independent sheikhdoms on the Persian Gulf. As a result, the area became known as the Trucial Coast. There was no formal union until 1971, although stamps were issued in 1961 under the name Trucial States.

Other names of country: 

1. Arabic: Ittihad al-Imarat al-Arabiyah
2. Danish: De Forenede Arabiske Emirater
3. Dutch: Verenigde Arabische Emiraten
4. English: Trucial Coast, Trucial Oman, Trucial States (obsolete)
5. Finnish: (Yhdistyneet) arabiemiirikunnat
6. French: Émirats mp arabes unis
7. German: Vereinigte Arabische Emirate np
8. Icelandic: Sameinuðu arabísku furstadæmin
9. Italian: Emirati mp Arabi Uniti
10. Norwegian: De forente arabiske emirater (Bokmål), Dei sameinte arabiske emirata (Nynorsk)
11. Portuguese: Emirados mp Árabes Unidos (Brazil), Emiratos mp Árabes Unidos
12. Spanish: Omán de la Tregua (obsolete), Emiratos mp Árabes Unidos
13. Swedish: Förenade Arabemiraten

Origin of name: 

descriptive: formed by union of several Persian Gulf city-states ruled by emirs

Primary subdivisions: 

United Arab Emirates is divided into seven emirates.

Name	HASC	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)
Abu Dhabi	AE.AZ	AE01	1,292,119	67,350	26,000
Ajman	AE.AJ	AE02	189,849	250	100
Dubay	AE.DU	AE03	1,200,309	3,900	1,500
Fujayrah	AE.FU	AE04	118,617	1,200	500
Ras al Khaymah	AE.RK	AE05	197,571	1,700	700
Sharjah	AE.SH	AE06	724,859	2,600	1,000
Umm al Qaywayn	AE.UQ	AE07	45,756	800	300
7 emirates			3,769,080	77,800	30,100
Name: English name of emirate. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. If periods are replaced by hyphens, these are the same as the emirate codes from ISO standard 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4, a U.S. government standard. Population: 2005-12-05 census preliminary results. Capital: Capitals have the same names as their emirates.

Territorial extent: 

1. Each of the emirates lies mainly on the Arabian Peninsula. There is a small neutral zone between Abu Dhabi and Dubay.
2. Abu Dhabi includes numerous Persian Gulf islands, including Abu al Abyaḍ, Ṣir Bani Yas, Dalma, and Ṣir Abu Nu`ayr.
3. Ajman consists of three enclaves. The one containing the capital lies on the Persian Gulf; one is on the border between Fujayrah and Sharjah, and the last is partly shared with Oman.
4. Dubay has one large section, plus a small exclave next to Oman.
5. Fujayrah has two sections. The one containing the capital is partly shared with Sharjah.
6. Ras al Khaymah consists of two sections separated by Fujayrah. It claims the Tunb Islands in the Persian Gulf.
7. Sharjah consists of a large section on the Persian Gulf, plus two exclaves on the Gulf of Oman (one of which is partly shared with Fujayrah). It shares the administration of Abu Musa Island with Iran.

Origins of names: 

1. Abu Zabi: Arabic: Zabi's father
2. `Ajman: Arabic: foreigner, Persian
3. Ras al-Khaymah: Arabic ra's: head or cape, khayma: tent

Change history: 

1. 1952: Kalba and Sharjah merged, taking the name Sharjah and Kalba (later shortened to Sharjah). That same year, Fujayrah was recognized as a Trucial State.
2. 1971-12-02: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubay, Fujayrah, Sharjah, and Umm al Qaywayn formed the United Arab Emirates, an independent federation.
3. 1972-02-01: Ras al Khaymah merged with the United Arab Emirates.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Abu Dhabi: Aboû Dabî (French); Abu Dabi (Portuguese); Abū Ẓabī, Abū Ẓaby (variant)
2. Ajman: `Adjmân (French); Ajmã (Portuguese); `Ajmān (variant)
3. Dubay: Dibay (French, Spanish); Doubaï (French); Dubai, Dubayy (variant)
4. Fujayrah: Al Foudjaïrah, Fudjayra (French); Al Fujayrah, Fujaira, Fujairah, Fujeira (variant)
5. Ras al Khaymah: Ras al Khaima, Râs al Khaïmah (French); Rā's al Khayma, Rā's al Khaymah (variant)
6. Sharjah: Ach Chârdjah, Chārdja (French); Ash Shāriqah, Ash Shārjah, Sharjah and Dependencies, Sharjah and Kalba (variant)
7. Umm al Qaywayn: Oumm al Qaïwaïn, Umm al Qi`īwayn (French); Qaiwan, Umm al Qaiwain, Umm al Qayqayn, Umm al Qaywayn, Umm el Quwain (variant); Um al Qaiuan (Portuguese)

Population history:

Source: Tedad Census 2005  and here . Non-nationals are not counted.

Name	1975-12-30	1980-12-15	1985-12-16	1995-12-17	2005-12-05
Abu Dhabi	211,812	451,848	566,036	942,463	1,292,119
Ajman	16,690	36,100	54,546	121,491	189,849
Dubay	183,187	276,301	370,788	689,420	1,200,309
Fujayrah	16,655	32,189	43,753	76,180	118,617
Ras al Khaymah	43,845	73,918	96,578	143,334	197,571
Sharjah	78,790	159,317	228,317	402,792	724,859
Umm al Qaywayn	6,908	12,426	19,285	35,361	45,756
Total	557,887	1,042,099	1,379,303	2,411,041	3,769,080