The Consequences of Population Growth on the Demographic Characteristics of Abu Dhabi City in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi and other Arabian Gulf cities have developed rapidly in the second half of 20th century, due to the increase of oil and gas revenues. The total population of the city has grown by 1000% over the last 42 years; according to the first census in 1975, the total population was 120,000, which increased in 2018 to more than 1.25 million, with annual growth rate more than 5.7%. This increase makes Abu Dhabi's population be one of the fastest-growing urban centres in the world. The current population increase, resulted from remarkable declining of birth rates and increasing flow of immigrants, rises from only 87 thousand in 1975 to half-million in 2005. The immigrant flow has doubled to more than one million in 2018. The non-national proportion increased continuously from 72 % in 1975 to nearly 90 % of the total population of the city in 2018. Most of them are Asians. These figures reflect the enormity of the growing role of non-national workers in the population growth of the city over the last four decades. Besides, the increased number of foreigners is creating many positive and negative impacts on Emirati society. This study investigates some effects on the demographic characteristics of Emirati society. particularly, on creating an imbalance of age and sex ratios and unique composition of labour force. The researcher applied the topical approach including analytical and cartographic techniques to reach the study aims.