Draw United Arab Emirates from Memory
Test your geography knowledge by drawing United Arab Emirates from memory on a blank canvas. Shape comparison scoring is coming soon — practice United Arab Emirates's outline in the meantime.
Related Countries in Middle East
Why United Arab Emirates Looks the Way It Does
Seven emirates agreed to become one country on 2 December 1971, and Ras Al Khaimah, holding out, joined in February 1972 — a federation assembled at the last moment of the British presence in the Gulf. Until then the Trucial States were separate sheikhdoms, each bound to London by treaty, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. When the withdrawal was announced in 1968 the choice was union or fragmentation, and the outline drawn today is the union's result.
The internal borders are correspondingly recent and mostly artificial. Straight lines run out into the desert between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and between Sharjah and its neighbors, cutting across sand with little regard for tribes or wells, and several emirates hold scattered exclaves inside one another — Sharjah owns territory on both the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, separated from itself by Fujairah and the Omani border. Abu Dhabi, with most of the oil and by far the largest share of the land, dominates the western half of the map; the northern emirates crowd the coast toward Musandam.
The outer lines came later and in some cases were never fully published. The boundary with Saudi Arabia was agreed in 1974 in exchange for Saudi recognition of the federation, with details still disputed; the line with Oman around the Buraimi oasis was argued from the 1940s and formally settled only decades afterward. Think of the map as seven flags laid over one coastline, and the strange straight lines in the sand read as what they are: the paperwork of a union put together quickly.
Quick Facts: United Arab Emirates
- Capital
- Abu Dhabi
- Continent
- Middle East
- Bordering countries
- 3 countries — Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar
- Area
- 83,600 km²
What is "Drawing United Arab Emirates from Memory"?
Drawing United Arab Emirates from memory means sketching United Arab Emirates's border on a blank canvas without looking at a map. Focus on the country's distinctive features and overall shape — that's what pushes your accuracy score up.
United Arab Emirates sits in Middle East and is rated ★★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a trickier outline with more detail to remember. It connects to 3 neighboring country pages on this site. Border comparison scoring for United Arab Emirates is coming soon — the shape tips below will get your mental map sharp before it lands.
The United Arab Emirates is a crescent-shaped federation on the Persian Gulf, with a long coastal frontier running from Qatar in the west to the Omani border in the east and a short separate coast on the Gulf of Oman.
How to Draw United Arab Emirates from Memory
Step 01
Sketch the UAE as a broad crescent hugging the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, with the long coastline running from near Qatar in the west to the Omani border in the east. Keep the land low and wide along the coast, then let the desert interior spread south toward Saudi Arabia as a solid block of empty sand.
Step 02
Add the dominant coastal feature: the peninsula of the northern emirates juts up into the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz, giving the coastline its bend. The western section by Qatar is flat and straight, while the eastern section curves around before the land rises toward the Hajar Mountains near the border with Oman in the east.
Step 03
Don't miss the second coastline: the UAE has a short strip on the Gulf of Oman, separated from the main Persian Gulf coast by the Musandam Peninsula. Oman wraps around this eastern corner, so keep the two UAE coasts distinct with Omani land in between, and the federation's split layout locks in without confusion.
The UAE is a seahorse of the Gulf: a long curved coast up the west, a desert body inland, and a short tail hooking the Gulf of Oman.
How United Arab Emirates Is Scored
When you hit Reveal & compare, your sketch is measured against United Arab Emirates's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Three numbers come back:
Matched — the share of the real border your drawing covered. 100% means you traced every part of the outline.
Extra — how much of your drawing fell outside the true border. This catches sketches that are too big, mispositioned, or drifting off.
Missed — the border you didn't reach, the flip side of Matched.
The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score. The rating names give you a target: 80+ is Cartographer, 60+ is Border patrol, 40+ is Getting there, and below 40 is Try again.
Automated scoring for United Arab Emirates is coming soon. When it ships, drawing large and centered will be the fastest way to raise your score, because a small sketch overlaps less of the true border.
FAQ
- Which countries are United Arab Emirates's neighbors?
- United Arab Emirates connects to 3 neighboring country pages on this site: Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar. Once you've drawn United Arab Emirates, try a neighbor next — drawing two shapes side by side locks both into your mental map.
- How hard is it to draw United Arab Emirates from memory?
- United Arab Emirates is rated ★★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a trickier outline with more detail to remember. Automated scoring is coming soon, so use the shape tips below to practice in the meantime.
- How is my United Arab Emirates drawing scored?
- Once United Arab Emirates's border data goes live, your sketch will be compared with the real border point by point. You'll get a 0–100 score built from Matched, Missed, and Extra, plus a clear overlay showing where you nailed it and where you drifted.
- Can I draw United Arab Emirates on mobile?
- Yes — United Arab Emirates works on desktop, tablet, and mobile. Draw with your finger on touchscreens; no app download is required and it runs directly in your browser.