What is an emirate?
Q: What is an emirate?
A: An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by an emir, a dynastic Arab Monarch.
Q: Where does the word emirate come from?
A: The word emirate or amirate comes from Arabic: إمارة, Imaarah; plural: إمارات, Imaraat.
Q: What is the United Arab Emirates?
A: The United Arab Emirates is a federal state of seven federal emirates, each administered by a hereditary emir.
Q: How are the President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates elected?
A: The President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates are elected by the seven emirs.
Q: What has happened to most emirates?
A: Most emirates have either disappeared or become part of a larger modern state, some changed their rulers' title, e.g. to Malik (Arabic for King) or Sultan.
Q: Why have true emirate-states become rare?
A: True emirate-states have become rare because most emirates have either disappeared or become part of a larger modern state.
Q: How is the term emirate used in Arabic?
A: In Arabic, the term emirate can be generalized to mean any province of a country that is administered by a member of the ruling class, especially a member of the royal family, as in Saudi Arabian governorates.
