The Constitution of the United Arab Emirates provides for freedom of religion in accordance with established customs, and the government generally respects this right in practice; however, there were some restrictions. The federal Constitution declares that Islam is the official religion of the country.
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Religious demography
The country has an area of 82,880 km² (30,000 sq. mi) and a non-permanent resident (as all work visas have a maximum renewable tenure of 2 years, previously 3 years) population of 7.4 million (2010 est.). Only 10% of residents are UAE citizens. According to the 2005 census, 100% Of the citizens are Muslim; 85 percent are Sunni Muslim and 15 percent are Shi'a. Foreigners are predominantly from South and Southeast Asia, although there are substantial numbers from the Middle East, Europe, Central Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and North America. According to a ministry report, which collected census data, 76 percent of the total population is Muslim, 9 percent is Christian, and 15 percent is other. Unofficial figures estimate that at least 15 percent of the population is Hindu, 5 percent is Buddhist, and 5 percent belong to other religious groups, while the large majority of noncitizens coming in and out of the country are non muslims, accumulating over 70% of them are largely non muslim. Parsi, Bahá'í, and Sikh.
Religious discrimination
In recent years, a large number of Shia Muslim expatriates have been deported from the UAE, Lebanese Shia families in particular have been deported for their alleged sympathy for Hezbollah. According to some organizations, more than 4,000 Shia expats have been deported from the UAE in recent years.
Apostasy
Apostasy is a crime in the United Arab Emirates. In 1978, UAE began the process of Islamising the nation's law, after its council of ministers voted to appoint a High Committee to identify all its laws that conflicted with Sharia. Among the many changes that followed, UAE incorporated hudud crimes of Sharia into its Penal Code - apostasy being one of them. Article 1 and Article 66 of UAE's Penal Code requires hudud crimes to be punished with the death penalty.