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Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
2nd President of the United Arab Emirates
Incumbent
Assumed office  3 November 2004
Prime Minister	Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (2004-06) Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (2006-)
Vice President	Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (2004-06) Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (2006-)
Preceded by	Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
2nd Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates
In office 1973 – 1977
President	Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Prime Minister	Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Preceded by	Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Succeeded by	Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan
Born	25 January 1945 (1945-01-25) (age 64) Al Ain, United Arab Emirates[1]
Religion	Sunni Islam

Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan with then President of Russia Vladimir Putin on 10 September 2007.

HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Arabic: خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان‎), (born January 25, 1945), referred to either as Sheikh Nahyan or Sheikh Khalifa is the current President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and emir of Abu Dhabi. He succeeded to both posts on 3 November 2004, replacing his father Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who had died the day before. He had effectively been acting president earlier, since his father was in ill health.

Following the establishment of the UAE on 2 December 1971, Sheikh Khalifa became Deputy Prime Minister of the federal state under his father, who was President. In May 1976 he became deputy commander of the UAE armed forces. He also heads the Supreme Petroleum Council, which enjoys wide powers in energy matters.

Sheikh Khalifa is known for his interest in sports traditional to UAE, chiefly horse and camel racing. He is generally regarded as a pro-Western modernizer. Early in his term, in April 2005, he authorized a 100% salary increase for employees of the state.

On 1 December 2005, the President announced that half of the members of the Federal National Council, the closest body the country has to a parliament, will be indirectly elected. However, half of the council's members will still need to be appointed by the leaders of the emirates. The 40-member FNC serves in an advisory capacity. The elections were set to take place in December 2006.

On 4 January 2010, the worlds tallest man-made structure, originally known as Burj Dubai, was renamed to Burj Khalifa, in honor of the Sheikh[1].

Philanthropy

According to Forbes, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the world's third wealthiest royal, with an estimated wealth of 19 billion USD.^[2]

On 30 April 2007, Johns Hopkins Medicine announced a "magnificent" and "transformational" gift by Sheikh Khalifa^[3], most of which, made in honor of Sheikh Khalifa’s father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was planned to support construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital’s new cardiovascular and critical care tower (also to be named after Sheikh Zayed). Additionally, some funds would be directed to cardiovascular as well as AIDS research. He also announced the funding of Sheikh Khalifa City in the Gaza Strip. A building in the theology department at the University of Wales is named after him, due to his being a benefactor.

See also

• Al Nahyan family
• List of national leaders
• List of rulers of separate Emirates of the United Arab Emirates
• List of the wealthiest royals

References

External links

• official biography
• Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Biography oh U.A.E. President

Presidents of the United Arab Emirates Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan • Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan