Sheikh Khalifa Al Nahyan |
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Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2013
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Born |
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan 1948 (age 68–69) Al Ain, Trucial States (now United Arab Emirates) |
Spouse(s) | Shamsa bint Suhail Al Mazrouei (1964) |
Parents |
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President of the United Arab Emirates | |
Assumed office 3 November 2004 |
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Prime Minister |
Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum |
Vice President |
Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum |
Preceded by | Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (acting) |
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces | |
Assumed office 3 November 2004 |
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President | Himself |
Preceded by | Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan |
Emir of Abu Dhabi | |
Reign | 2 November 2004 – present |
Predecessor | Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan |
Crown Prince | Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan |
Issue | |
House | Al Nahyan |
Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Arabic: خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; born 1948; referred to as Sheikh Khalifa) is the President of the United Arab Emirates, the Emir of Abu Dhabi and the Supreme Commander of the Union Defence Force.
He succeeded his father, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, as Emir of Abu Dhabi on November 2, 2004, and he became the President of the Federation the next day. As Crown Prince, he had already been acting as president since the late 1990s while his father was in ill health. Khalifa is also chairman of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which manages over $600 billion in assets. The Al Nahyan family is believed to have a fortune of $150 billion collectively.
Khalifa was born to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikha Hassa bint Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi (then part of the Trucial States), in 1948. He is the eldest son of Sheikh Zayed and is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
When his father, Sheikh Zayed, became Emir of Abu Dhabi he was appointed as Ruler's Representative in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi (the mayor) and as Head of the Courts Department in Al Ain in 1966. Zayed was the Ruler's Representative in the Eastern Region before he became the Emir of Abu Dhabi. A few months later the position was handed to Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan.
On February 1, 1969, Sheikh Khalifa was nominated as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and on the next day he was appointed as the Head of the Abu Dhabi Department of Defense. In that post, he oversaw the building up of the Abu Dhabi Defense Force, which after 1971 became the core of the UAE Armed Forces.