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Seven out of ten expatriates in the UAE do not understand the country’s local customs and traditions, a new survey has revealed.

Only 60 percent of expats claim to know the basics of UAE culture while 72 percent admit to knowing very little about their host country.

Just 28 percent of the 2,000 expats polled by 999 Magazine, the official magazine for the Abu Dhabi Police and Ministry of Labour, claimed to have any real knowledge of the country’s traditions while eleven percent confessed to not even bothering to try to learn.

“The UAE is home to more than 200 different nationalities and has become known across the world for its low crime, modern outlook and the peaceful co-existence of its people. A survey conducted by 999… reveals a dismaying fact that many expat residents have a very limited knowledge of the customs, traditions and heritage of the UAE,” Lt colonel Awadh Saleh Al Kindi, Editor-in-chief of 999, told Khaleej Times.

“We hope that the results of the survey will stimulate people to exert greater efforts in this area,” he added.

Half of respondents polled said they try to learn about Emirati culture “occasionally” while sixteen percent said “hardly ever” in spite 70 percent admitting to have enough resources available to learn.

The UAE, like much of the region, heavily depends on foreign workers to fill jobs at all levels of the economy. Expats hold top roles in sectors such as airlines and financial services, with the majority of low-skilled roles also taken up by migrant workers. An estimated 83.5 percent of the UAE population is made up by expats.

The Gulf state was ranked the least friendly country in the world for expatriates by Forbes magazine last month based on data from HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey, which polled 3,385 expats in 100 countries on factors such as economy, raising children and overall experience.

Forbes, which stripped out data in four categories – ability to befriend locals, success in learning the language, integration into the community and ease of fitting into the local culture – to rank the world’s top spots for migrant workers, said the UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore did not fare well in community integration and befriending locals but performed well in those relating to career prospects and high income.

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UAE expats clueless about Emirati culture