Little is known about the elderly in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country with both developing country features and developed country characteristics. In this cross sectional survey of 184 randomly chosen community based people aged 65+ years, the mean age was 71.8 ± 6.3, 52% were female, 76%were married; 11% were literate, 89% lived in multi-generational households, 85% lived in households with servants and 15% had a personal servant. Health status was largely independent of age. Compared with the ambulatory aged USA population, the rate of functional independence in activities of daily living (ADL) (83%) was similar and chronic medical problems were less frequent, with the notable exception of diabetes. Almost all (95%) participants in this study rated their health as satisfactory or higher. There appeared to be, a significant under-diagnosis of psychological problems. In the presence of a high regard for traditional values, close family ties, universal practice of religion and high economic resources, the elderly in the UAE have a high level of health. There maybe a need to substantially increase health care resources for aged care in the near future due to the high prevalence of diabetes, amount of hidden psychological morbidity and known demographic trends.