''Al-Ittihad'' ( ar, الإتحاد, lit=The Union) is an

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

published daily in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. It is part of the Abu Dhabi Media group, a government organization. The paper is the first regular publication of the country.

History and profile

''Al-Ittihad'' was launched as a 12-page weekly publication with a distribution of 5,500 copies. It started as a weekly publication as there was no local printing press and the papers were produced in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

and shipped. It was distributed free local newspaper to stand in the face of competition from newspapers, mainly from other

Arab countries The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western As ...

. The first issue of ''Al Ittihad'' appeared on 20 October 1969. The publisher is Al Ittihad Press and Publishing Corporation which also publishes English daily '' the National''. The estimated circulation of the daily in 2003 was 58,000 copies, making it the second after '' Al Khaleej'' in the country. Its 2006 circulation was 94,275 copies, while it was 76,000 in 2008. The

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. () (an acronym of ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publicly traded on the Pa ...

data in 2009 showed that the paper had a readership of 59.3%. The paper's online version was the 24th most visited website for 2010 in the

MENA region MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

. The circulation of the daily during the first half of 2013 was 109,640 copies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ittihad, Al- 1969 establishments in the Trucial States Publications established in 1969 Daily newspapers published in the United Arab Emirates Arabic-language newspapers Mass media in the United Arab Emirates

History and profile

See also

References