United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (Arabic الإمارات العربية المتحدة, DMG al-Imārāt al-ʿArabiyya al-Muttaḥida; official: Arabic دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة, DMG Dawlat al-Imārāt al-ʿArabiyya al-Muttaḥida 'State of the United Arab Emirates'), UAE for short and often colloquially shortened to the Emirates, is a federation of seven emirates in the east of the Arabian Peninsula in southwest Asia. Located on the coast of the Persian Gulf and with access to the Gulf of Oman, the country borders Saudi Arabia and Oman. It consists of the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ra's al-Khaima, Sharjah and Umm al-Qaiwain.

The capital of the UAE is Abu Dhabi, as one of the country's five major cities along with Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Al-Ain, it is also an important economic and cultural centre.

Prior to independence in 1971, the UAE was known as the "Treaty Coast" or "Treaty States" because of the protectorate treaties that the local rulers signed with the United Kingdom in the 19th century. The political system is based on the 1971 constitution, with Islam as the official religion and Arabic as the official language. The seventh emirate, Ra's al-Chaima, was added in 1972.

The UAE has the world's seventh largest oil reserves, is the most developed economy in the Middle East, and is one of the richest countries in the world, with a per capita gross domestic product of $63,590 (purchasing power adjusted in 2019). The United Nations Development Programme ranks the country among those with very high human development. The International Monetary Fund classifies the UAE as a "high income developing economy".

The country is a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as a member state of the Arab League, the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OPEC and the World Trade Organization.

Geography

History

Early history

Archaeological findings at Sila are 7000 years old.

Further finds on the island of Umm an-Nar near Abu Dhabi suggest settlement as early as the 4th millennium BC. Near Al-Ain, evidence was also found of a culture dating from around 2500 BC that mined and traded copper in the Hajar Mountains. Long-distance trade received a major boost with the domestication of the camel at the end of the 2nd millennium BC.

The land route from Syria to what is now southern Iraq was followed by the sea route across the Persian Gulf to India, including via the important port of Omana (probably today's Umm al-Qaiwain). Pearl diving was an important occupation from ancient times. Large fairs were held in Dibba, among other places, to which merchants from the region and even China came.

Beginning of the Islamic era

Along the ancient trade routes to India, Christianity spread to the southern part of the Persian Gulf in the 6th century. The Christian monastery of Sir Bani Yas, discovered in the 1990s on an offshore island (Sir Bani Yas Island), existed until the 8th century and was apparently abandoned without warfare. In 630, messengers of the Prophet Muhammad arrived from Mecca and converted the local tribes to Islam. After Muhammad's death in 632, they renounced the alliance and broke away from the new religion. The decisive battle of the subsequent Ridda Wars took place at Dibba and brought the defeat of the apostate non-Muslims and the final triumph of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.

In 637 Julfar (now Ra's al-Chaima) was one of the starting points for the invasion of Persia, and in the centuries that followed it developed into a rich port and the centre of the pearl trade, with daus plying the entire Indian Ocean.

In the 7th century, the coast came under the influence of the Kharijites. From the 9th to the 11th century, the area belonged to the state of the Shiite Qarmatians.

Portuguese control

In the early 16th century, the area came under the direct influence of the Ottoman Empire, but was soon supplanted by the Portuguese, who built bases in the Gulf to secure the trade route to India. In his search for the "spice route" to Asia, which eventually led him to India, Vasco da Gama depended on the help of Ahmad ibn Majid, a navigator and cartographer from Julfar.

The Portuguese controlled the Persian Gulf until they were driven out by Omani tribes around 1650.

From the "Pirate Coast" to the "Treaty Coast"

In 1747, the Bedouin of the Qawasim settled on the southern Gulf coast and took advantage of the power vacuum on the Gulf to engage not only in pearl fishing but also in piracy against merchant shipping, leading to the name "Pirate Coast". Centers were the ports of Sharjah and Ra's al-Chaima. By 1780, the power of the Qawasim had grown to the point where they could muster a fleet of 60 ships with 20,000 sailors, thus also dominating large parts of the Persian Gulf coast and threatening Oman's trade. Oman's counterattacks were unsuccessful. As piracy also threatened the Indian trade, Britain undertook several punitive expeditions between 1806 and 1819, culminating in a peace treaty with all the emirates in 1820. There were repeated attacks on merchant ships thereafter until a declaration of a "perpetual naval peace" was made in 1853. Successively, the emirates became British protectorates, and were referred to as "Pacified Oman", "Treaty Oman" or "Treaty Coast" (Trucial States).

The 1892 treaty between Britain and a number of Gulf emirates cemented the close relationship, stipulating that without British consent the sheikhs could not alienate territory or enter into relations with other states. In return, Britain vowed to protect the "treaty coast" against attacks from sea and land.

The rise and fall of the pearl industry

With the assumption of power by Sheikh Shakbuth bin Diab in 1793, the al-Nahyan family from the Bani-Yas tribe relocated from the inland oasis of Liwa to Abu Dhabi (founded in 1761), which had become an important pearling center. There he founded a fort and extended his power to the oasis of al Ain. Despite their new capital on the coast, the root and heart of the Bani-Yas tribes lay in their Bedouin roots.

The second major tribal confederation was formed by the Qawasim. This tribe controlled a large part of the northern emirates. Their strengths were not so much pearl diving, but trade and seafaring.

A few decades later, another branch of the Bani Yas migrated northwards, split off from the family and founded Dubai in the area of today's Creek in 1833 (in 1822 the settlement of Bar Dubai is mentioned for the first time), which not only engaged in pearl fishing but also became an important trading centre. Pearls were one of the most important branches of trade until well into the 20th century. The world economic crisis of 1929 and the spread of cheaper cultured pearls from Japan led to the decline of the pearl industry in the Gulf. In the following years there were again and again partly warlike conflicts between the tribes.

Oil boom

In the early 1930s, the first oil companies obtained concessions to drill in the Trucial States area. In the early 1960s, oil was found on a large scale and the first shipload was exported from Abu Dhabi in 1962.

Unlike his predecessor and first-born brother Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan al Nahyan, from 1966 onwards Sheikh Zayid bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi used the rising revenues from oil production for an extensive development programme from which the poorer neighbouring emirates also benefited. After Dubai also began to export oil in 1969, Sheikh Rashid bin Said Al Maktum, de facto ruler of the emirate since 1939, was also able to use the new wealth to improve the quality of life of his people.

Demarcation

In Abu Dhabi's border disputes with Saudi Arabia over the emirate's southern boundary, Britain helped settle the dispute from 1955. In 1952, the Saudis, then already flush with cash from the oil trade, offered Sheikh Zayid $42 million - the highest bribe for an individual for some years - if he would give up his fight against them and their claim to Buraimi. However, the future founder and father of the UAE refused the sum, claiming that he was only interested in the welfare of his people.

A sharp improvement in relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE occurred when King Faisal came to power and Sheikh Zayid became ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966. In 1974, they signed a border agreement that put an end to the 170-year struggle over the Buriami area. Immediately thereafter, Saudi Arabia recognized the UAE. As part of this agreement, the link (port of Khor al Udaid and other oil-bearing lands) between Qatar and Abu Dhabi was severed. In 1974, the two states reached an agreement that settled this dispute. However, this has not yet been ratified by the UAE government and the Saudi government does not recognize this agreement to date. The border between the two states is therefore largely a de facto border. However, the exact course of the border has not been a major issue so far, as there is a sandy desert in the border area.

The border with Oman, which is also disputed at the Al-Ain/Buraimi oasis, has also not been officially defined to date, but the two governments agreed in May 1999 to mark it.

Sheikh Zayid and the Union of Emirates

From 1952, increasingly after the onset of oil production, closer Emirati cooperation had developed. In the course of the 1960s, British oil companies increasingly lost influence in favour of US companies.

The pre-existing British Office for Development was replaced by the Trucial States Council, a coordinating council set up by the Emirates' rulers, with Adi Bitar, Sheikh Rashid bin Said Al Maktum's legal adviser, appointed as its secretary-general and legal adviser.

Britain announced the East of Suez Policy in 1967, whereby it would withdraw from its military bases and other commitments east of the Suez Canal by the end of 1971. Thus, by December 31, 1971, the protective treaties with the Persian Gulf territories - Bahrain and Qatar in addition to the Trucial States - would also end.

The rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai decided to unite their emirates into a union, have a constitution drawn up (by Adi Bitar), and then invite the rulers of the other five emirates to join the union.

On December 2, 1971, Britain released the Trucial States into independence. On the same day, the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai and Umm al-Qaiwain met. They established the United Arab Emirates under the leadership and mediation of Sheikh Zayid bin Sultan Al Nahyan, with Sheikh Zayid himself as president, which joined the United Nations a week later, on December 9. On 11 February 1972, Ra's al-Chaima became the seventh and last emirate of the former Trucial States to join the UAE.

Recent history

In 1981, the Gulf Cooperation Council was established with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Following Iraq's annexation of Kuwait in August 1990, the UAE supported UN efforts to liberate the country. UAE air bases were used by Western allies as a launching pad for military strikes against Iraq during the Second Gulf War. Defence alliances were signed with the US and France in 1994 and 1995 respectively.

The UAE supports US and other coalition forces in their operations in Afghanistan, where the UAE has also deployed troops, as well as in Iraq and in the war on terror, primarily from Al Dhafra Air Base.

Death of Sheikhs Zayid and Maktum

On November 2, 2004, the first president and founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayid bin Sultan Al Nahyan, died. His eldest son, Sheikh Chalifa bin Zayid Al Nahyan, succeeded him on the throne as Ruler of Abu Dhabi; in addition, the Supreme Council of Rulers elected him President of the UAE in accordance with the Constitution. Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayid Al Nahyan, a brother of Sheikh Chalifa, accordingly became Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

In January 2006, Sheikh Maktum bin Rashid Al Maktum, the ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the UAE, died; he was succeeded by his brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammed bin Rashid Al Maktum.

Flag of the Trucial States


An 18th century watchtower in Hatta


al-Fahidi fortress in Dubai around 1959


British topographic map of Oman and the Pirate Coast from 1838