The UAE is an\u00a0elective monarchy<\/a>\u00a0formed from a\u00a0federation<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0seven emirates<\/a>, consisting of\u00a0Abu Dhabi<\/a>\u00a0(which serves as the capital),\u00a0Ajman<\/a>,\u00a0Dubai<\/a>,\u00a0Fujairah<\/a>,\u00a0Ras Al Khaimah<\/a>,\u00a0Sharjah<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Umm Al Quwain<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Each emirate is governed by a\u00a0Sheikh<\/a>\u00a0and, together, they form the\u00a0Federal Supreme Council<\/a>; one of them serves as\u00a0President of the United Arab Emirates<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0In 2013, the UAE’s population was 9.2 million, of which 1.4 million were\u00a0Emirati citizens<\/a>\u00a0and 7.8 million were\u00a0expatriates<\/a>; the estimated population in 2020 was 9.89 million.<\/p>\n Islam<\/a>\u00a0is the\u00a0official religion<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Arabic<\/a>\u00a0is the official language. The\u00a0UAE’s oil<\/a>\u00a0and natural gas reserves are the\u00a0sixth-<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0seventh-largest<\/a>\u00a0in the world, respectively.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan<\/a>, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the country’s first president, oversaw the development of the Emirates by investing oil revenues into healthcare, education, and infrastructure.<\/sup>\u00a0The UAE’s economy is the most diversified of all the members of the\u00a0Gulf Cooperation Council<\/a>, while its most populous city,\u00a0Dubai<\/a>, is a\u00a0global city<\/a>\u00a0and international hub.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0The country has become less reliant on oil and gas, and is economically focusing on tourism and business. The UAE government does not levy income tax, although there is a corporate tax in place and a 5%\u00a0value-added tax<\/a> was established in 2018.<\/p>\n The UAE is recognized as a regional and a middle power<\/a>.\u00a0The UAE is a member of the\u00a0United Nations<\/a>, the\u00a0Arab League<\/a>, the\u00a0Organisation of Islamic Cooperation<\/a>,\u00a0OPEC<\/a>, the\u00a0Non-Aligned Movement<\/a>, and the\u00a0Gulf Cooperation Council<\/a>\u00a0(GCC).<\/sup><\/p>\n Stone tools recovered reveal a settlement of people from Africa some 127,000 years ago and a stone tool used for butchering animals discovered on the Arabian coast suggests an even older habitation from 130,000 years ago.<\/sup> There is no proof of contact with the outside world at that stage, although in time lively trading links developed with civilizations in\u00a0Mesopotamia<\/a>, Iran and the\u00a0Harappan culture<\/a>\u00a0of the Indus Valley. This contact persisted and became wider, probably motivated by the trade in copper from the\u00a0Hajar Mountains<\/a>, which commenced around 3,000 BCE. <\/sup>Sumerian sources talk of UAE as home to the ‘Makkan’ or\u00a0Magan<\/a> people.<\/p>\n There are six periods of human settlement with distinctive behaviors in UAE before Islam, which include the Hafit period<\/a>\u00a0from 3,200 to 2,600 BCE, the\u00a0Umm Al Nar culture<\/a>\u00a0spanned from 2,600 to 2,000 BCE, the\u00a0Wadi Suq people<\/a>\u00a0dominated from 2,000 to 1,300 BCE. From 1,200 BCE to the advent of Islam in Eastern Arabia, through three distinctive\u00a0Iron Ages<\/a>\u00a0and the Mleiha period, the area was variously occupied by the\u00a0Achaemenids<\/a>\u00a0and other forces, and saw the construction of fortified settlements and extensive husbandry thanks to the development of the\u00a0falaj<\/a>\u00a0irrigation system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The spread of\u00a0Islam<\/a>\u00a0to the North Eastern tip of the\u00a0Arabian Peninsula<\/a>\u00a0is thought to have followed directly from a letter sent by the\u00a0Islamic Prophet<\/a>,\u00a0Muhammad<\/a>, to the rulers of\u00a0Oman<\/a>\u00a0in 630 CE, nine years after the\u00a0hijrah<\/a>. This led to a group of rulers travelling to\u00a0Medina<\/a>, converting to Islam and subsequently driving a successful uprising against the unpopular Sasanids, who dominated the Northern coasts at the time.<\/sup>\u00a0Following the death of Muhammad, the new Islamic communities south of the\u00a0Persian Gulf<\/a>\u00a0threatened to disintegrate, with insurrections against the\u00a0Muslim leaders<\/a>. The Caliph\u00a0Abu Bakr<\/a>\u00a0sent an army from the capital\u00a0Medina<\/a>\u00a0which completed its reconquest of the territory (the Ridda Wars<\/a>) with the\u00a0Battle of Dibba<\/a>\u00a0in which 10,000 lives are thought to have been lost.<\/sup>\u00a0This assured the integrity of the\u00a0Caliphate<\/a>\u00a0and the unification of the Arabian Peninsula under the newly emerging\u00a0Rashidun Caliphate<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 637, Julfar (in the area of today’s\u00a0Ras Al Khaimah<\/a>) was an important port that was used as a staging post for the Islamic invasion of the\u00a0Sasanian Empire<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The area of the\u00a0Al Ain<\/a>\/Buraimi Oasis<\/a> was known as Tu’am and was an important trading post for camel routes between the coast and the Arabian interior.<\/p>\n The earliest\u00a0Christian<\/a>\u00a0site in the UAE was first discovered in the 1990s, an extensive monastic complex on what is now known as\u00a0Sir Bani Yas<\/a>\u00a0Island and which dates back to the 7th century. Thought to be\u00a0Nestorian<\/a>\u00a0and built in 600 CE, the church appears to have been abandoned peacefully in 750 CE.<\/sup> It forms a rare physical link to a legacy of Christianity which is thought to have spread across the peninsula from 50 to 350 CE following trade routes. Certainly, by the 5th century, Oman had a bishop named John \u2013 the last bishop of Oman being Etienne, in 676 CE.<\/p>\n With the expansion of European\u00a0colonial empires<\/a>, Portuguese, English and\u00a0Dutch<\/a> forces appeared in the Persian Gulf region. By the 18th century, the Bani Yas confederation was the dominant force in most of the area now known as Abu Dhabi,\u00a0while the Northern\u00a0Al Qawasim<\/a>\u00a0(Al Qasimi) dominated maritime commerce. The Portuguese maintained an influence over the coastal settlements, building\u00a0forts<\/a>\u00a0in the wake of the bloody 16th-century conquests of coastal communities by\u00a0Albuquerque<\/a>\u00a0and the Portuguese commanders who followed him \u2013 particularly on the east coast at\u00a0Muscat<\/a>,\u00a0Sohar<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Khor Fakkan<\/a>.<\/p>\n The southern coast of the Persian Gulf was known to the British as the “Pirate Coast<\/a>“, as boats of the Al Qawasim federation harassed British-flagged shipping from the 17th century into the 19th.\u00a0The charge of piracy is disputed by modern Emirati historians, including the current Ruler of Sharjah,\u00a0Sheikh Sultan Al Qasimi<\/a>, in his 1986 book\u00a0The Myth of Arab Piracy in the Gulf<\/i>.<\/p>\n British expeditions to protect their Indian trade routes led to campaigns against Ras Al Khaimah and other harbors along the coast, including the Persian Gulf Campaign of 1809<\/a>\u00a0and the more successful\u00a0campaign of 1819<\/a>. The following year, Britain and a number of local rulers signed a\u00a0maritime truce<\/a>, giving rise to the term\u00a0Trucial States<\/a>, which came to define the status of the coastal emirates. A further treaty was signed in 1843 and, in 1853 the\u00a0Perpetual Maritime Truce<\/a>\u00a0was agreed. To this was added the ‘Exclusive Agreements’, signed in 1892, which made the\u00a0Trucial States<\/a> a British protectorate.<\/p>\n Under the 1892 treaty, the trucial sheikhs agreed not to dispose of any territory except to the British and not to enter into relationships with any foreign government other than the British without their consent. In return, the British promised to protect the Trucial Coast from all aggression by sea and to help in case of land attack. The Exclusive Agreement was signed by the Rulers of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and\u00a0Umm Al Quwain<\/a>\u00a0between 6 and 8 March 1892. It was subsequently ratified by the\u00a0Governor-General of India<\/a> and the British Government in London. British maritime policing meant that pearling fleets could operate in relative security. However, the British prohibition of the\u00a0slave trade<\/a> meant an important source of income was lost to some sheikhs and merchants.<\/p>\n In 1869, the Qubaisat tribe settled at\u00a0Khawr al Udayd<\/a>\u00a0and tried to enlist the support of the Ottomans, whose flag was occasionally seen flying there. Khawr al Udayd was claimed by Abu Dhabi at that time, a claim supported by the British. In 1906, the British Political Resident,\u00a0Percy Cox<\/a>, confirmed in writing to the ruler of Abu Dhabi,\u00a0Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan<\/a> (‘Zayed the Great’) that Khawr al Udayd belonged to his sheikhdom.<\/p>\n During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the\u00a0pearling industry<\/a>\u00a0thrived, providing both income and employment to the people of the Persian Gulf. The\u00a0First World War<\/a>\u00a0had a severe impact on the industry, but it was the\u00a0economic depression<\/a>\u00a0of the late 1920s and early 1930s, coupled with the invention of the\u00a0cultured pearl<\/a>, that wiped out the trade. The remnants of the trade eventually faded away shortly after the\u00a0Second World War<\/a>, when the newly independent\u00a0Government of India<\/a>\u00a0imposed heavy taxation on pearls imported from the\u00a0Arab states of the Persian Gulf<\/a>. The decline of pearling resulted in extreme economic hardship in the Trucial States.<\/p>\n In 1922, the British government secured undertakings from the rulers of the Trucial States not to sign concessions with foreign companies without their consent. Aware of the potential for the development of natural resources such as oil, following finds in Persia (from 1908) and Mesopotamia (from 1927), a British-led oil company, the\u00a0Iraq Petroleum Company<\/a>\u00a0(IPC), showed an interest in the region. The\u00a0Anglo-Persian Oil Company<\/a> (APOC, later to become British Petroleum, or BP) had a 23.75% share in IPC. From 1935, onshore concessions to explore for oil were granted by local rulers, with APOC signing the first one on behalf of Petroleum Concessions Ltd (PCL), an associate company of IPC. APOC was prevented from developing the region alone because of the restrictions of the\u00a0Red Line Agreement<\/a>, which required it to operate through IPC. A number of options between PCL and the trucial rulers were signed, providing useful revenue for communities experiencing poverty following the collapse of the pearl trade. However, the wealth of oil which the rulers could see from the revenues accruing to surrounding countries such as Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia remained elusive. The first bore holes in Abu Dhabi were drilled by IPC’s operating company, Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd (PDTC) at Ras Sadr in 1950, with a 13,000-foot-deep (4,000-metre) bore hole taking a year to drill and turning out dry, at the tremendous cost at the time of \u00a31 million.<\/p>\n The British set up a development office that helped in some small developments in the emirates. The seven\u00a0sheikhs<\/a> of the emirates then decided to form a council to coordinate matters between them and took over the development office. In 1952, they formed the Trucial States Council,\u00a0and appointed\u00a0Adi Bitar<\/a>, Dubai’s\u00a0Sheikh Rashid<\/a>‘s legal advisor, as Secretary General and Legal Advisor to the council. The council was terminated once the United Arab Emirates was formed.<\/sup>\u00a0The tribal nature of society and the lack of definition of borders between emirates frequently led to disputes, settled either through mediation or, more rarely, force. The\u00a0Trucial Oman Scouts<\/a>\u00a0was a small military force used by the British to keep the peace.<\/p>\n In 1953, a subsidiary of BP, D’Arcy Exploration Ltd, obtained an offshore concession from the ruler of Abu Dhabi. BP joined with\u00a0Compagnie Fran\u00e7aise des P\u00e9troles<\/a>\u00a0(later\u00a0Total<\/a>) to form operating companies, Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Ltd (ADMA) and Dubai Marine Areas Ltd (DUMA). A number of undersea oil surveys were carried out, including one led by the famous marine explorer\u00a0Jacques Cousteau<\/a>. In 1958, a floating platform rig was towed from Hamburg, Germany, and positioned over the Umm Shaif pearl bed, in Abu Dhabi waters, where drilling began. In March, it struck oil in the Upper Thamama, a rock formation that would provide many valuable oil finds. This was the first commercial discovery of the Trucial Coast, leading to the first exports of oil in 1962. ADMA made further offshore discoveries at Zakum and elsewhere, and other companies made commercial finds such as the Fateh oilfield off Dubai and the Mubarak field off Sharjah (shared with Iran).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, onshore exploration was hindered by territorial disputes. In 1955, the United Kingdom represented Abu Dhabi and Oman in their dispute with Saudi Arabia over the\u00a0Buraimi Oasis<\/a>. <\/sup>A 1974 agreement between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia seemed to have settled the Abu Dhabi-Saudi\u00a0border dispute<\/a>, but this has not been ratified.<\/sup> The UAE’s border with Oman was ratified in 2008.<\/sup><\/p>\n PDTC continued its onshore exploration away from the disputed area, drilling five more bore holes that were also dry. However, on 27 October 1960, the company discovered oil in commercial quantities at the Murban No. 3 well on the coast near Tarif.\u00a0In 1962, PDTC became the Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company. As oil revenues increased, the ruler of Abu Dhabi,\u00a0Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan<\/a>, undertook a massive construction program, building schools, housing, hospitals and roads. When Dubai’s oil exports commenced in 1969, Sheikh\u00a0Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum<\/a>, the ruler of Dubai, was able to invest the revenues from the limited reserves found to spark the diversification drive that would create the modern\u00a0global city<\/a> of Dubai.<\/p>\n By 1966, it had become clear the British government could no longer afford to administer and protect what is now the United Arab Emirates. British\u00a0Members of Parliament<\/a>\u00a0(MPs) debated the preparedness of the\u00a0Royal Navy<\/a>\u00a0to defend the sheikhdoms.\u00a0Secretary of State for Defence<\/a>\u00a0Denis Healey<\/a>\u00a0reported that the\u00a0British Armed Forces<\/a>\u00a0were seriously overstretched and in some respects dangerously under-equipped to defend the sheikhdoms. On 24 January 1968, British Prime Minister\u00a0Harold Wilson<\/a>\u00a0announced the government’s decision, reaffirmed in March 1971 by Prime Minister\u00a0Edward Heath<\/a>, to end the treaty relationships with the seven Trucial Sheikhdoms, that had been, together with Bahrain and Qatar, under British protection. Days after the announcement, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh\u00a0Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan<\/a>, fearing vulnerability, tried to persuade the British to honor the protection treaties by offering to pay the full costs of keeping the British Armed Forces<\/a>\u00a0in the Emirates. The British\u00a0Labour<\/a>\u00a0government rejected the offer.[67]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0After Labour MP\u00a0Goronwy Roberts<\/a> informed Sheikh Zayed of the news of British withdrawal, the nine Persian Gulf sheikhdoms attempted to form a union of Arab emirates, but by mid-1971 they were still unable to agree on terms of union even though the British treaty relationship was to expire in December of that year.<\/p>\n Fears of vulnerability were realized the day before independence. An Iranian destroyer group broke formation from an exercise in the lower Gulf, sailing to the Tunb islands<\/a>. The islands were taken by force, civilians and Arab defenders alike allowed to flee. A British warship stood idle during the course of the invasion.<\/sup>\u00a0A destroyer group approached the island\u00a0Abu Musa<\/a>\u00a0as well. But there, Sheikh\u00a0Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi<\/a> had already negotiated with the Iranian Shah, and the island was quickly leased to Iran for $3 million a year. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia laid claim to swathes of Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n Originally intended to be part of the proposed Federation of Arab Emirates, Bahrain became independent in August, and Qatar in September 1971. When the British-Trucial Sheikhdoms treaty expired on 1 December 1971, both emirates became fully independent.\u00a0On 2 December 1971, at the Dubai Guesthouse (now known as Union House) six of the emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain) agreed to enter into a union called the United Arab Emirates. Ras al-Khaimah joined it later, on 10 January 1972.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0In February 1972, the Federal National Council (FNC) was created; it was a 40-member consultative body appointed by the seven rulers. The UAE joined the Arab League on 6 December 1971 and the United Nations on 9 December.<\/sup>\u00a0It was a founding member of the\u00a0Gulf Cooperation Council<\/a> in May 1981, with Abu Dhabi hosting the first GCC summit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The first ever national elections were held in the UAE on 16 December 2006. A number of voters chose half of the members of the Federal National Council. The UAE has largely escaped the\u00a0Arab Spring<\/a>, which other countries have experienced; however, 60 Emirati activists from\u00a0Al Islah<\/a>\u00a0were apprehended for an alleged coup attempt and the attempt of the establishment of an\u00a0Islamism<\/a> state in the UAE. Mindful of the protests in nearby Bahrain, in November 2012 the UAE outlawed online mockery of its own government or attempts to organize public protests through social media.<\/p>\n On 29 January 2020, the\u00a0COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>\u00a0was confirmed to have\u00a0reached the UAE<\/a>, as a 73-year-old Chinese woman had tested positive for the disease.\u00a0Two months later, in March, the government announced the closure of shopping malls, schools, and places of worship, in addition to imposing a 24-hour curfew, and suspending all\u00a0Emirates<\/a> passenger flights.<\/sup> This resulted in a major economic downfall, which eventually led to the merger of more than 50% of the UAE’s federal agencies.<\/p>\n On 29 August 2020, the UAE established normal diplomatic relations with\u00a0Israel<\/a>\u00a0and with the help of the United States, they signed the\u00a0Abraham Accords<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0Bahrain<\/a>. <\/sup>On the 9th of February, the UAE reached a historic milestone when its probe, named\u00a0Hope<\/a>\u00a0successfully reached\u00a0Mars<\/a>‘s orbit and became the first country in the\u00a0Arab world<\/a>\u00a0to reach Mars, the fifth country to successfully reach Mars and the second country, after\u00a0India’s probe<\/a>, to orbit Mars in its maiden try.<\/p>\n The United Arab Emirates is situated in Middle East, bordering the\u00a0Gulf of Oman<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Persian Gulf<\/a>, between Oman and Saudi Arabia; it is in a strategic location slightly south of the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, a vital transit point for world\u00a0crude oil<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n The UAE lies between 22\u00b030′ and 26\u00b010′ north latitude and between 51\u00b0 and 56\u00b025\u2032 east longitude. It shares a 530-kilometre (330\u00a0mi) border with Saudi Arabia on the west, south, and southeast, and a 450-kilometre (280\u00a0mi) border with Oman on the southeast and northeast. The land border with Qatar in the\u00a0Khawr al Udayd<\/a> area is about nineteen kilometers (12 miles) in the northwest; however, it is a source of\u00a0ongoing dispute<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Following Britain’s military departure from the UAE in 1971, and its establishment as a new state, the UAE laid claim to islands resulting in disputes with Iran that remain unresolved.<\/sup>\u00a0The UAE also disputes claim on other islands against the neighboring state of Qatar.<\/sup>\u00a0The largest emirate,\u00a0Abu Dhabi<\/a>, accounts for 87% of the UAE’s total area<\/sup> (67,340 square kilometers (26,000\u00a0sq\u00a0mi)).<\/sup>\u00a0The smallest emirate,\u00a0Ajman<\/a>, encompasses only 259\u00a0km2<\/sup> (100\u00a0sq\u00a0mi).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/UAE-on-the-Globe-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Antiquity:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/a\/a4\/C%C3%A1ntaro_%2826738115330%29.jpg\/220px-C%C3%A1ntaro_%2826738115330%29.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Islam:<\/span><\/h3>\n
Portuguese era:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/a\/a8\/Forte_de_doba.jpg\/220px-Forte_de_doba.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/d\/d6\/Persian_Gulf_Pt8.png\/220px-Persian_Gulf_Pt8.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>British era and discovery of oil:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/0a\/Dhayah_Fort_showing_hilltop_location.jpg\/220px-Dhayah_Fort_showing_hilltop_location.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/9\/9e\/Mid-20th_century_Dubai.JPG\/220px-Mid-20th_century_Dubai.JPG\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Independence:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/9\/9b\/Flag-hoisting_at_the_Union_Declaration.jpg\/220px-Flag-hoisting_at_the_Union_Declaration.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/3\/3f\/UAE_Father_of_the_Nation.jpg\/170px-UAE_Father_of_the_Nation.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Post-Independence period:<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/c\/cc\/Dubai_Skyline_mit_Burj_Khalifa_%2818241030269%29.jpg\/220px-Dubai_Skyline_mit_Burj_Khalifa_%2818241030269%29.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/d\/df\/Sharjah_city_skyline_in_2015.jpg\/220px-Sharjah_city_skyline_in_2015.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/a\/a2\/United_Arab_Emirates_Topography.png\/290px-United_Arab_Emirates_Topography.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>