United Arab Emirates

Human settlement in the region reaches back to the Neolithic, but it was in the Bronze Age that distinctive cultures emerged on the coast and in the oases of the interior. The Hafit period (around 3200-2600 BCE) is marked by beehive-shaped stone tombs scattered across the slopes of Jebel Hafit near Al Ain, while the succeeding Umm an-Nar period (around 2600-2000 BCE), named for an island off Abu Dhabi, is known for great circular communal tombs, fortified mudbrick towers and a thriving exchange with Mesopotamia and the Indus valley.

At Hili, in the oasis cluster of Al Ain, archaeologists uncovered one of the earliest agricultural villages in the country and, by the Iron Age, one of the oldest examples of the aflaj irrigation system, underground channels that carried water from the mountains to the date gardens. This sedentary oasis life, traced from the Neolithic through successive prehistoric cultures, is precisely what UNESCO recognized when it inscribed the Cultural Sites of Al Ain as the country's first World Heritage Site in 2011.

The sea was the other engine of life. From deep antiquity the coastal communities dived for the natural pearls of the shallow Gulf banks and traded copper, dried fish and dates with the wider Indian Ocean world. Ports along the coast linked Arabia to Mesopotamia, Persia and beyond, and the rhythm of the pearling season, the date harvest and the camel caravan would shape the society of the region for thousands of years, until oil remade it in the twentieth century.

Turning points

1. c. 3rd millennium BCECulture & Ideas

   Hafit-period tombs near Jebel Hafit

   Beehive-shaped stone tombs of the Hafit period appear on the slopes of Jebel Hafit near Al Ain, the earliest monumental architecture of the region and a marker of settled life at the desert's edge.

   [9] [10]

2. c. 2500 BCECulture & Ideas

   The Umm an-Nar culture flourishes

   Named for an island off Abu Dhabi, the Umm an-Nar culture built circular communal tombs, fortified towers and agricultural settlements at Hili, trading copper and goods with Mesopotamia and the Indus valley.

   [11] [9]

3. Iron AgeEconomy & Trade

   The aflaj irrigation system at Hili

   Hili preserves one of the oldest known examples of the aflaj, underground channels that carried mountain groundwater to oasis date gardens, sustaining agriculture in an arid land.

   ↗See the data

   [9] [10]

Islam came to southeastern Arabia in the 7th century, traditionally dated to around 630 CE, as the new faith spread out from the Hejaz across the peninsula. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, several Gulf tribes joined the wider apostasy that the first caliph, Abu Bakr, suppressed in the Ridda Wars; a decisive engagement was fought at Dibba on the east coast of the present-day Emirates, confirming the region within the new Islamic order. The coast then settled into the rhythms of a Muslim trading society.

From the early Islamic centuries the region's ports prospered on long-distance commerce. Julfar, near modern Ras al-Khaimah, became the most important harbor in southeastern Arabia, a hub for the trade in pearls, horses, dates and goods passing between the Gulf, the Indian Ocean and the cities of Persia and Iraq. Dhows built on these shores carried Arab sailors as far as East Africa, India and beyond, and the pearl banks of the Gulf supplied a luxury prized from Baghdad to Bombay.

The arrival of European powers disrupted this world. From the early 16th century the Portuguese seized control of Gulf navigation, fortifying ports along the coast to dominate the spice and pearl routes, before the Dutch and then the English and the rising Omani sea power contested control of these waters in the 17th and 18th centuries. The competition for the sea lanes set the stage for the rise of a formidable local maritime confederation, the Qawasim, and for the entanglement with Britain that would define the next two centuries.

Turning points

1. c. 630 CEReligion

   Islam reaches the lower Gulf coast

   Islam spread to southeastern Arabia during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, drawing the coastal communities into the new faith and the trade networks of the Muslim world.

   [12] [13]

2. c. 632 CEWar & Rupture

   The Battle of Dibba in the Ridda Wars

   After the Prophet's death, a campaign by the first caliph Abu Bakr against apostate tribes culminated in a battle at Dibba on the east coast, securing the region within the Islamic order.

   ↗See the data

   [12]

3. 16th centuryColonisation

   Portuguese seize control of the coast

   Portuguese naval expansion fortified Gulf ports to dominate the spice and pearl trade, beginning two centuries of European and Omani contest over the region's sea lanes.

   ↗See the data

   [13] [15]

By the late 18th century the Qasimi dynasty (the Qawasim), based at Ras al-Khaimah and Sharjah, had become the dominant maritime power of the lower Gulf, commanding a large fleet and the commerce of the coast. Their clashes with British and British-Indian shipping led the British, anxious to protect their trade routes to India, to brand them pirates and to mount a series of punitive campaigns, razing Ras al-Khaimah in 1809 and again subduing it in 1819. Deprived of control of the sea, the Qasimi power was permanently weakened.

In January 1820 the defeated coastal sheikhs signed the General Treaty of Peace with Britain, the first of the agreements that would draw the region into the British imperial system. A Treaty of Maritime Peace in Perpetuity followed in 1853, committing the rulers to a permanent truce at sea; it was from this perpetual truce that the coast took the name Trucial Coast and its statelets became the Trucial States. Britain policed the waters and adjudicated disputes, while the sheikhs retained authority over their own peoples on land.

The relationship was sealed by the Exclusive Agreement of 1892, by which the Trucial rulers bound themselves not to cede, sell or lease any territory to a power other than Britain, and not to enter relations with any foreign government without British consent, in return for British protection. The coast was thus effectively a British protected zone, shielded from outside interference and frozen, for the most part, into the pattern of small dynastic emirates, Abu Dhabi under the Al Nahyan, Dubai under the Al Maktoum, Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah under the Qasimi, and the rest, that would later form the federation.

Turning points

1. 1819War & Rupture

   Britain breaks the Qasimi sea power

   After repeated clashes over Gulf shipping, British forces subdued the Qasimi dynasty and razed Ras al-Khaimah, ending the maritime dominance of the Qawasim in the lower Gulf.

   ↗See the data

   [2] [1]

2. 1820Politics & Power

   The General Treaty of Peace

   The coastal sheikhs signed the General Treaty of Peace with Britain, limiting maritime aggression and initiating the series of agreements that established British paramountcy over the future emirates.

   [1] [2]

3. 1853Politics & Power

   The Perpetual Maritime Truce

   The Treaty of Maritime Peace in Perpetuity committed the rulers to a permanent truce at sea, giving the coast the name Trucial Coast and its statelets the name Trucial States.

   [3] [1]

4. 1892Colonisation

   The Exclusive Agreement with Britain

   The Trucial rulers agreed to cede no territory and form no foreign relations except through Britain, in return for British protection, making the coast in effect a British protected zone.

   ↗See the data

   [4] [1]

Into the early 20th century the Trucial economy still rested on the pearl, with fleets of more than a thousand boats and tens of thousands of men diving each season. That world collapsed within a few years: the Great Depression of the late 1920s and 1930s gutted the luxury markets, and the Japanese invention of the cultured pearl destroyed the value of the natural Gulf product. The coast fell into a period of poverty and hunger from which it would be rescued only by the oil companies of the mid-century.

Exploration concessions granted in the 1930s eventually bore fruit. Oil was found in commercial quantity in Abu Dhabi by 1958-1960, both offshore and onshore at the Bab and Murban fields, and the first cargo of Abu Dhabi crude was exported from Das Island in 1962, with Dubai following later in the decade. In 1966 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan succeeded his brother as ruler of Abu Dhabi and began channeling the new revenue into schools, hospitals, roads and the foundations of a modern state.

The decisive moment came from London. In January 1968 Britain announced that it would withdraw its forces from the Gulf and end its treaty obligations by the close of 1971. Sheikh Zayed of Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Dubai led negotiations for a union; Qatar and Bahrain chose separate independence, but on 2 December 1971 the rulers of six emirates proclaimed the United Arab Emirates, with Zayed as president and Rashid as vice president. Ras al-Khaimah acceded on 10 February 1972, completing the federation of seven, which joined the Arab League and the United Nations in its first days.

Turning points

1. late 1920s-1930sEconomy & Trade

   Collapse of the pearl trade

   The Great Depression and the Japanese cultured pearl destroyed the natural-pearl economy that had sustained the Trucial Coast, bringing years of poverty and hunger.

   ↗See the data

   [12] [13]

2. 1962Economy & Trade

   Abu Dhabi exports its first oil

   After commercial oil was struck in Abu Dhabi from 1958-1960, the first cargo of crude was exported from Das Island in 1962, beginning the transformation of the emirates' fortunes.

   ↗See the data

   [12] [1]

3. 1966Politics & Power

   Sheikh Zayed becomes ruler of Abu Dhabi

   Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan succeeded his brother Shakhbut as ruler of Abu Dhabi and began directing oil revenue into the building of a modern state.

   [5] [12]

4. January 1968Independence

   Britain announces withdrawal from the Gulf

   The British government declared it would withdraw its forces and end its treaty role in the Gulf by the end of 1971, prompting the Trucial rulers to plan a federation.

   ↗See the data

   [1] [6]

5. 2 December 1971Formation

   The United Arab Emirates is founded

   The rulers of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain and Fujairah proclaimed the United Arab Emirates, with Sheikh Zayed as first president and Sheikh Rashid as vice president.

   [14] [1] [5]

6. 10 February 1972Formation

   Ras al-Khaimah joins the federation

   The seventh emirate, Ras al-Khaimah, acceded to the union in February 1972, completing the United Arab Emirates as a federation of seven emirates.

   [13] [7]

Figures of the era

From its first days the federation pursued integration: a common currency, the dirham, a federal government seated in Abu Dhabi, and a constitution that balanced the powers of the seven rulers through a Supreme Council and a presidency held by the Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi. Oil revenue, overwhelmingly from Abu Dhabi, financed an extraordinary build-out of infrastructure, education, health care and a welfare state, transforming desert and coast within a generation into modern cities.

Dubai, with smaller oil reserves, wagered instead on trade, aviation, real estate and tourism. Under Sheikh Rashid and his son Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, it built the world's busiest international airport hub, vast free zones and ports, and landmark projects that drew global attention, including the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, opened in 2010, and the hosting of Expo 2020 (held 2021-2022). The UAE became a magnet for migrants, who now make up the large majority of its population.

The federation also looked outward and upward. In 2021 its Hope probe entered orbit around Mars, making the UAE the first Arab nation and fifth in the world to reach the planet. After the long presidency of Sheikh Zayed (to 2004) and that of his son Khalifa, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was elected president in May 2022. Half a century after its founding, the United Arab Emirates stands as a wealthy, diversifying and influential state, even as it manages the tensions of oil dependence, regional security and a society overwhelmingly composed of foreign residents.

Turning points

1. 1973Economy & Trade

   A common currency and federal integration

   The federation introduced the UAE dirham and advanced reforms to unify infrastructure and government, knitting the seven emirates into a single modern state.

   ↗See the data

   [5] [1]

2. January 2010Culture & Ideas

   The Burj Khalifa opens in Dubai

   Dubai inaugurated the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, a symbol of the emirate's wager on trade, real estate and tourism rather than oil.

   [1] [14]

3. February 2021Culture & Ideas

   The Hope probe reaches Mars

   The UAE's Hope spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, making the country the first Arab nation and the fifth worldwide to reach the planet.

   [14] [8]

4. May 2022Politics & Power

   Mohamed bin Zayed elected president

   Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was elected president of the United Arab Emirates, succeeding his late brother Khalifa and continuing the Al Nahyan leadership of the federation.

   [8]

Figures of the era