United Arab Emirates

An alliance of sheikhdoms along the coast of the Persian Gulf, the United Arab Emirates borders on Oman and Saudi Arabia. Prior to the discovery of oil and the first oil exports in the 1960s, these sheikhdoms consisted of impoverished tribes who subsisted on fishing, herding and pearling. For nearly 300 years, Britain was closely involved in the area, and in 1892 the emirates became a British protectorate. When Britain terminated its 'protectorship' of all Gulf states in 1971, the seven emirates came together to form the current nation. Since the oil boom that began in 1973, the United Arab Emirates has, in per capita terms, become one of the world's wealthiest countries. This volume is a fully updated and revised edition of the first volume published in 1983.