The various coastal towns in the Trucial States enjoyed flourishing economy throughout the nineteenth century and in the first decade of the 20th century primarily due to a lucrative pearling industry in the region. The boom in the pearling industry, however, was cut short when World War 1 broke, and was further severely impaired by the economic depression that followed in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The invention of cultured pearl by the Japanese, however, proved to be the final straw that led to the collapse of the industry, leaving the coastal towns of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah reeling in such loss.
An astute man, who was to become the first president of the UAE, was born to Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Sultan at the onset of this economic shakedown, around 1918. Named after his grandfather and the youngest of four sons, Sheikh Zayed at an early age displayed a keen interest in acquiring knowledge and in understanding the desert and the sea, and how people relate to their environment.
Sheikh Zayed was only 28 when he became the Ruler’s Representative in Al Ain, administering the needs of six villages as well as the neighbouring region. The young leader utilized this time to gain a deep understanding of the government and the existing tribes, whilst laying out plans that led Al Ain to become a model community in terms of agriculture, water supply and education, amongst other important areas of development.
On the background, rudimentary oil exploration has been taking place in Abu Dhabi dating back in the 1930s. At the time a consortium of Western oil companies operating in Iraq (under the name Iraq Petroleum Company) sought to explore the lower gulf for oil and found a potential oilfield in Abu Dhabi. Concession agreements between the company and Abu Dhabi’s ruler were signed over a period of several years which culminated to the establishment of the first oil company in Abu Dhabi, called Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast), in 1951. Eleven years later, the first export of crude oil from Abu Dhabi was underway.
In 1968, the British announced their planned withdrawal in three year’s time. As soon as the prospect of being independent became apparent, Sheikh Zayed, who succeeded his brother as ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, lost no time rallying rulers of the other emirates to form a strong federation and on December 2, 1971, the United Arab Emirates was born.
Sheikh Zayed, who was consequently elected as UAE president by his fellow rulers, utilized the state’s enormous oil-based income to promote the welfare of his people through education and infrastructure development, and his 33 year-rule saw the state develop at unprecedented pace. From an ancestry of semi-nomadic people who depended on seafaring and pearling in the summer and date palm gardening during the winter, Abu Dhabi has now acceded as one of the world’s most promising and sophisticated business and holiday centres. And all these happened in less than three quarters of a century.