Middle East · The modern states
United Arab Emirates
Federation of seven emirates · 1971–present
The UAE unites the former Trucial States, the shaykhdoms of the lower Gulf whose rulers signed maritime truces with Britain in 1820, 1853, and the Exclusive Agreements of 1892, becoming a British protectorate. For centuries the coast lived by pearling and maritime trade; the collapse of the pearl market in the 1930s brought poverty, relieved only when oil was struck offshore at Umm Shaif in 1958 and onshore at Murban in 1960, with exports from Abu Dhabi beginning in 1962.
- Type
- Federation of seven emirates (federal semi-constitutional monarchy)
- Existed
- 1971–present
- Shown on the map
- 1973–2024
- Capital
- Abu Dhabi (largest city: Dubai)
- Peak area
- ~78,000–83,600 km²
- Region
- Middle East
Origins & rise
The UAE unites the former Trucial States, the shaykhdoms of the lower Gulf whose rulers signed maritime truces with Britain in 1820, 1853, and the Exclusive Agreements of 1892, becoming a British protectorate. For centuries the coast lived by pearling and maritime trade; the collapse of the pearl market in the 1930s brought poverty, relieved only when oil was struck offshore at Umm Shaif in 1958 and onshore at Murban in 1960, with exports from Abu Dhabi beginning in 1962. When Britain announced in January 1968 that it would withdraw "east of Suez" by the end of 1971, Abu Dhabi's ruler Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Dubai's Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum drove negotiations for a union. Bahrain and Qatar opted for separate independence, and Iran seized the Tunb islands and leased Abu Musa on the eve of statehood. On 2 December 1971 six emirates — Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, and Fujairah — proclaimed the United Arab Emirates; Ras Al Khaimah joined in early 1972. The UAE entered the Arab League on 6 December and the United Nations on 9 December 1971.
History & key rulers
Sheikh Zayed, the federation's founding president (1971–2004), channelled Abu Dhabi's oil revenues into federal infrastructure, education, and health, holding the union together through the 1970s oil boom, the Iran–Iraq War, and the 1991 Gulf War, in which the UAE joined the coalition against Iraq. The 1974 border agreement with Saudi Arabia settled the Buraimi dispute. Zayed was succeeded in Abu Dhabi and the presidency by Khalifa bin Zayed (2004–2022), while Dubai under the Maktoum family — Rashid, then Mohammed bin Rashid (ruler and UAE prime minister from 2006) — reinvented itself as a global hub of finance, aviation, tourism, and real estate. The UAE largely escaped the Arab Spring, though dozens of Al-Islah activists were jailed in 2012–13; it intervened in Libya (2011) and Yemen (2015), joined the 2017–21 boycott of Qatar, signed the Abraham Accords normalising ties with Israel in 2020, and sent the Hope probe to Mars in 2021. Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, long the federation's de facto strategist, became president in May 2022.
Government, religion & culture
The Federal Supreme Council of the seven hereditary rulers is the highest authority; the ruler of Abu Dhabi is customarily president and the ruler of Dubai vice-president and prime minister, with a partly indirectly elected Federal National Council since 2006. Islam is the state religion; Emirati citizens — only about 11–12% of the 11 million residents — are mostly Sunni Muslims, while the expatriate majority brings large Hindu, Christian, and other communities. The UAE combines conservative social codes with a relatively liberal, hyper-modern commercial culture centred on Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Peak & territory
The federation spans ~83,600 km² (peak map area ~78k km²), 87% of it Abu Dhabi, with the seventh-largest proven oil and gas reserves in the world; it continues to claim the Iranian-held islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs.
Present status & legacy
The UAE is the most diversified economy in the GCC and an assertive middle power — a BRICS member, global logistics and financial hub, and defence partner of the United States and France — though criticised for severe restrictions on expression, association, and migrant-labour rights.
Common questions
- What were the United Arab Emirates?
- The UAE unites the former Trucial States, the shaykhdoms of the lower Gulf whose rulers signed maritime truces with Britain in 1820, 1853, and the Exclusive Agreements of 1892, becoming a British protectorate. For centuries the coast lived by pearling and maritime trade; the collapse of the pearl market in the 1930s brought poverty, relieved only when oil was struck offshore at Umm Shaif in 1958 and onshore at Murban in 1960, with exports from Abu Dhabi beginning in 1962.
- When did the United Arab Emirates exist?
- The United Arab Emirates existed 1971–present. On this map they are drawn 1973–2024.
- What were the capital of the United Arab Emirates?
- The United Arab Emirates were ruled from Abu Dhabi (largest city: Dubai).
- How large were the United Arab Emirates at their height?
- The federation spans ~83,600 km² (peak map area ~78k km²), 87% of it Abu Dhabi, with the seventh-largest proven oil and gas reserves in the world; it continues to claim the Iranian-held islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs.
- Who ruled the United Arab Emirates?
- Sheikh Zayed, the federation's founding president (1971–2004), channelled Abu Dhabi's oil revenues into federal infrastructure, education, and health, holding the union together through the 1970s oil boom, the Iran–Iraq War, and the 1991 Gulf War, in which the UAE joined the coalition against Iraq. The 1974 border agreement with Saudi Arabia settled the Buraimi dispute.
- What is the present status of the United Arab Emirates?
- The UAE is the most diversified economy in the GCC and an assertive middle power — a BRICS member, global logistics and financial hub, and defence partner of the United States and France — though criticised for severe restrictions on expression, association, and migrant-labour rights.
- How were the United Arab Emirates governed?
- The Federal Supreme Council of the seven hereditary rulers is the highest authority; the ruler of Abu Dhabi is customarily president and the ruler of Dubai vice-president and prime minister, with a partly indirectly elected Federal National Council since 2006.
Sources
Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.
- Wikipedia — United Arab Emirates: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — United Arab Emirates: www.britannica.com/place/United-Arab-Emirates
This entry was written from the sources above and last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See the United Arab Emirates in their world
Open the atlas at 1999 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.
Open the map at 1999 →