United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven sheikdoms bordering on Oman and Saudi Arabia, and occupying a strategic position in the Arabian Gulf. Prior to the discovery of oil in the 1960s, these sheikdoms were home to impoverished tribes who subsisted on fishing, herding and pearling. Britain's involvement in the region came about through the economic interests of the British East India Company, the protection of the overland route to the Indian Empire, and the role of the Royal Navy in the suppression of the slave trade. This relationship developed through a series of treaties and engagements with the local sheikhs, and the area became known as the Trucial States. Following Britain's withdrawal from the Gulf in 1971, the seven emirates came together to form the United Arab Emirates. Oil has been the driving force behind the economic success of the federation and this has expanded into an important natural gas and petrochemical industry.
However, large-scale development following the oil boom and the price rises of 1973-74 led to a huge demand for migrant labour, which caused the indigenous population to become a minority in their own state, and resulted in various pressures on the federation's infrastructure. At the outset many analysts were pessimistic about the future of the new state but it has now survived for over 20 years and, despite a number of problems with internal relations, economic downturns, and a reliance on migrant labour, it continues to prosper.