Abu Dhabi city: A short introduction

Swanky skyscrapers blur past me. I have not been able to take my eyes off them since arriving in the city of Abu Dhabi. Be it the highrises, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque or the Emirates Palace, the modern desert city’s architectural marvels just keep on getting better. Date palm trees, growing from the aesthetically pleasing dividers at recurring intervals, shade the broad roads—who would guess that a few decades back most of the locals were sand dwellers.

The city of Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a young island city by the Persian Gulf connected with the mainland by three bridges. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi farther extends inland into the Arabian Peninsula. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, former ruler of Abu Dhabi Emirate, founded UAE in 1971 by uniting six Emirates—Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain. In 1972, Ras Al Khaimah also joined, thus giving shape to the present-day UAE. In the monarchy, Islam is the official religion and Arabic is the official language.

The past

Being close to the cradle of humanity (Africa) it is not surprising that human settlements in the region have been traced back to more than a hundred thousand years ago. Subsequently, civilizations developed and trade was conducted regularly with Mesopotamia and Harrapa. Over time, Islam found its way into the region.

In order to control piracy in the Persion Gulf and to protect its vessels to/from its colony in India, the British came to this region. They called the cluster of independent tribal sheikhdoms, the Trucial States. Before the discovery of oil and natural gas, people here led a tribal life in the harsh climate. Some dwelled on the coast and lived on pearl fishing, others pitched temporary tents in the desert, fought over rare water wells against rival tribes, raided cattle of other tribesmen and hunted gazelles and other desert fauna. Most of them were nomadic.

The British signed a treaty with them assuring protection from foreign invasion in exchange of enjoying some rights in the Trucial States. Trade with British India bumped up. Indian currency was used in abundance. Spices, rice, gold and ideas were traded. Arabian pearls found its largest market in the Indian subcontinent. However, the Arabian pearl market collapsed with the invention of Japanese cultured pearls.

When the British left, oil wells had already been discovered. In the greater interest of protecting the reserves, the independent sheikhdoms agreed amongst themselves to co-operate and form countries.

The city of Abu Dhabi now

Abu Dhabi island is a part (most important part) of the Abu Dhabi city which in turn is a part of the Abu Dhabi Emirate. Abu Dhabi city also includes several other islands like Reem, Saadiyat and Yas. The city of Abu Dhabi that we see today is the fruition of Sheikh Zayed’s vision. He invested the revenue from the oil trade into building an excellent city with plenty of fresh water and gardens. Desalinization plants to purify seawater and make it fit for human consumption and irrigation solved the water scarcity.

Roads and infrastructure were constructed. He placed systems in place to make everyone literate (including free higher education in international colleges of choice), provide free healthcare, free housing and fixed sums of money to every married men, and never taxed the citizens’ income. These free houses are luxurious but similar in appearances and designs. The richer citizens often prefer renting them out and constructing opulent unique villas for themselves. Many women in modern Abu Dhabi are salaried, working in 9-5 jobs.

The locals of the Emirates are private people. Sharia law is largely followed and apostasy is punishable by death. Not surprisingly, the philosophies and the functioning of the country and the individual Emirates have hardly any similarities with those of the democracies.

Out of the approximate 3.23 million people living in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, less than 20 percent are citizens, the rest are all expats. Foreign women marrying an Emirati man is eligible to get citizenship after a long wait, but there is no way for expats living in the country to get citizenship; even kids born in Abu Dhabi to expat couples are not eligible.

Don’t be swayed by the multi-millionaire builders and hospitality chains erecting sophisticated buildings in Abu Dhabi –unless they are citizens they cannot own properties on the island of Abu Dhabi, they can only rent. However, this rule doesn’t hold on the other islands like Saadiyat, Yas and Reem.

You can only appreciate the true glamour of the city once you dig deep into the people’s past. Toughened by the desert, the Bedouins could go without food and water for two-three days while trekking in the sand. They drank water from goatskin containers, stored butter in lizard-skins, and when guests arrived (even strangers), the Bedouins often offered them all the food that they had and starved themselves. If you are sincerely interested, I advise you to read the book Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger.

Okay, now that you know a bit about the city, people and country, you are ready to read my other posts on Abu Dhabi.

P.S : To watch my Abu Dhabi travel vlogs on Youtube please click here.

Did these facts about Abu Dhabi city surprise you? Are you an Emirati? If yes, please feel free to post more information about your culture in the comments below!

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Disclaimer: Tania was hosted by Abu Dhabi Tourism Board. All thoughts and opinions expressed in the post are of her own.

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