United Arab Emirates


Figure 1.--This Dubai boy wears what looks like a turban, although we are not sure that is the correct term in Arabic. Turbans are also worn in South Asia. We have not researched the history of the turban yet.

Arabs tend to view history with the rise of Islam which began after Mohammed seized Mecca (630 AD). The location of the Arabian Peninsula between Europe and the Far East conveyed great importance in terms of trade. Goods coveted by the Europeans from China, the Spice Island and India until the European maitime outburst passed throufg Arabia. This gave the Arans a huge trading advantage. With the decline of the Caliphate, the Turks exerted increasing influence, eventially seizing the Arab Lands. At the same time, the Europeans rounded the cape of Good Hope and defeated Arab sea power in the Indian Ocean (16th century). The Bedouin remained in control of the sandy desert interior, but the change in trade flows made the Arab lands a cultural and economic backwater. The bedouin seized control of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but without the previous lucrative trade flows they were poor centers compared to the days when trade fom the East flowed through them. The British in an effort to stop the Indian Ocean slave trade and to safegard the Suez Canal signed treaties with the various emirates. The area became known as 'The Trucial States'. The Emirates agreed with some reluctane end the slave trade and not to dispose of any territory except to the British. They also agreed not to negotiate any agreement with any foreign government other than the Britain without its consent. The British in return promised to protect the Emirates from foreign attack. The Emirates were some of the poorest communities in the world. Technology was virtually unchanged from medieval times. The pearling industry was a rare economic success, but hurt by the Great Depression (1930s) and the Japanese developmnt of a culture pearl industry. The population was semi-nomadic, pearling in the summer and gardening in the winter. The economic situation began to change when Western oil companies initiated geological surveys. Crude oil exports began (1962). We have little information on the clothes worn in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We note boys commonly wearing traditional styles. We do have one image of a Dubai boy wearing destinctive headgear, which I assume is called a turban (figure 1). Here I am not sure as we have not yet done much work on Arab garments. We have no other information on the UAE, except some limited information about the Scouting movement there.

Geography

The emirates now comprising the UAE Federation ara a varied environment of rocky desert, coastal plains, and wetlands, along with waterless mountains. The seashore is a noted flyway nd rest area for migratory waterfowl. The Arid coast means there are few predoors. This draws birders from all over the world. The unspoiled beaches are today the location of opulent resorts which also draw international tourists. The modern United Arab Emirates, federation of seven once independent emirates set along the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in th Persian Gulf. The largest of these emirates is Abū Ẓaby (Abu Dhabi). It is more than three-fourths of the Federation’s total land area. It is the centr of the UAE's important oil industry and borders Saudi Arabia on the Federation’s southern and eastern borders. The port city of Dubai, located at the base of the mountainous Musandam Peninsula, is the capital of the emirate of Dubayy (Dubai). It is one of the region’s most important commercial and financial centres Dubai is a modrn marvel, entirely the creation of the oil indidtry. The hundreds of multinational corporations have created a forest of shiny glass skyscrapers. The smaller emirates of Al-Shāriqah (Sharjah), ʿAjmān, Umm al-Qaywayn, and Raʾs al-Khaymah also occupy the peninsula, whose is a substntioal protrusion north toward Iran and forms the Strait of Hormuz connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. The Federation’s seventh emirate, Al-Fujayrah, faces the Gulf of Oman and is the only UAE member with no Persian Gulf coatline.

History

The emirates were located at a historic and geographic crossroads. As a result they came to be made up of diverse nationalities and ethnic groups. As a result, the United Arab Emirates today are a fascinating blend of ancient customs and modern technology, of cosmopolitanism and insularity, and of wealth and poverty. The modern building today house a people was stiill share many traditionl beliefs. The are not as medieval as the twp regional giants they are sanwiched between (Iran and Saufi Arabia), but the bulk of the population is far from a modern outlook. Arabs tend to view history with the rise of Islam which began after Mohammed seized Mecca (630 AD). The British in an effort to stop the Indian Ocean slave trade and to safegard the Suez Canal signed treaties with the various emirates. The area became known as 'The Trucial States'. The Emirates agreed with some reluctane end the slave trade and not to dispose of any territory except to the British. They also agreed not to negotiate any agreement with any foreign government other than the Britain without its consent. The British in return promised to protect the Emirates from foreign attack. The modernization of the UAE began with the founding of an oil indutry after World War II. The rapid pace of modernization of the emirates according to obe source, "The condition of Abu Dhabi was so evidently mint that it would not have been surprising to see adhering to the buildings bits of straw and polystyrene from the crates in which they had been packed.” [Raban]

Economy

The location of the Arabian Peninsula between Europe and the Far East conveyed great importance in terms of trade. Goods coveted by the Europeans from China, the Spice Island and India until the European maitime outburst passed throufg Arabia. This gave the Arabs a huge trading advantage. With the decline of the Caliphate, the Turks exerted increasing influence, eventially seizing the Arab Lands. At the same time, the Europeans rounded the cape of Good Hope and defeated Arab sea power in the Indian Ocean (16th century). The Bedouin remained in control of the sandy desert interior, but the change in trade flows made the Arab lands a cultural and economic backwater. The bedouin seized control of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but without the previous lucrative trade flows they were poor centers compared to the days when trade fom the East flowed through them. The Emirates were some of the poorest communities in the world. Technology was virtually unchanged from medieval times. The pearling industry was a rare economic success, but hurt by the Great Depression (1930s) and the Japanese developmnt of a culture pearl industry. The economic situation began to change when Western oil companies initiated geological surveys. Crude oil exports began (1962). As a result of the oil, the UAE economy is the second largest Arab economies after Saudi Arabia, The UAE like Saudi Arabia has been sattempting to diversifying the economy. The UAE has made some success, but the diversified sectors are almost all dependent on the huge oil resenue. Sectors like agriculture, construction, finance, manufacturing, and others are all financed by the oil income. More than 85 percent (2009). The situation is today little changed. While Abu Dhabi and other UAE emirates have remained relatively conservative in their cultural outlook. Dubai, which has few oil reserves of their own, has been more aggresive in its diversification efforts. Tourism is the only inportant economic sector not linked to the oil revenue.

Demographics

The population was semi-nomadic, pearling in the summer and gardening in the winter.

Garments

We have little information on the clothes worn in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We note boys commonly wearing traditional styles. We do have one image of a Dubai boy wearing destinctive headgear, which I assume is called a turban (figure 1). Here we are not sure as we have not yet done much work on Arab garments.

Religion


Activities

We have no other information on the UAE, except some limited information about the Scouting movement there. Scouting was an inheritance of the British colonial period.

Sources

Raban, Jonathan.







HBC







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Created: 3:05 PM 9/9/2004
Last updated: 10:17 PM 6/16/2017