The UAE is rich in oil and, although it lacks other natural resources, it expects recent additional economic diversification to draw more financial and banking firms.^{[citation needed]} It has become highly prosperous after gaining foreign direct investment funding in the 1970s. The country has a relatively high Human Development Index for the Asian continent.

Before 1971, the UAE were known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a nineteenth-century truce between Britain and several Arab Sheikhs. The name Pirate Coast has also been used in reference to the area's emirates in the 18th to early 20th century.^[1]

History

Main article: History of the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates was formed from the group of tribally organized Arabian Peninsula sheikhdoms along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf and the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Oman. The area accepted Islam in the 7th century; it was famous for being home to many companions of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

Later, portions of the nation came under the direct influence of the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century. Thereafter the region was known as the Pirate Coast, as raiders based there harassed the shipping industry, despite both European and Arab navies patrolling the area from the 17th century into the 19th century. British expeditions to protect the Indian trade from raiders at Ras al-Khaimah led to campaigns against that headquarters and other harbors along the coast in 1819. The next year, a peace treaty was signed to which all the sheikhs of the coast adhered. Raids continued intermittently until 1835, when the sheikhs agreed not to engage in hostilities at sea. In 1853, they signed a treaty with the United Kingdom, under which the sheikhs (the "Trucial Sheikhdoms") agreed to a "perpetual maritime truce." It was enforced by the United Kingdom, and disputes among sheikhs were referred to the British for settlement.

UAE Demographics

United Arab Emirates

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Contents

History