Saudi Arabia, the full name of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is located in the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia, bordering Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan and other countries, with a total area of about 2.25 million square kilometers.
Saudi Arabia is a vast and resource-rich country, the most important resources are oil and gas. According to data, Saudi Arabia's proven oil reserves are 297.6 billion barrels, equivalent to 17% of the world's reserves, and the proven natural gas reserves are about 9.4 trillion cubic meters, equivalent to 4.6% of the world's reserves.
Saudi Arabia used to be an agricultural and pastoral country with a very backward economy, but since the discovery of oil and gas resources, with the export of resources, it has become a world-famous rich country and is known as the oil kingdom.
As the main Arab countries in West Asia, many neighboring Arab countries naturally want to maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia, such as the United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates, full name of the United Arab Emirates, is a federal state composed of six emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah, um Al Quwain and Ajman.
Among the six emirates of the UAE, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is the strongest, so Abu Dhabi enjoys the greatest say in the UAE. But before the establishment of the UAE, there were territorial disputes between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, and relations were not good. After the establishment of the UAE in 1971, the UAE began to resolve the territorial dispute in order to improve relations with Saudi Arabia, and by 1974, the problem was finally resolved by exchanging land.
Relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE have improved with the settlement of the territorial issue, but this territorial exchange involves a third country. The country is called Qatar, located on the Qatar Peninsula in the southwest of the Persian Gulf, with a total area of about 11,500 square kilometers.
Before the exchange of land between Saudi Arabia and the UAE in 1974, Qatar had two neighboring countries, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. As can be seen from many world maps, the UAE originally bordered Qatar. But after the exchange of land between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia became Qatar's only neighbor. So what's going on here?
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar were all Arab countries, and in the era of the Arab Empire, all three countries were part of the Arab Empire. However, after the fall of the Arab Empire, a large number of emirates were formed in West Asia, and the borders of each emirate were very vague and were not determined by treaty.
In the modern era, with the formation of the concept of statehood, two disputed areas arose between Saudi Arabia and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The first disputed area is located in the eastern UAE, near Oman and away from the Saudi and UAE borders. This land is called the Braymi Oasis, which is a land with abundant water and resources.
The climate of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is similar, both are dominated by tropical desert climate, arid climate, scarce precipitation, large areas of land in the territory are covered by desert, so the oasis area is very precious and is the main population settlement. The Buraimi Oasis was historically ruled by the Saudi family, and in the colonial era, the British controlled Abu Dhabi and other emirates, and with the support of the British, Abu Dhabi took ownership of the Buraimi Oasis and immigrated in large numbers, and by the mid-20th century, the main inhabitants of the Buraimi Oasis had become Abu Dhabins, but the Saudis did not give up their claims to the land.
The second disputed area is located along the border between Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Saudi Arabia borders the Persian Gulf to the north, but during British rule in Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi and Qatar bordered, and Saudi Arabia did not border the eastern waters of Qatar. In order to gain access to the Persian Gulf in eastern Qatar, Saudi Arabia has long hoped for this coastal land.
In 1971, Britain withdrew from the Persian Gulf, Abu Dhabi and other emirates formed the United Arab Emirates, and border negotiations began to improve relations with Saudi Arabia. During the negotiations, Saudi Arabia insisted on recovering the Buraimi oasis, but this land is located in the UAE, and the main body is Emiratis, once it is recovered by Saudi Arabia, it will become a Saudi enclave in the UAE, so the UAE did not agree in any way, resulting in a stalemate in the negotiations. Finally, after a long and difficult period of negotiations, in 1974, Saudi Arabia paid an inland desert area and gave up its claim to the Buraimi oasis in exchange for coastal land in eastern Qatar. In this way, Saudi Arabia and the UAE settled the dispute by exchanging land, and Saudi Arabia became Qatar's only neighbor.