The seven kings of the Gulf are Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Seven of them are members of the Arabian Peninsula and are also oil powers.
How big is it? Let's tell you so, these few are no longer God rewarding food, they are simply chasing them to feed food. Let's talk about the big brother Saudi Arabia, the world's second largest oil producer, the highest quality of crude oil in the world, and the development cost has been low to the dust, that is, lying at home to earn money.
The Six Kings of Qatar, since 2022, is estimated to be popular all over the world. People spent $220 billion to hold a World Cup, tickets can only cover a fraction of the cost, not at all to make money, rely on this thing to make money? Who to bury? People's oil and liquid natural gas can be described as inexhaustible.
Everyone is more familiar with the UAE, Dubai is an iconic city, and it is said that the people who pick up garbage there are millionaires. Some people have even ridiculed: drive a BBA car, don't go to the streets of Dubai to swagger, people think they are here to ask for food!
Of course, don't think that every king is rich, and the second king Yemen is the kind that doesn't mix well. No way, people are still fighting a civil war, war this thing, that is, wealth destroyer, no matter how much wealth you accumulate, as soon as you fight, it will all be finished!
So what kind of growth history do these seven kings have? We can take a look at the growth history of Wang Ye from a modern perspective.
First, carry the handle of Saudi Arabia, which was still poor in the thirties of the last century.
Ibn Saud is the founding father of Saudi Arabia, that is, the founder. This man's family is very good, and he has twice established the kingdom of the Saudi family in the Najd region, but unfortunately, both times it was destroyed.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Ibn Saud, who was less than 20 years old, led a few camels and began to start a business. His entrepreneurial process is still very legendary, in short, what tells us is that people start from scratch, all rely on ability, as for what transactions are behind the scenes, then we outsiders are not clear.
Obviously, this is a typical god-making plan! Therefore, several sons of Ibn Saud have had a king's addiction, and until now, the sixth king, King Salman Sold, is still the son of Ibn Saud, just ask you if the cow is not an ox!
In 1932, the two major Arabian peninsula regions of Najd and Hejaz were occupied by Ibn Saud, and since then he has established the famous Saudi Arabia. But at that time, Saudi Arabia was very poor, except for selling camels, there was basically no direct income.
Seeing that the surrounding neighbors discovered oil one by one, Ibn Saud could not hold back, invited many foreign experts, and finally found oil in 1938.
Since then, out of control, Saudi Arabia has finally lived a good life chasing after feeding food. Of course, in the process of discovering oil, the technicians of Laomei made great achievements, and since then Saudi Arabia and Laomei have become good friends.
In addition to oil, Saudi Arabia is proud of one more thing. That is, Mecca and Medina, the two holy cities of Islam, are in Saudi hands. This is a remarkable thing, as it seems that whoever owns the holy city is qualified to be the leader of the Arab world.
Today, millions of believers make pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina every year for a month or two. Food, clothing, housing and transportation, what kind of money must not be burned in Saudi Arabia? Therefore, people have already earned tears by relying on these pilgrims alone.
When life is better, another problem arises, that is, the poor combat effectiveness of the army. No way, what rich man is willing to send his son to the battlefield to risk? Therefore, the combat effectiveness of Saudi Arabia's army is notoriously poor in the world. In previous Middle East wars, Saudi Arabia could only watch live broadcasts with their hands in their pockets, and they had no ability to intervene.
Even if they buy a large number of the most advanced weapons from Lao Mei, they will not use them. Why? Because no one will! A modern Saudi force that can't even do a small guerrilla detachment in Yemen, shame on you?
Second, Yemen is old and miserable, and it is still fighting a civil war.
The second prince Yemen has fallen to the point of selling the title of wangye. With a GDP per capita of just $430 in 2021, they are among the least developed countries in the world. Based on this data, it is still averaged by a small number of rich people and a large number of poor people, which shows what kind of life the local people are living.
To be honest, Yemen is well located, right next to Saudi Arabia and Oman, with a long coastline. Guarding the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the entrance and exit to the Red Sea, and bordering the Gulf of Aden to the south, it is simply a treasure land on the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia dreamed of eating this piece of meat, but unfortunately the combat effectiveness was so poor that even the guerrillas could not do it.
In fact, Yemen's oil resources are also considerable, how can there be about 4 billion barrels, in addition to a large amount of natural gas. If these resources are really turned into tickets, then Yemen will definitely be rich! Why is Yemen in such a predicament?
Mainly because of the war.
First, in 1934, Britain forcefully partitioned Yemen.
Therefore, the British are bad to the bone, and they have divided all the countries that can be divided in the world for their own interests. Examples include India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. In fact, the situation in Yemen is the same.
In 1918, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, a bunch of states were created in the Arab world, and Yemen established its own kingdom. As a result, in 1934, the British took advantage of Yemen's bullying by the Saudis to force the Yemeni authorities to recognize the British occupation of southern Yemen. Since then, Yemen has formed two major forces, the North and the South. This is the root cause of all wars in Yemen.
Second, in 1963, the Aden crisis against the British colonizers.
In 1962, an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal movement broke out in North Yemen, overthrowing the Badr dynasty and establishing their own republic.
By 1963, southern Yemen could not stand British rule and a vigorous anti-British battle began to break out. This went on until 1967, when the British couldn't bear it and had to run and retreat.
Don't think that these two were so settled, they were in a state of internal turmoil for decades afterward. Several storytellers were assassinated, and for a time Yemeni informants became the most dangerous profession in the world.
Third, the civil war.
In fact, Yemen has always had civil wars, especially after the reunification of North and South Yemen in 1990. In 1994, the major forces in North and South Yemen fought for a while. In 2015, the Houthis and the Yemeni authorities fought for many more years, and they have not stopped until now.
They have been busy with war for decades and simply do not have time to develop the economy. This Wang Ye's title is really a bit out of place.
Third, Oman, the three kings are low-key and luxurious.
Oman has an area of 309,000 square kilometers, about the size of three Jiangsu provinces. But until 2021, they were only 4.49 million. Therefore, even if their oil reserves are not comparable to Saudi Arabia, they must be more than enough to feed such a small number of people. In 2021, Oman's per capita GDP reached $19,000, which is definitely the level of wealth.
However, Oman's history is also more bumpy, colonized by Portugal in the 16th century, and finally established its own kingdom in the 17th century, and then colonized by the British in the 19th century.
In 1920, with British intervention, Oman was also divided into two states. It was not until 1967 that unification was achieved. After driving out the British in 1973, Oman was focused on the economy. So Oman's economic level is far superior to that of Yemen next door.
The UAE, the Four Kings is a federal organization.
In fact, the UAE has a small territory, only 83,000 square kilometers, which is not as large as Jiangsu Province. Even so, the UAE is made up of 6 emirates. Its full name is United Arab Emirates.
Among them, the more familiar emirates are the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Emirate of Dubai. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi has the largest territory and the most resources, and is naturally the richest. As for Dubai, it is a tourist icon that embraces the world.
In the 18th century, it was under Oman's administration. In the 19th century, the British came, and the place belonged to the British. It was not until 1958 that oil was discovered in the UAE, which is the late discovery of oil in the Middle East. However, the UAE had not yet been established, so the mining rights belonged to the British.
It wasn't until 1968 that several emirates came together to form what is now the United Arab Emirates. It is worth mentioning that Qatar and Bahrain also joined the UAE that year, but perhaps they have been unfettered in their lives and love freedom, so they have withdrawn from the UAE and established their own independent state.
Fifth, Kuwait, the five kings are rich to the point of jealousy.
I remember when I was in school, my teacher told us that there is a country called Kuwait in the Middle East, and the local people lie at home all day without working, and they can receive thousands of dollars every month. The work of extracting oil in the fields does not need to be done by local people, and all of them go to Africa to hire workers.
Good guy, this can make everyone envious, let's say US dollars, even if it is a few thousand soft sister coins for white-collar workers every month, the taste is not daring to think ah!
Kuwait was so rich in the 90s of the last century! So much so that Iraq next door, after the Iran-Iraq war, owed Kuwait tens of billions of dollars. In order not to pay the money, Iraq found various excuses to launch a war to invade Kuwait, which then triggered the Gulf crisis.
As early as 1896, Kuwait, with the help of the British, broke away from the control of the Ottoman Empire and established its own kingdom. But at the same time fell into British colonization.
It was not until 1961 that Kuwait declared independence from British colonization. After that, he began to dig for oil and become a local tycoon. Until now, they were a monarchy.
Sixth, Qatar, the sixth king has always wanted to fly solo.
Qatar was actually very young, and in 1882, Qatar broke away from the Ottoman Empire and became a British colony. It was not until 1971 that Qatar declared its independence. You do the math, only now Qatar has lasted half a century.
However, Qatar's stamina is very strong, there is basically no turmoil in the country, and they have a lot of oil and gas, especially natural gas, to the point of being eye-catching. Therefore, when the polar bear announced that it would not give European gas, the royal family of Qatar almost bent over with laughter, after all, the opportunity came!
It is worth mentioning that the Qatari royal family is very good at business, and after having money, it invests in football, real estate, shopping malls, jewelry and other industries around the world, and what to earn money and do what, so the assets have doubled several times. Free medical care and free education for all the people are in place, so no one comes out to do things. In 2020, their per capita GDP reached $62,000!
Nowadays, Qatar is a little floating, feeling that it stands proudly among the Gulf countries and is the most developed of the 7 kings. Therefore, they must not only fly solo, but also replace Saudi Arabia as the boss. Of course, Saudi Arabia did not agree, so the two countries had a conflict for a long time.
7. Bahrain, the seven kings are small and capable.
Bahrain is also a monarchy, or the people are kings! But this place is too small, only less than 780 square kilometers, you read that right, there is no "ten thousand" character. Equivalent to a county in the country, right? It's a typical pocket country.
But Bahrain has money, that's also true, people are such a big country, feed 1.5 million people, the per capita GDP in 2021 has reached 26,000 US dollars, free medical care, free education is all available, do you say angry people?