The slogan "A piece of cloth on my head, I am the richest in the world" spread all over the Internet some time ago, and this sentence describes all countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates.
Many people don't know that the UAE, which ranks among the world's largest GDP, was about 100 years ago, without high-rise buildings and neon lights, when the UAE was still a simple and dilapidated fishing village, and people relied on the sea for food.
So how did the UAE transform its dilapidated fishing villages into what they are today? And how did they become the "second brother of the Middle East"?
Unification of "small fishing villages"
In the 16th century, the UAE was occupied by France, the Netherlands and other countries, and in the early 19th century, it was forcibly occupied by the British.
At that time, the UAE was not yet a unified country, but several small countries that had to be reduced to British "protectorates" in order to survive, and the British collectively referred to these small countries as "Trusil Oman".
The UAE is squeezed by the United Kingdom and is not allowed to interact with other countries except with the United Kingdom.
The geographical location of the UAE is actually very good, there is a sea, which means a port, which can allow large ships or warships to dock. However, at that time, the UAE was subject to the British and could not develop at all, so the locals were very poor.
The total area of the UAE is only 82,600 square kilometers, which is not as large as Chongqing, but more than half of the country is desert, which limits the development of the UAE.
In order to make a living, the locals mostly crowded into oases and seashores, making money by grazing, fishing, and pearl fishing, gradually forming a small fishing village with seven tribes. At the beginning of the 20th century, the tribe of Dubai developed relatively well, becoming a center of pearl trade, but the economic outlook remained unpromising.
In 1971, the British terminated the protection treaty with the UAE and left the land. After the British left, the survival of the small local tribes became the most urgent issue.
At this time, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Fujairah, um Al Quwain, Ajman and Sharjah decided to form a federal state, and in 1972, Ras Al Khaimah joined the federal state, and the "UAE" was officially established.
Although the country was established, the situation of economic and military backwardness has not changed, and many people still live in simple houses, go to sea every day to fish, or pearl hunting to make a living.
So how did the UAE solve this problem and become the second brother in the Middle East?
The counterattack of the "small fishing village".
France and Britain invaded the UAE to expand its territory and to sell its oil.
In 1929, the British established an oil operation company in Abu Dhabi. A few years later, the news of the discovery of oil off the coast of the UAE spread, and as more and more oil fields were discovered in the UAE, the UAE became the "fat meat" in the eyes of many countries.
In 1960, the UAE began to extract oil under British control, and in 1962, the first crude oil exports from the UAE marked oil as the main export commodity of the UAE.
But these things had nothing to do with the UAE at that time, most of the money went into the pockets of the British, and the locals were still very poor, either fishing or grazing for a living.
It wasn't until the UAE was established that this changed.
In 1971, the UAE established the General Oil Company and proposed to gradually nationalize foreign oil companies. From this point on, the main task of the UAE was to extract oil.
It took only 10 years for the UAE to nationalize its oil industry, and all previous foreign oil companies were returned to the UAE. The UAE has grown its domestic economy 25-fold thanks to oil revenues.
In 1977 alone, the UAE produced 2 million barrels of oil per day, and its oil revenues reached $9.6 billion, and by 1980, the average annual income per capita in the UAE had reached $26,300.
The success of the UAE's counterattack is inseparable from the help of the rise in international oil prices that year, but if the price of oil rises, there will definitely fall, and how can the UAE keep the wealth in hand?
When oil prices fell, production in the UAE also decreased, and the oil industry inevitably suffered.
But at this time, the UAE's proven oil reserves are growing rapidly. For example, in 1985, the proven reserves were 4.5 billion tons, and in 1986 they became 13.3 billion tons. The UAE faces a dilemma, whether to extract new oil?
International oil prices have fallen, the UAE has seen overcapacity, many factories have been shut down, and some companies have even laid off employees, and the country's economy has been affected. If the UAE fails to solve this dilemma, then the UAE may find itself in economic trouble.
In response, the UAE has decided to reform the management of the oil industry and promulgated a series of new policies to improve the situation and ensure that the UAE survives the economic crisis relatively smoothly.
So has the UAE become the "second brother of the Middle East"?
The second brother in the Middle East
The United States made its fortune on war, and looking at all countries in the world, except for some countries, the history of the fortune of many countries is inseparable from war. The same goes for the UAE.
When the Gulf War broke out in 1990, Iran and other countries were either in a turbulent situation or had just come out of the war, and there was no time to extract oil to supply countries around the world.
The UAE seized the opportunity and made a lot of money by exporting a lot of oil. It is reported that during the Gulf crisis, the UAE's oil production was 2.4 million barrels per day, and the annual output exceeded 100 million tons, and since then, the UAE's annual oil production has remained at about 100 million tons.
At this time, although the UAE was not affected by the Gulf War, they were affected by the financial crisis. Several major oil majors reached an agreement to "cut production and raise oil prices", and the UAE once again survived the crisis.
When the economy picked up, the price of oil rose again, and 1 barrel of oil was sold for $26. In September 2000, one barrel of oil was sold for $35-40.
In general, in the 90s of the last century, the UAE earned more, although it reduced its daily production of oil. has also become the "second brother of the Middle East."
At present, the UAE has proven oil reserves of about 15 billion tons and natural gas reserves of 7.7 trillion cubic meters, ranking sixth in the world.
But after all, oil is a non-renewable resource, and the UAE cannot live on oil all the time, and it is reported that Dubai's oil resources have been exhausted and can be exploited for another 20 years at most, and Abu Dhabi's oil production can be reproduced for up to another 120 years. In the long run, it is not advisable to use oil as the main economic support.
Therefore, in recent years, the UAE has also explored a new path of development, they have joined the mainland's "Belt and Road", and also vigorously developed tourism and other industries, hoping that they can find a new way to get rich.
Resources:
[1] Journal of Xi'an Shiyou University (Social Science Edition), "A Brief History of the Development of the Petroleum Industry in the United Arab Emirates", 20190805
[2] Xinhua News Agency, "The United Arab Emirates: From a Desert Fishing Village to a Global City, Exploring Dubai's "Development Code"" 20240426