Abu Dhabi

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Lore & Background

The area surrounding Abu Dhabi abounds in archaeological evidence from historical civilisations, such as the Umm Al Nar Culture, which dates back to the third millennium BC. The Bani Yas tribe, from which the Al Nahyan family are drawn, was originally settled in the Liwa Oasis. In 1761, the discovery of fresh water by a hunting party led by Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa Al Nahyan near the coast saw a settlement established there. A popular story is that the hunters were pursuing a gazelle, hence the name 'Abu Dhabi', meaning 'Father of Gazelle'. The pearl diving business was a key industry prior to the discovery of oil reserves. The pearl industry boomed from the late 19th century through to the second decade of the 20th century. In the 19th century, treaties between Great Britain and the sheikhs of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf made Britain the predominant influence in the area. Following their withdrawal from India in 1947, the British maintained their influence in Abu Dhabi as interest in the oil potential of the Persian Gulf grew. On January 11, 1939, Petroleum Development Trucial Coast Ltd entered into a concession agreement with the ruler, Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to explore for oil. In 1958, oil was discovered in the Umm Shaif field, followed in 1959 by an onshore discovery well at Murban No.3. Perceived mismanagement of the emirate's oil revenues led to the British backing a bloodless coup by Shakhbut's younger brother Zayed Al Nahyan on August 6, 1966. On December 2, 1971, Abu Dhabi, along with five other emirates, formed the United Arab Emirates.

Reader's Guide

Abu Dhabi's significance lies in its role as the political and economic capital of the United Arab Emirates. It houses the UAE's president, a member of the Al Nahyan family, and the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs. The city's rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with massive oil and gas reserves and relatively high average income, have transformed it into a large, developed metropolis. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, headquartered in the city, is estimated to manage approximately US$1 trillion in assets, making it the world's third-largest sovereign wealth fund. Abu Dhabi accounts for about two-thirds of the roughly $503 billion UAE economy, underscoring its central role in the nation's wealth. The city's legacy is also tied to the discovery of oil in the mid-20th century, which shifted its economy from pearling to petroleum, and to the formation of the UAE in 1971 under Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Geographically, Abu Dhabi is located on an island in the Persian Gulf, connected to the mainland by several bridges, and its waters hold the world's largest population of Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins.

Did You Know?

• Abu Dhabi's name means 'Father of Gazelle' in Arabic, from a story about hunters tracking a gazelle in 1761.
• The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is estimated to manage approximately US$1 trillion in assets, the world's third-largest sovereign wealth fund.
• Pearl divers in the Persian Gulf historically dove for one to three minutes at a time, up to thirty times per day, without any mechanical breathing apparatus.
• Oil was first discovered offshore in the Umm Shaif field in 1958 at a depth of about 2,669 metres.
• Abu Dhabi's waters hold the world's largest population of Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins.

A Name Born of the Hunt

The name Abu Dhabi translates from Arabic as "Father of Gazelle," a phrase rooted in a popular account of the settlement's founding. In 1761, a hunting party led by Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa Al Nahyan stumbled upon fresh water near the coast while, according to tradition, tracking a gazelle. The Al Bu Falah subsection of the Bani Yas tribe — a large confederation of more than twenty clans originally based in the Liwa Oasis — were the first to plant a permanent camp at that spot. What began as a modest fort surrounded by just twenty dwellings swelled to roughly four hundred houses within only two years. That original fort, Qasr Al Hosn, still anchors the heart of the modern city. Long before the Al Nahyan arrived, the broader region already bore the fingerprints of ancient civilisation; archaeological traces of the Umm Al Nar Culture, dating to the third millennium BC, have been uncovered across the emirate's eastern and western reaches, reminding visitors that the land beneath the gleaming skyline was inhabited millennia before the first pearl diver ever slipped beneath the Gulf's surface.

From Pearl Shells to Black Gold

For roughly seven thousand years, the Persian Gulf's waters sustained a pearl trade that peaked commercially between the late nineteenth century and the early 1900s. Divers, working without any mechanical breathing apparatus, plunged to the seabed for one to three minutes at a time, sometimes repeating the descent up to thirty times in a single day. They protected their noses with leather clips and shielded their fingers and big toes with leather wraps while searching for oysters, and rather than receiving a daily wage they were paid a share of the season's total catch. As that industry waned in the 1930s, attention shifted to subterranean wealth. A 1936 concession granted to Petroleum Development Trucial Coast Ltd was followed by a seventy-five-year agreement in 1939. Onshore discovery at Murban followed the next year, and the Bu Hasa and Lower Zakum fields were brought online by 1963. The sudden flood of revenue also reshaped politics: in August 1966, a bloodless British-backed coup installed Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan as ruler, setting the stage for the modern state.

The Political and Financial Heart of the Gulf

Abu Dhabi serves as the capital of both the United Arab Emirates and its largest emirate, housing the offices of the federal government, the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs, and the president of the UAE, a member of the Al Nahyan family. The city's economic gravity is staggering: the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, headquartered here, is estimated to manage approximately one trillion US dollars in assets, ranking it as the world's third-largest sovereign wealth fund behind Norway's Government Pension Fund Global and China's CIC. In total, sovereign wealth funds based in the city oversee well over a trillion dollars in combined assets. Abu Dhabi accounts for roughly two-thirds of the UAE's approximately 503-billion-dollar economy, making it the nation's undisputed centre of politics, industry, culture, and commerce. With an urban population estimated at 2.5 million in 2023 — out of 3.8 million across the wider emirate — it is the country's second-most populous city after Dubai, a metropolis whose scale and wealth are anchored in the massive oil and gas reserves that transformed a small coastal settlement into a global economic powerhouse.

An Island Metropolis Shaped by the Gulf

Abu Dhabi occupies a distinctive T-shaped island in the Persian Gulf, jutting out from the central-western coast of the UAE. The island sits less than 250 metres from the mainland and is linked to it by the Maqta and Mussafah Bridges, while a third crossing — the Sheikh Zayed Bridge, designed by Zaha Hadid and opened in late 2010 — adds a sweeping architectural statement to the skyline. Most of the city's population and the broader emirate actually reside on the mainland, which connects the island to the rest of the country. On December 2, 1971, this very city, together with five other emirates, gave birth to the United Arab Emirates, establishing a federal government and appointing Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as the nation's first president. Driven by rapid urbanisation, enormous hydrocarbon reserves, and relatively high average incomes, the settlement that once consisted of a fort and a few hundred houses has been reshaped into a large, modern metropolis — a place where the ancient rhythms of the Gulf meet the pace of a twenty-first-century capital.

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