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Article: Abu Dhabi.
- Article from:
- The American Journal of Economics and Sociology
- Article date:
- December 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ROBERT V. ANDELSON [*]
PRIOR TO THE commencement of oil production in 1962, Abu Dhabi was one of seven impecunious desert sheikhdoms known collectively as Trucial Oman or the Trucial States, the others being
Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah, and Fujairah. Aside from Dubai City, a trading center which was then by far the largest town, they subsisted primarily on date production, fishing, pearling, and, for some centuries, piracy. (At one time, they were frequently referred to as "the Pirate Coast.") Their population was sparse, consisting, as late as 1965, of no more than about 86,000 altogether. [1] (Since then, they have experienced ...