H.H. Sheikh Zayed Ben Sultan Al Nahyan
President of UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is by far the largest and richest of the seven Emirates. It
comprises 85% of the land mass of the UAE, including offshore islands,
and
has most of the oil (enough for 100 years at two million barrels a day).
Fortunatley for the less well-endowed Emirates, it has taken a generous
approach towards the development of the country as a whole. Abu Dhabi is
the capital city, both of the Emirate of the same name and of the UAE itself.
In the last quarter centurey, the city of Abu Dhabi
has changed beyond all recognition. In 1962,
when oil was first exported, the present capital
was no more than a fishing village with houses
made of mud-brick and barasti (palm fronds).
Now it is a totally modern skyscraper city.
Its history goes back to 1761 when, the legend goes, a group of tribesmen
pursuing a gazelle came upon a freshwater well, so they named it Abu
Dhabi, "Father (or Fatherland) of the Gazelle". In the 1790s the ruler
moved
his capital there, and built a fort around the well. This fort is one of
the few
clearly recognizable extant buildings from that era; it is now called Al
Husn
Palace, but it is also known as the "Old" or "White" Fort. This is now
home
to the Center of Documentation qnd Research, and has many exhibits of
interest to the tourist, including traditional artefacts and old photographs.
The city grew at an enormous rate in the 1970s
and is now growing again at an equally impressive
rate. The business area has a string of
skyscrapers that few European cities could match
and every piece of vacant land seems to be a
construction site. The Corniche is lined with
high-rise office buildings overlooking carefully
cultivated gardens with masses of colorful
flowers. The gardens and parks are not just for decoration: they are very
popular centers for recreation. Families meet on the grass of the Corniche
to
have picnics or to play games, especially at the weekends. Most people
live
in apartment blocks, and although they have very modern comfort, those
families with children appreciate this thoughtful urban planning. Locals
usually
live in villas, but as Abu Dhabi is an island with limited land space,
new
developments must mean high-rise buildings. The city center was marked
in
the past by the Old Clocktower, but this is now dwarfed by the 22 storey
tower of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Not surprisingly, the National Day celebrations are more
elaborate in the capital than anywhere else. Millions and
millions of green, red and white lightbulbs, the colors of
the national flag, are draped over all the main buildings,
along with portraits of the President and members of the
Supreme Council (The Rullers of the seven Emirates).
Arches festooned with garlands are built over the main
roads, and nationals gather outside palaces to perform
traditional dances and music.
The physical structures of the oil industry are equally awesome. ADNOC
(Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) has an imposing headquarters on the
Corniche, and has built its own township on the mainland. Far to the west,
the refinery at Ruwais is an extraordinary sight rising out of the bleak
desert,
The offshore oil rigs seem like invading giants when they come into port
of
repairs.
Yet Abu Dhabi is the diversifying away from a
dependence on oil to the development of a wide range of
industries. The success of this policy is seen in the range of
head offices of multinational companies in the prestigious
buildings of the main business area - Hamdan Street,
Zayed the First and Zayed the Second Streets, and the
Corniche. The Arab Monetary Fund is located here and
its gold-glassed headquarters is one of the grand sights on
the waterfront. To cater for the over-growing number of
visiting businessmen, most of the major hotel chains have
opened large hotels here. The recently completed Fort Grande on the
Corniche deserves special mention as it is the tallest building in the
Middle
East (1995). The main shopping streets bustle with establishments of all
descriptions selling goods from around the world. Increasingly the focus
is
on modern, up-market products from the Far East (especially Japan),
Europe and America. There are many specialist boutiques selling designer
cloths and jewellery. Air-conditioned plazas are the latest addition to
the
commercial scene.
The suqs manage to comBene the old with the
new. The fish suq is probably the truest to
tradition, offering the 100 plus varieties of fish that
are cought locally. The fruit and vegetable market
sells a wide range of locally grown and imported
products (though an everwider range of foodstuffs
is locally grown). Ornments featuring age-old designs are displayed in
the
gold suq, which is at the same time a world-class gold market. Gold is
sold
by weight at current world prices, and every little extra is charged for
the
design. Europeans go for the 18 carat (which can hold a design for a long
time), Arabs prefer 21 carat, and the Indians buy the very soft 25 carat
gold.
The new handicrafts market is for tourists, and includes some very beautiful
and exotic products, such as the heavily decorated khanjar curved daggers,
swords, ceremonial and otherwise, and even old Martini-Henry rifles.
Abu Dhabi International Airport is moving into the
front rank of world airports. It has a futuristic
design based on hubs spreading out from a
central area, which houses, among other things,
very competitive duty-free shops. Travellers can
also buy tickets for lotteries with fabulous prizes -
from Ferrari cars to apartments in London.
Apart from its modernity, the most striking feature of Abu Dhabi is its
lushness. The municipality has spent a fortune and hired an army of labourers
to turn this desert city into a garden. The visitor sees greenery all the
way
along thirty-minute drive from the airport. In the heat of the summer,
especially, one realizes what a major achievement this is, as every tree
and
lawn and plant has to be watered continuously by a massive irrigation
system. There are so many parks and gardens that, on the western side of
the city in particular, it is possible to go for long walks without leaving
the
grass. New species of grass and bushes have been developed to cope with
the harsh conditions. These new grasses continue to look good in blazing
sunshine, even though they grow in soil which is mostly sand. Every park
is
like a botanical garden, full of fascinating plants.
Despite,
or perhaps because of, the
breathtaking rate of development, the
indigenous people of the Emirate of Abu
Dhabi remain conservative. They attach
the greatest value to keeping alive their
traditional values and customs. Any
visitor wanting to see the real Abu Dhabi
would be well advised to attend a traditional function such as a wedding
or
an Eid celebration (Islamic festival). On such occasions it is possible
to
witness traditional Arab dancing. The men perform a slow, rhythmic dance,
waving swords in the air. The young girls dance standing in a row and
swishing their very long hair from side to side. Poetry is also recited
and
musicians play drums, goatskin bagpipes, ouds (a kind of lute) and Arab
flutes.
The
handicrafts traditionally produced by women are displayed on these
festive occasions. They can also be seen throughout the year at the women's
Handicraft Center in Airport Road (one of the main thoroughfares of the
city), and they can be purchased in tourist shops. Most of these crafts
are
based on fabrics: intricately embroidered cloths, coverings for furniture
or
decorative pieces that are simply designed to be hung on the wall. Some
of
the finest designs are in as Arab lace called telli.