Abu Dhabi

This article is about the city. For the emirate, see AbuDhabi (emirate).

Abu Dhabi (US /ˈɑːbuːˈdɑːbi/, UK /ˈæbuːˈdɑːbi/;

Aerial view of Abu Dhabi on the coast of the Persian Gulf

Arabic: ظبي Abū أبو Ẓabī Emirati pronunciation[ɐbuˈðˤɑbi])[3] is the capital and the second mostpopulous city in the United Arab Emirates, and alsocapital of Abu Dhabi emirate, the largest of the UAE’sseven member emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shapedisland jutting into the Persian Gulf from the centralwestern coast. The city proper had a population of921,000 in 2013.[4]

Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seatof the United Arab Emirates Government, home to theAbu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE,who is from this family. Abu Dhabi has grown to bea cosmopolitan metropolis. Its rapid development andurbanisation, coupled with the relatively high average in-come of its population, has transformed Abu Dhabi toa larger and advanced metropolis. Today the city is thecountry’s center of political and industrial activities, anda major cultural and commercial centre, due to its posi-tion as the capital. Abu Dhabi accounts for about two-thirds of the roughly $400 billion United Arab Emirateseconomy.[5]

Abu Dhabi is home to important financial institutionssuch as the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the CentralBank of the United Arab Emirates and the corpo-rate headquarters of many companies and numerousmultinational corporations. One of the world’s largestproducers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to di-versify its economy in recent years through investmentsin financial services and tourism.Abu Dhabi is the fourth most expensive city for expatriate

employees in the region, and in 2014 was the 68th mostexpensive big city in the world.[6] Fortune magazine andCNN stated in 2007 that Abu Dhabi is the richest city inthe world, having been between $800 billion to approx-imately $875 billion USD. The Sovereign Wealth FundInstitute puts the figure at US$773 billion .[7]

1 History

1.1 Early civilizations

Abu Dhabi is full of archeological evidence that pointsto civilizations, such as the Umm an-Nar Culture, havingbeen located there from the third millennium BC. Set-tlements were also found further outside the modern cityof Abu Dhabi but closer to the modern city of Al Ain.There is evidence of civilizations around the mountain ofHafeet (Jebel Hafeet). This location is very strategic be-cause it is the UAE’s second tallest mountain, so it wouldhave great visibility. It also contains a lot of moisture inits springs and lakes, which means that there would havebeen more moisture thousands of years ago.[8]

1.2 Origin of the name Abu Dhabi

The origin of the name “Abu Dhabi” is uncertain. Mean-ing “Father of the Gazelle”, when literally translated fromArabic, it probably referred to the few gazelles that in-habit the emirate. According to Bilal al-Budoor, assistantunder-secretary for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry ofCulture, Youth and Community Development, “The areahad a lot of dhibaa [deer (plural)], and was nicknamedafter that.” An old story tells about a man who used tochase deer [dhabi (deer - singular)] and was named the“father” of the animal. Abu Dhabi’s original name wasMilh “salt”, possibly referring to the salty water of thePersian Gulf, or the ancient salt marshes that surround thecity. Some Bedouins called the city Umm Dhabi (motherof deer), while British records refer to the place as AbuDhabi. According to some historical accounts, the nameAbu Dhabi was first used more than 300 years ago. Thefirst word of Abu Dhabi is pronounced “Bu” by inhabi-tants on the city’s western coast. In the eastern part of thecity, the pronunciation is “Abu”.[3]

1

2 2 GEOGRAPHY

1.3 Origins of the Al Nahyan family

The Bani Yas bedouin were originally centered on theLiwa Oasis. This tribe was the most significant in thearea, having over 20 subsections. In 1793, the Al BuFalah subsection migrated to the island of Abu Dhabi onthe coast of the Persian Gulf due to the discovery of freshwater there. One family within this section was the AlNahyan family. This family makes up the rulers of AbuDhabi today.[9]

1.4 Pearl trade

Abu Dhabi worked in the pearl business and traded withothers. According to a source about pearling, the PersianGulf was the best location for pearls. Pearl divers dovefor one to one-and-a-half minutes, and would have divedup to thirty times per day. There were no oxygen tanksand any other sort of mechanical device was forbidden.The divers had a leather nose clip and leather cover-ings on their fingers and big toes to protect them whilethey searched for oysters.[10] The divers were not paidfor a day’s work but received a portion of the season’searnings.[11]

1.5 Trucial coast

In the 19th century, as a result of treaties (known as“truces” which gave the coast its name) entered into be-tween Great Britain and the sheikhs of the Arab States ofthe Persian Gulf, Britain became the predominant influ-ence in the area.[12] The main purpose of British inter-est was to protect the trade route to India from pirates,hence the earlier name for the area, the “Pirate Coast”.After piracy was suppressed other considerations cameinto play, such as a strategic need of the British to excludeother powers from the region. Following their withdrawalfrom India in 1947, the British maintained their influencein Abu Dhabi as interest in the oil potential of the PersianGulf grew.

1.6 First oil discoveries

In the 1930s, as the pearl trade declined, interest grewin the oil possibilities of the region. On 5 January 1936,Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd (PDTC), anassociate company of the Iraq Petroleum Company, en-tered into a concession agreement with the ruler, SheikhShakhbut bin Sultan al Nahyan, to explore for oil. Thiswas followed by a seventy-five-year concession signedin January 1939. However, owing to the desert ter-rain, inland exploration was fraught with difficulties. In1953, D'Arcy Exploration Company, the exploration armof BP, obtained an offshore concession which was thentransferred to a company created to operate the conces-sion: Abu Dhabi Marine Areas (ADMA) was a joint ven-

ture between BP and Compagnie Française des Pétroles(later Total). In 1958, using a marine drilling platform,the ADMA Enterprise, oil was struck in the Umm Shaiffield at a depth of about 8,755 feet (2,669 m). This wasfollowed in 1959 by PDTC’s onshore discovery well atMurban No.3.[13]

In 1962, the company discovered the Bu Hasa field andADMA followed in 1965 with the discovery of the Za-kum offshore field. Today, in addition to the oil fieldsmentioned, the main producing fields onshore are Asab,Sahil and Shah, and offshore are al-Bunduq, and Abu al-Bukhoosh.[13]

2 Geography

Main article: Geography of the United Arab EmiratesThe city of Abu Dhabi is on the northeastern part of

Abu Dhabi seen from SPOT satellite

the Persian Gulf in the Arabian Peninsula. It is on anisland less than 250 metres (820 ft) from the mainlandand is joined to the mainland by the Maqta and MussafahBridges. A third, Sheikh Zayed Bridge, designed by ZahaHadid, opened in late 2010. Abu Dhabi Island is also con-nected to Saadiyat Island by a five-lane motorway bridge.Al-Mafraq bridge connects the city to Reem Island andwas completed in early 2011. This is a multilayer inter-change bridge and it has 27 lanes which allow roughly25,000 automobiles to move per hour. There are threemajor bridges of the project, the largest has eight lanes,four leaving Abu Dhabi city and four coming in.[14]

Most of Abu Dhabi city is located on the island itself,but it has many suburbs on the mainland, for example:Khalifa City A, B, and C;[15] Al Raha Beach;[16] Al BahiaCity A, B, and C; Al Shahama; Al Rahba; Between TwoBridges; Baniyas; and Mussafah Residential.

5.1 Neighborhoods 3

3 Climate

Abu Dhabi has a hot desert climate (Köppen climateclassification BWh). Sunny blue skies can be expectedthroughout the year. The months of June throughSeptember are generally extremely hot and humid withmaximum temperatures averaging above 38 °C (100 °F).During this time, sandstorms occur intermittently, insome cases reducing visibility to a few meters.[17]

The cooler season is from November to March, whichranges between moderately hot to cold. This period alsosees dense fog on some days. On average, January is thecoolest month in the year, while July and August are thehottest.

4 Government

Under the umbrella of the Department of Municipal Af-fairs, Abu Dhabi Central Capital District has its own localgovernment. Members are selected through the emir.Councils such as the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Counciland the Regulation and Supervision Bureau are respon-sible for infrastructure projects in the city. Finances aremainly through the state government.

5 Cityscape

Panoramic view of the Corniche.

5.1 Neighborhoods

• Al Aman

• Al Bateen

• Al Dhafrah

• Al Khubeirah

Skyscrapers on West Corniche Rd, Al Ras Al Akhdar, in March2013. Etihad Towers at the right.

• Al Lulu Island

• Al Madina

• Al Manaseer

• Al Manhal

• Al Maqtaa

• Al Markaziyah

• Al Meena

• Al Moroor

• Al Mushrif

• Al Muzoon

• Al Nahyan

• Al Qubesat

• Al Ras Al Akhdar

• Al Rehhan

• Al Rowdah

• Al Zaab

• Al Zahiyah

• Al Zahraa

• Al Khalidyah

• Hideriyyat

• Marina Village

• Officers City

• Qasr El Bahr

• Qasr El Shatie

• Al Karama

• Bain Al Jisrain [Almaqta}

4 5 CITYSCAPE

5.2 Architecture

See also: List of tallest buildings in Abu DhabiThe density of Abu Dhabi varies, with high employ-

ADIA Tower to the left and The Landmark at the right in AbuDhabi

Street View

ment density in the central area, high residential densi-ties in central downtown and lower densities in the sub-urbs. In the dense areas, most of the concentration isachieved with medium- and high-rise buildings. AbuDhabi’s skyscrapers such as the notable Abu Dhabi In-vestment Authority Tower,[19] the National Bank of AbuDhabi headquarters,[20] the Hilton Hotel Tower[21] andthe Etisalat headquarters are usually found in the financialdistricts of Abu Dhabi.[22] Other notable modern build-ings include the Emirates Palace with its design inspiredby Arab heritage.[23]

The development of tall buildings has been encouragedin the Abu Dhabi Plan 2030, which will lead to the con-struction of many new skyscrapers over the next decade,particularly in the expansion of Abu Dhabi’s central busi-ness district such as the new developments on Al SowwahIsland and Al Reem Island.[24] Abu Dhabi already hasa number of supertall skyscrapers under constructionthroughout the city. Some of the tallest buildings on theskyline include the 382 m (1,253.28 ft) Central MarketResidential Tower, the 324 m (1,062.99 ft) The Land-mark and the 74-story, 310 m (1,017.06 ft) Sky Tower.Also many other skyscrapers over 150 m (492.13 ft) (500ft) are either proposed or approved and could transformthe city’s skyline. As of July 2008, there were 62 high-rise buildings 23 to 150 m (75.46 to 492.13 ft) underconstruction, approved for construction, or proposed forconstruction.[25]

5.2.1 Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Main article: Sheikh Zayed MosqueOne of the most important architectural landmarks is the

Front and entrance of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque

Sheikh Zayed Mosque. This is arguably one of the mostimportant architectural treasures of contemporary UAEsociety—and one of the most opulent in the world. It wasinitiated by the late president of the United Arab Emi-rates, HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, fondlythought of as the father of the UAE.[26]

Its design and construction reportedly 'unites the world',using artisans and materials from many countries includ-ing Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, Turkey, Iran, China,the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece and of coursethe United Arab Emirates. More than 3,000 workers and38 renowned contracting companies took part in the con-struction of the mosque. Natural materials were chosenfor much of its design and construction due to their long-lasting qualities, including marble, stone, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals and ceramics. Construction be-gan on 5 November 1996. The maximum capacity isapproximately 41,000 people and the overall structure is22,412 square metres, the internal prayer halls were ini-tially opened in December 2007.[26]

5

As one of the most visited buildings in the UAE, theSheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center was established tomanage the day-to-day operations, as a place of worshipand Friday gathering and as a centre of learning and dis-covery through its education and visitor programs.[27]

5.3 Parks and gardens

Abu Dhabi has more than 2,000 well-maintained parksand gardens[28] and more than 400 kilometres (249 miles)of coastline, of which 10 kilometres (6 miles) are publicbeaches.[29]

• The Lake Park

• A view from Heritage Park

• Turmeric plants at the Heritage Park

• Inside the Heritage Park

• Directions Pole at the Heritage Park

• Watch Tower at the Heritage Park

6 Economy

Main article: Economy of the United Arab EmiratesThe UAE’s large hydrocarbon wealth gives it one of the

The ADCB Bank Headquarters

highest GDP per capita in the world and Abu Dhabi owns

the majority of these resources – 95% of the oil and 6%of gas. Abu Dhabi thus holds 9% of the world’s provenoil reserves (98.2bn barrels) and almost 5% of the world’snatural gas (5.8 trillion cu metres). Oil production in theUAE was in the region of 2.3m barrels per day (bpd) in2010,[30] and projects are in progress to boost productionto 3m bpd. In recent years the focus has turned to gas asincreasing domestic consumption for power, desalinationand reinjection of gas into oil fields increases demand.Gas extraction is not without its difficulties, however, asdemonstrated by the sour gas project at Shah where thegas is rich in hydrogen sulphide content and is expensiveto develop and process.[13]

The Heritage Village

Recently the government has been diversifying their eco-nomic plans. Served by high oil prices, the country’s non-oil and gas GDP has outstripped that attributable to theenergy sector. Remarkably, non-oil and gas GDP nowconstitutes 64% of the UAE’s total GDP. This trend isreflected in Abu Dhabi with substantial new investmentin industry, real estate, tourism and retail. As Abu Dhabiis the largest oil producer of the UAE, it has reaped themost benefits from this trend. It has taken on an active di-versification and liberalisation programme to reduce theUAE’s reliance on the hydrocarbon sector. This is evi-dent in the emphasis on industrial diversification with thecompletion of free zones, Industrial City of Abu Dhabi,twofour54 Abu Dhabi media free zone and the construc-tion of another, ICAD II, in the pipeline. There has alsobeen a drive to promote the tourism and real estate sectorswith the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and the Tourismand Development Investment Company undertaking sev-eral large-scale development projects. These projects willbe served by an improved transport infrastructure with anew port, an expanded airport and a proposed rail linkbetween Abu Dhabi and Dubai all in the developmentstages.[31]

Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest emirate of the UAE interms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and per capitaincome. More than $1 trillion is invested worldwidein this city alone. In 2010, the GDP per capita also

6 8 CITY PLANNING

reached $49,600, which ranks ninth in the world afterQatar, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg and many others.Taxation in Abu Dhabi, as in the rest of the UAE, is nilfor a resident and for a non-bank, non-oil company. AbuDhabi is also planning many future projects sharing withthe Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf(GCC) and taking 29% of all the GCC future plannings.The United Arab Emirates is a fast-growing economy: in2006 the per capita income grew by 9%, providing a GDPper capita of $49,700 and ranking third in the world atpurchasing power parity. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealthfund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), cur-rently estimated at US$875 billion, is the world’s wealthi-est sovereign fund in terms of total asset value.[32] EtihadAirways maintains its headquarters in Abu Dhabi.[33]

Abu Dhabi’s government is looking to expand revenuefrom oil and gas production to tourism and other sortsof features which would attract different types of people.This goal is seen in the amount of attention Abu Dhabi isgiving to its International Airport. The airport, in 2009,experienced a 30%+ growth in passenger usage.[34] Thisidea of diversification of the economy is also seen in theAbu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030[35] planned by the AbuDhabi Urban Planning Council. In this plan Abu Dhabi’seconomy will be sustainable and not be dependent on anyone facet or source of revenue. More specifically thenon-oil portion of income is planned to be increased fromabout 40% to about 60%.[32]

7 Utility services

See also: Water supply and sanitation in Abu Dhabi

The water supply in Abu Dhabi is managed by the AbuDhabi Water and Electricity Company. As of 2006,it supplied 560.2 MiGD (million imperial gallons perday) of water,[36] while the water demand for 2005–06was estimated to be 511 MiGD.[37] The EnvironmentAgency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) states that groundwateris the most significant source of water, as well as de-salinated potable water, and treated sewage effluent. At40.6 MiGD, the Umm Al Nar storage is the largest watersource for Abu Dhabi, followed by the rivers Shuweihatand Taweelah.[38] With falling groundwater level and ris-ing population density, Abu Dhabi faces a severely acutewater shortage. On average each Abu Dhabi resident uses550 litres (120 imp gal; 150 U.S. gal) of water per day.[39]

Abu Dhabi daily produces 1,532 tonnes of solid wasteswhich is dumped at three landfill sites by Abu DhabiMunicipality.[40][41] The daily domestic waste water pro-duction is 330 MiGD and industrial waste water is 40MiGD. A large portion of the sewerage flows as wasteinto streams, and separation plants.[41]

The city’s per capita electricity consumption is about41,000 kWh and the total supplied is 8,367 MW as

of 2007.[42] The distribution of electricity is carriedout by companies run by SCIPCO Power and APCEnergy.[43][44] The Abu Dhabi Fire Service runs 13 firestations that attend about 2,000 fire and rescue calls peryear.State-owned Etisalat and private du communication com-panies provide telephone and cell phone service to thecity. Cellular coverage is extensive, and both GSMand CDMA (from Etisalat and Du) services are avail-able. Etisalat, the government owned telecommunica-tions provider, held a virtual monopoly over telecommu-nication services in Abu Dhabi prior to the establish-ment of other, smaller telecommunications companiessuch as Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Com-pany (EITC — better known as Du) in 2006. Internetwas introduced into Abu Dhabi in 1995. The current net-work is supported by a bandwidth of 6 GB, with 50,000dialup and 150,000 broadband ports. Etisalat recently an-nounced implementing a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) net-work in Abu Dhabi during the third quarter of 2009 tomake the emirate the world’s first city to have such anetwork.[45]

8 City planning

A Public Park in the city

The city was planned in the 1970s for an estimated max-imum population of 600,000. In accordance with whatwas considered to be ideal urban planning at the time, thecity has wide grid-pattern roads, and high-density towerblocks.[46] On the northerly end of the island, where thepopulation density is highest, the main streets are linedwith 20- to 30-story towers. Inside this rectangle of tow-ers is a normal grid pattern of roads with lower densitybuildings (2-story villas or 6-story low-rise buildings).Abu Dhabi is a modern city with broad boulevards, talloffice and apartment buildings, and busy shops. Princi-pal thoroughfares are the Corniche, Airport Road, SheikhZayed Street, Hamdan Street and Khalifa Street. AbuDhabi is known in the region for its greenery; the former

7

Public park in Abu Dhabi

Greeneries on the roadside near the Corniche Beach

Waterfront park in Abu Dhabi

desert strip today includes numerous parks and gardens.The design of the inner city roads and main roads arequite organised. Starting from the Corniche, all horizon-tal streets are oddly numbered, while all vertical streetsare evenly numbered. Thus, the Corniche is Street #1,Khalifa is Street #3, Hamdan is Street #5, Electra streetis Street #7 and so on. Conversely, Salam Street is St#8.[47]

Mail is generally delivered to post-office boxes only;

At the corniche during sunset

however, there is door-to-door delivery for commer-cial organizations. There are many parks throughoutthe city. Entrance is usually free for children, how-ever there is often an entrance fee for adults. The Cor-niche, the city’s seaside promenade, is about 7 kilome-tres (4.3 mi) in length, with gardens, playgrounds, and aBMX/skateboard ring.[48]

In 2007 the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC)was established, which is the agency responsible for thefuture of Abu Dhabi’s urban environments and the ex-pert authority behind the visionary Plan Abu Dhabi 2030Urban Structure Framework Plan that was published inSeptember 2007.[49] The UPC is also working on similarplans for the regions of Al-Ain and Al-Gharbia.Because of the rapid development of Abu Dhabi, a num-ber of challenges to the city’s urban organization have de-veloped, among them:

• Today, the city’s population far surpasses the origi-nal estimated maximum population when it was de-signed. This causes traffic congestion, a shortage ofcar parking spaces, and overcrowding.

• Although there is an addressing system for the city,it is not widely used, causing problems in describingbuilding locations. Directions must often be givenbased on nearby landmarks.

8 10 TRANSPORTATION

9 Demographics

In 2006, the population of the emirate was 1,463,491.[52]

As the emirate covers 67,341 km2 (26,001 sq mi), nearly87% of the UAE, the population density is 21.73/km2

(56.3/sq mi), making it the largest emirate in the UAE.[53]

Abu Dhabi also ranks as the 67th most expensive cityin the world, and the second most in the region behindDubai.[54]

As of 2013, 476,000 of 2,330,000 people living in theemirate were UAE nationals. Approximately 79.6% ofthe population were expatriates.[55] The median age in theemirate was about 30.1 years. The crude birth rate, as of2005, was 13.6%, while the crude death rate was about2%.[56]

Article 7 of the UAE’s Provisional Constitution declaresIslam the official state religion of the UAE.[57] The gov-ernment subsidizes almost 95% of mosques and em-ploys all imams. A majority of mosques are Maliki orMuwahhid oriented.[58]

The majority of the inhabitants of Abu Dhabi are ex-patriate workers from India, Pakistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia,Somalia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, theUnited Kingdom and various countries from across theArab world.[59] Consequently, English, Hindi, Urdu,Malayalam, Tulu, Tamil, Somali, Tigrinya, Amharic andBengali are widely spoken.[60] Apart from Urdu and Hindispoken by Indians and Pakistanis, many South Asian ex-patriates also contribute other South Asian languages tothe cultural milieu, including Malayalam, the main lan-guage spoken in the Indian state Kerala.The native-born population are Arabic-speaking Arabswho are part of a clan-based society. The Al Nahyan fam-ily, part of the al-Falah branch of the Bani Yas clan, rulesthe emirate and has a central place in society.[61]

See also: Indians in the United Arab Emirates, Islam inthe United Arab Emirates, Roman Catholicism in theUnited Arab Emirates and Bahá'í Faith in the UnitedArab Emirates

10 Transportation

Main article: Transport in the United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) is the city’s mainaviation hub and the second busiest airport in the UAE,serving 9.02 million passengers in 2008, up 30.2% from2007. The airport was previously located on Abu DhabiIsland and was moved to its current location on the main-land in 1982.[62][62] Its terminal spaces are dominated byEtihad Airways which is the UAE’s national carrier andthe country’s second largest airline.[63] Prior to the 2000s,the airport was one of the key supporters of Gulf Air. Anew terminal opened in 2009 with total capacity reach-

The city’s Silver Taxi

ing 12 million passengers per annum by 2011.[64] Devel-opment work has also started on a new passenger termi-nal, to be situated between the two runways and knownas the Midfield Terminal. The new mega-midfield termi-nal complex will be capable of handling an additional 20million passengers a year initially and then later, as AbuDhabi develops as a major Middle East transport hub, upto 50 million passengers a year, thus providing a majorcompetition to Dubai International Airport.[65] The 5.9-million-square-metre (1,500-acre) terminal will initiallyinclude 42 gates, rising to more than 90 gates on comple-tion of the airport.[66]

City Bus Number 56

Public transport systems in Abu Dhabi include the AbuDhabi public buses, taxis, ferries, and airplanes.[67] Streettaxis are easily recognised. They are either silver with ayellow roof sign (newer taxis) or white and gold with agreen roof sign (older taxis). All the old taxis have beenphased out. There are no old taxis available for trans-portation anymore.[68]

The first town bus entered service in about 1969 butthis was all part of a very informal service. There areother inter-city buses departing the Abu Dhabi Dhabicentral bus station; these inter-city buses are not onlyintra-emirate buses, but also inter-emirate services. On30 June 2008 the Department of Transport began publicbus service in Abu Dhabi with four routes.[69] There arealso public buses serving the airport. In an attempt to en-tice people to use the bus system, all routes were zero-fareuntil the end of 2008.[70] The four routes, which operate

9

between 6 am and midnight every day, run at a frequencyof 10 to 20 minutes.[70] Within the first week of servicethe bus network had seen high usage. Some of the buses,which have a maximum capacity of 45 passengers, onlyhad room for standing left. Some bus drivers reportedas many as 100 passengers on a bus at one time.[71] Al-though the new, zero-fare bus service has been a success,many taxi drivers are losing business. Taxi drivers haveseen a considerable decrease in the demand for taxis whilelines were forming for the buses.[72] The service steadilyexpanded and by the end of 2008, 230 buses were in ser-vice. In 2009, the Department of Transport plans to have21 bus routes in the city, operated by 820 buses. A total of1,360 buses are expected to be in operation by 2010.[71]

A massive expansion of public transport is anticipatedwithin the framework of the government’s Surface Trans-port Master Plan 2030.[73] The expansion is expected tosee 130 km (81 mi) of metro and 340 km (210 mi) oftramways and/or bus rapid transit (BRT) routes.See also: Abu Dhabi Bus service

11 Culture

Main article: Culture of the United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi has a diverse and multicultural society.[74]

Historic photo of the Abu Dhabi Public Library and CulturalCentre, with the Qasr Al Hosn palace in the background

The city’s cultural imprint as a small, ethnically homoge-neous pearling community was changed with the arrivalof other ethnic groups and nationals—first by the Iraniansin the early 1900s, and later by Indians and Pakistanis inthe 1960s. Abu Dhabi has been criticized for perpetu-ating a class-based society, where migrant workers arein the lower classes, and suffer abuse which “is endemicto the system”.[75] Despite the diversity of the popula-tion, only minor and infrequent episodes of ethnic ten-sions, primarily between expatriates, have been reportedin the city. Major holidays in Abu Dhabi include Eidal Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, Eid ul-Adhawhich marks the end of Hajj, and National Day (2 De-cember), which marks the formation of the United ArabEmirates.[76]

Typical Arabic house displayed at the Heritage Village in AbuDhabi

At the ADIPEC 2013

This unique socioeconomic development in the PersianGulf has meant that Abu Dhabi is generally more tolerantthan its neighbours, including Saudi Arabia.[77] Emaritishave been known for their tolerance; Christian churches,Hindu temples, and Sikh gurdwaras (but no synagogues)can be found alongside mosques. The cosmopolitan at-mosphere is gradually growing and as a result, there area variety of Asian and Western schools, cultural centersand themed restaurants.Abu Dhabi is home to a number of cultural institutionsincluding the Cultural Foundation and the National The-ater. The Cultural Foundation, while closed for recon-struction as of spring 2011, is home to the UAE Pub-lic Library and Cultural Center.[78] Various cultural soci-

10 11 CULTURE

eties such as the Abu Dhabi Classical Music Society havea strong and visible following in the city. The recentlylaunched Emirates Foundation offers grants in support ofthe arts, as well as to advance science and technology,education, environmental protection and social develop-ment. The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF)will be based in Abu Dhabi. The city also stages hundredsof conferences and exhibitions each year in its state-of-the-art venues, including the Abu Dhabi National Exhibi-tion Centre (ADNEC) which is the Persian Gulf’s largestexhibition center and welcomes around 1.8 million visi-tors every year.[79]

The Red Bull Air Race World Series has been a spec-tacular sporting staple for the city for many years, bring-ing tens of thousands to the waterfront.[80] Another majorevent is the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibi-tion and Conference (ADIPEC).

The Royal International Hotel

The diversity of cuisine in Abu Dhabi is a reflection ofthe cosmopolitan nature of the society. Arab food is verypopular and is available everywhere in the city, from thesmall shawarma to the upscale restaurants in the city’smany hotels. Fast food and South Asian cuisine are alsovery popular and are widely available. The sale and con-sumption of pork, though not illegal, is regulated and itis sold only to non-Muslims in designated areas.[81] Simi-larly, the sale of alcoholic beverages is regulated. A liquorpermit is required to purchase alcohol; however, alcohol,although available in bars and restaurants within four orfive star hotels, is not sold as widely as in its more liberalneighbour Dubai.[82] Shisha and qahwa boutiques are alsopopular in Abu Dhabi.

Sofitel Abu Dhabi

Poetry in Abu Dhabi and the UAE is highly regarded andoften is centric around the themes of satire, religion, fam-ily, chivalry and love. According to an article from anAbu Dhabi tourism page, sheikhs, teachers, sailors andprinces make a large bulk of the poets within the UAE.A unique form of poetry to the UAE was formed in the8th century by Al Khalil bin Ahmed and it was written in16 meters. The first known poet from the UAE, Ibn Ma-jid, was born sometime between 1432 and 1437 in RasAl Khaimah. According to the tourism page Majid camefrom a family of sailors and 40 of his works have survived.Another Emirati poet, Ibn Daher is from the 17th cen-tury. Daher is important because he used Nabati poetry(AKA Bedouin poetry), poetry written in the vernacularinstead of the classical/religious Arabic. Other impor-tant poets from the UAE are Mubarak Al Oqaili (1880–1954), Salem bin Ali al Owais (1887–1959) and Abdullabin Sulayem (1905–1976). These poets made headwayin the field of Classical Arabic poetry as opposed to theNabati poetry of the 17th century.[83]

One of Ibn Masjid’s most prominent works is a bookcalled, Kitab al-Fawa'id fi Usul 'Ilm al-Bahr wa 'l-Qawa'id(Book of Useful Information on the Principles and Rulesof Navigation), and it was written in 1490. This book iseffectually an encyclopædia about navigation and sailingin and around the Indian Ocean. Masjid also goes intodetail about the intricacies and technologies of the Arabsailing techniques. An excerpt from his book is:“We have 32 rhumbs, and tirfa, and zam, and the mea-surement of stellar altitudes, but they have not. They

11

cannot understand the way we navigate, but we can un-derstand the way they do; we can use their system andsail in their ships. For the Indian Ocean is connected tothe All-Encompassing Ocean, and we possess scientificbooks that give stellar altitudes, but they do not have aknowledge of stellar altitudes; they have no science andno books, only the compass and dead reckoning… Wecan easily sail in their ships and upon their sea, so theyhave great respect for us and look up to us. They admitwe have a better knowledge of the sea and navigation andthe wisdom of the stars.”Ahmad Ibn Majid on European Navigation[84]

Today in Abu Dhabi there is a group called the AbuDhabi Cultural Foundation that works to preserve the artand culture of the city. According to an article fromthe English Pen Atlas Al jawaher wal la'li was the firstmanuscript to come out of the UAE. According to an-other article this book was written in the 1990s and wasbanned in the city for some time for making accusationsabout the ruling family.[85]

See also: Cultural Policy in Abu Dhabi

12 Education

Main article: Education in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is home to international and local privateschools[86] and universities,[87] including government-sponsored United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain,New York University, New York Institute of Technol-ogy, Higher Colleges of Technology, New York FilmAcademy, Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi andAbu Dhabi University in Abu Dhabi. These boast severallanguages that make up the population of the city. Forexample, the prestigious international business school, es-tablished a campus in February 2010, offering an Exec-utive MBA and executive education courses. New YorkUniversity opened a government-sponsored satellite cam-pus in Abu Dhabi in September 2010.[88] There are in-stitutes such as Altaaat[89] Leadership Development In-stitute providing training to local people serving in theprivate, public and education sectors of Abu Dhabi.All schools in the emirate are under the authority ofthe Abu Dhabi Education Council. This organizationoversees and administers public schools and licenses andinspects private schools. From 2009, the Council hasbrought over thousands of licensed teachers from nativeEnglish speaking countries to support their New SchoolModel Program in government schools.Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) maintains a com-prehensive after-school program for interested and tal-ented jiu-jitsu students.[90] The Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu

Schools Program began in 2008 under the patronage ofH.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, whois a keen Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor. The programlaunched in 14 schools for pupils in grades 6 and 7 andhas since expanded to 42 government schools, with 81Brazilian coaches brought in as instructors.[91]

Students from 9 to 13 years old are taught Brazilian jiu-jitsu as part of the curriculum. The plan is for up to 500schools to be participating in the school-jitsu program by2015. The project was set up by special request of HHSheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the headcoach of the Emirates jiu-jitsu team Carlos Santos, nowalso the managing director of the School-Jitsu Project.[92]

Every year in the season of admissions an exhibition islaunched in Abu Dhabi Exhibition Center under the su-pervision of the government.[93] Universities from everycorner of the world exhibit their career programs andscholarship programs for globally bright students. Thisseems to be a well-defined platform for the students ofall nationalities. Heriot-Watt University, University ofBolton, Cambridge University, Oxford University, thePetroluem Institute, Khalifa University and Abu DhabiUniversity attend.

13 Sports

Abu Dhabi has three football stadiums: Al Jazeera Sta-dium, Al Wahda stadium and Sheikh Zayed Football Sta-dium (Zayed Sports City). ZSC also contains a tenniscourt, an ice rink, and a bowling alley. The Sheikh ZayedCricket Stadium is located on the outskirts of the city andis currently home to the Pakistan Cricket Team. The sta-dium hosts at least two series per year in the last 4 years.In 2014, the stadium also hosted one leg of the IndianPremier League. It has also been considered as a venuefor the Pakistan Super League too.Football and cricket are very popular in the city. Manyyouth play football in parking lots nearby corniche be-cause of the pleasant environment and enough space.Cricket is also popular because of South Asian expats.There have been many small competitions conducted be-tween small time football and cricket teams.Another location known as the Dome has been created formainly football events among others. The purpose behindthe development of the Dome@Rawdhat was to create acommunity football and sporting facility with indoor andoutdoor pitches in the heart of the city of Abu Dhabi foreveryone to enjoy.

13.1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Main article: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Since 2009, Abu Dhabi has hosted a Formula One race

12 17 REFERENCES

every year in November or December at the Yas Ma-rina Circuit, which is considered to be the richest For-mula One race track in the world.[94] Motorsport is pop-ular throughout the country and the circuit has also hostedother events such as the V8 Supercars series.

14 In the media

In the Garfield comic series by Jim Davis, Garfield re-peatedly tries to get rid of the annoying kitten Nermal bysending him to “Anyone, Abu Dhabi.”

15 International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and cities in UnitedArab Emirates

15.1 Twin towns and cities

Abu Dhabi is twinned with:

16 See also• Aldar headquarters building

• Department of Municipal Affairs (Abu Dhabi)

• Dubai-Abu Dhabi Highway

• Marawah

• National Center for Documentation and Research

• Postage stamps and postal history of Abu Dhabi

17 References[1] “UAE Constitution”. Helplinelaw.com. Archived from

the original on 2013-02-17. Retrieved 2008-07-21.

[2] “Middle East :: United Arab Emirates”. Central Intelli-gence Agency. Retrieved 2013-04-05.

[3] “How did Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other cities get theirnames? Experts reveal all”. UAE Interact. 3 October2007. Retrieved 2013-04-05.

[4] United Arab Emirates: largest cities and towns and statis-tics of their population. World Gazetteer.

[5] Gulfnews: Abu Dhabi Economy Grows 5.2% In 2013,Slower Than Expected. www.gulfnews.com (3 June2014). Retrieved on 2014-09-24.

[6] “2014 Cost of living”. Mercer. Retrieved 2014-08-24.

[7] Gimbel, Barney (12 March 2007). “The richest city inthe world. (No, it’s not Dubai.) - March 19, 2007”.Money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2014-09-24.

[8] Potts, Daniel (2003). Archaeology of the United ArabEmirates. Trident Press.

[9] “Bani Yas”. His Highness Sheikh Maktoum. Archivedfrom the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-13.

[10] Trench, Richard (1995). Arab Gulf Cities. Oxford:Archive International Group.

[11] “Pearl Diving”. His Highness Sheikh Maktoum. Archivedfrom the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-13.

[12] Trucial Gulf Sheikdoms and Great Britain

[13] Morton, Michael Quentin, “The Abu Dhabi Oil Discover-ies”, GEO Expro article, issue 3, 2011.GEO ExPro - TheAbu Dhabi Oil Discoveries

[14] “Abu Dhabi Municipality | Media Center”. Municipalityof AbuDhabi City. Archived from the original on 2 Febru-ary 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-07.

[15] http://www.iscadkc-sabis.net Khalifa City

[16] Al Raha Beach Resort

[17] Abu Dhabi Sandstorm

[18] “Climate Normals for Abu Dhabi”. National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2013-02-10.

[19] Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Tower

[20] National Bank HQ

[21] Hilton Abu DhabI

[22] Etisalat Headquarters

[23] The Emirates Palace

[24] Plan 2030

[25] “Skyscrapers of Abu Dhabi | Emporis.com”. Empo-ris.com. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-25.

[26] SZGMC www.szgmc.ae

[27] Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque Center

[28] “Capital Gardens, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates”.Whatsonwhen. 4 April 2007. Retrieved 2009-07-25.

[29] “Welcome to Abu Dhabi - Beaches and Coasts”. Vis-itabudhabi.ae. Retrieved 2009-07-25.

[30] “UAE Crude Oil Supply 4 year overlay”. Oil Market Re-port (International Energy Agency). Retrieved 2011-06-20.

[31] “Abu Dhabi - Economic Base Diversifying”. En-trepreneur.com. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-07.

[32] Asset-backed insecurity. The Economist. 17 January2008 Archived 21 January 2009 at WebCite

13

[33] "Our offices.” Etihad Airways. Retrieved on 6 February2009.

[34] Abu Dhabi’s Urban Development Plan. Forbes Custom.8 April 2011

[35] Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council - Abu Dhabi Vision2030. Abu Dhabi 2030. 8 April 2011

[36] 2006 statistical report indd (PDF), adwec.ae. Retrievedon 2009-07-16.

[37] State of the Environment Abu Dhabi - Themes - Water.Soe.ae. Retrieved on 2009-07-16.

[38] 2006 statistical report indd (PDF), adwec.ae. Retrievedon 2009-07-16.

[39] Abu Dhabi faces water crisis - The National Newspaper.Thenational.ae (22 March 2009). Retrieved on 2009-07-16.

[40] Agedi.ae

[41] State of the Environment Abu Dhabi - Themes - Waste,Soe.ae. Retrieved on 2009-07-16.

[42] 2006 statistical report indd (PDF), adwec.ae. Retrievedon 2009-07-16.

[43] 2006 statistical report indd (PDF), adwec.ae. Retrievedon 2009-07-16.

[44] 2006 statistical report indd (PDF), adwec.ae. Retrievedon 2009-07-16.

[45] “Breaking News, UAE, GCC, Middle East, World Newsand Headlines - Emirates 24/7”. Business24-7.ae. Re-trieved 2012-02-23.

[46] Mention of City Grid Patterns

[47] “Google Map of Abu Dhabi”. Google Maps.

[48] The Corniche

[49] Abu Dhabi UPC

[50] “The UNITED ARAB EMIRATES : urban population”.Populstat.info. Retrieved 2011-09-15.

[51] Census 2005

[52] Welcome to Abu Dhabi - Population, visitabudhabi.ae

[53] UAE Permanent Mission in Vienna » The UAE-SevenEmirates

[54] “Gulfnews: Cost of living rises for expats in Abu Dhabiand Dubai”. Archive.gulfnews.com. Retrieved 2009-07-07.

[55] “Abu Dhabi’s population at 2.33m, with 475,000 Emi-ratis”. UAE interact. Retrieved 2014-04-09.

[56] “The People : AbuDhabi”. Abudhabi.info. Retrieved2009-07-07.

[57] UAE Constitution Article 7

[58] 2010 M izady Mideast religion statistics

[59] Abu Dhabi Expats

[60] Abu Dhabi Languages

[61] Al Nahyan Family

[62] Welcome To Abu Dhabi International Airport. Abudhabi-airport.ae. Retrieved on 2009-07-16.

[63] Etihad Airways. Ameinfo.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-16.

[64] Abu Dhabi International capacity reaches 12 million asTerminal 3 fully operational. Meed.com (7 April 2009).Retrieved on 2009-07-16.

[65] Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH/OMAA). AirportTechnology. Retrieved on 2009-07-16.

[66] Passenger Terminal Today. Passenger Terminal Today(12 May 2008). Retrieved on 2009-07-16.

[67] Mehmet Kahveci. “Abu Dhabi Travel Guide | Tur-izm.com: Your One-stop Travel Partner”. Turizm.com.Retrieved 2013-03-12.

[68] Welcome to Abu Dhabi – Taxis. Visitabudhabi.ae (9 Au-gust 2014)

[69] “Abu Dhabi bus network”. The National. 29 June 2008.Archived from the original on 12 July 2008. Retrieved2008-07-12.

[70] “All aboard for a free ride”. The National. 30 June 2008.Retrieved 2008-07-12.

[71] Kwong, Matt (5 July 2008). “Buses bulge with passen-gers”. The National. Retrieved 2013-05-27.

[72] “Taxis suffer as bus business booms”. The National. 1July 2008. Retrieved 2013-05-27.

[73] “Mohamed bin Zayed Views ‘The Surface Transport Mas-ter Plan 2030’". 'Department of Transport, Abu Dhabi'.1 April 2009. Archived from the original on 30 August2009. Retrieved 2009-07-22.

[74] “Country and Metropolitan Stats in Brief”. MPI Data Hub

[75] The Dark Side of Dubai, Johann Hari, The Independent,7 April 2009. Archived 14 October 2009 at WebCite

[76] “Official holidays in UAE”. Gowealthy.com. Retrieved2009-07-15.

[77] UAE Religious Freedom

[78] UAE Public Library

[79] http://www.adnec.ae ADNEC Website

[80] Red Bull Air Race

[81] Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards.GAIN Report. United States Department of Agriculture

[82] Welcome to Dubai at the Wayback Machine (archivedFebruary 26, 2008) New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

14 18 EXTERNAL LINKS

[83] “Literature and Poetry”. Welcome to Abu Dhabi.Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved2011-02-28.

[84] The Navigator: Ahmad Ibn Majid, Saudi Aramco World,accessed 28 February 2011.

[85] “UAE”. English Pen World Atlas. Retrieved 2011-02-28.

[86] “Schools in Abu Dhabi”.

[87] “Universities in Abu Dhabi”.

[88] Timm, Jane C. (13 September 2010). ""NYU Abu Dhabi:the story from concept to classroom”, Washington SquareNews". Nyunews.com. Retrieved 2012-02-23.

[89] “Altaaat”.

[90] “36 Winners Awarded at Abu Dhabi Public SchoolsJiu-Jitsu Cup”, Abu Dhabi Education Council, retrieved2010-08-22.

[91] “Judo federation wants younger state pupils to take up thesport”, The National, July 6, 2010 retrieved 2013-05-27.

[92] “Brazilian instructors boost School-Jitsu scheme”. AbuDhabi Week. 13 August 2009. Retrieved 2012-02-23.

[93] ADNEC education

[94] http://www.yasmarinacircuit.com Yas Marina Circuit

[95] “Bethlehem Municipality”. www.bethlehem-city.org.Retrieved 2009-10-10.

[96] “Mapa Mundi de las ciudades hermanadas”. Ayun-tamiento de Madrid. Retrieved 2009-07-22.

[97] Abu Dhabi, Houston to sign 'Sister City' pact UAE - TheOfficial Web Site - News. Uaeinteract.com. Retrieved on2009-07-16.

[98] Zawya.com Abu Dhabi, Brisbane ink sister city agreement

[99] “Twin towns and Sister cities of Minsk [via WaybackMa-chine.com]" (in Russian). The department of protocol andinternational relations of Minsk City Executive Commit-tee. Archived from the original on 2013-05-02. Retrieved2013-07-21.

18 External links• Municipality of Abu Dhabi City

• Abu Dhabi information portal, abudhabi.ae

• Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority, ADAA

• Department of Municipal Affairs Portal, abud-habi.ae

• Abu Dhabi at DMOZ

• Jobs in Abu Dhabi

• 2030 transport master plan, dot.abudhabi.ae

• Banking in Abu Dhabi, rakbankdirect.ae

• Abu Dhabi Facebook Page, facebook.com

• Abu Dhabi Community Page, abudhabipage.com

• Abu Dhabi Education News

• Main Tourist Attractions

• Long Term Car Rental in UAE

15

19 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

19.1 Text

• Abu Dhabi Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu%20Dhabi?oldid=645805778 Contributors: SimonP, Zoe, Edward, Zocky, Ahoer-stemeier, Stan Shebs, J'raxis, Александър, Scott, Jiang, WhisperToMe, Wik, Tpbradbury, Kaare, Nv8200p, Morven, Bloodshedder, Jusjih,PuzzletChung, Phil Boswell, Robbot, Klehti, Moncrief, JosephBarillari, Modulatum, Academic Challenger, Bkell, Modeha, Lzur, Arun,Centrx, Isam, Marcika, Everyking, Gilgamesh, Frankthetank, SWAdair, Bobblewik, Golbez, Wmahan, Philnvon, Utcursch, Andycjp, Shib-boleth, Knutux, Williamb, Bumm13, Beginning, Picapica, Hillel, Trevor MacInnis, Gazpacho, Ta bu shi da yu, Heegoop, RossPatterson,Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Brutannica, Pmsyyz, Vsmith, SocratesJedi, Dbachmann, MarkS, WegianWarrior, Bender235,Plugwash, El C, Mwanner, Tom, AreJay, Gmarine3000, Bobo192, C S, Viriditas, Jojit fb, Scotthatton, Darwinek, Tcp-ip, Axyjo, Justinc,Jumbuck, Gary, Buaidh, FaustX, Eric Kvaalen, CyberSkull, Trench, Kallumama, Andrew Gray, Fritzpoll, Walkerma, Radical Mallard,Pha0013, SidP, Suruena, DubbaG, Ttownfeen, Deror avi, RyanGerbil10, Kenyon, Siafu, Bobrayner, Boothy443, Woohookitty, Rocastelo,Ratzer, Tabletop, Idwood, Karmosin, Kralizec!, Polar, ThorstenS, Isewell, Palica, Obersachse, Graham87, Marskell, Mendaliv, Rjwilmsi,Koavf, Gryffindor, Halidecyphon, Vegaswikian, ElKevbo, Peripatetic, D.C. 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16 19 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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