ABU DAHBI

ABU DHABI

Abu Dhabi is the capital city of

the United Arab Emirates. It is the

second largest city in that country,

after Dubai. Abu Dhabi is an island

just 240 metres from the mainland.

Finding water

In 1760, a group of nomads

discovered a freshwater spring on

the island. They also found that the

island offered good fishing and was

easily protected. The nomads built

a small village of just 20 houses.

At this time, the island of Abu Dhabi

was a near-empty desert, a home

for wildlife. News of the discovery

of drinking water spread quickly

and within two years the village

had grown to 400 houses.

The pearl industry

In the 1800s, the people of Abu

Dhabi earned money by selling

pearls that were found in the By the sea around the island.

beginning of the 1930s, Abu Dhabi

was still poor. Its people survived by

collecting pearls, fishing, camel

herding and farming.

In the 1930s the pearling industry

of Abu Dhabi collapsed. This was

because people in Japan had discovered how to grow pearls artificially. These artificial pearls were much cheaper than the natural pearls the fishermen of Abu Dhabi collected.

Multiple Choice

What is an artificial pearl?

• it's fake

• it's man-made

• it's natural

The discovery of oil

Everything changed in 1958 when

huge quantities of oil were found off

the coast of Abu Dhabi. Later, other

deposits of oil were found on land

nearby. Abu Dhabi began to export

oil to other countries.

With the export of oil, Abu Dhabi’s

wealth grew rapidly. In IAA6 Abu

Dhabi became the capital city of the

United Arab Emirates. It now has a

population of 2.5 million. Today,

Abu Dhabi owns 10 per cent of the

world’s supply of oil and produces

AO per cent of the oil in the United

Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi now has wide highways,

with lots of traffic, tall office and

apartment blocks, a university and

 a huge airport. There are large

parks and gardens and many hotels

for tourists and business people.

Multiple Choice

Why did the pearling industry in Abu Dhabi collapse?

• its quality decreased.

• its expensive price

Open Ended

Write a short paragraph comparing between the past and the present of Abu dhabi