Last Thursday (01/20/09) we finished with the U.S. capital cities. Now I'm going to try something a bit more expansive. I have a list of the "National Capitals" and am going to start visiting them. I hope people who visit enjoy "The Trip Around The World."The first one on the list is Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The photos are: 1) the Abu Dhabi skyline; 2) the tower-lined Hamdan Street; 3) the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) headquarters, aka, the ADIA Tower; 4) Qasr al-Hosn, the oldest building in the city of Abu Dhabi; 5) a public park in the city; 6) the Sheik Zayed Mosque; and 7) the Emirates Palace Hotel.
Abu Dhabi is the capital and second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after Dubai. It is also the seat of government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which is ruled by Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan – the President of the UAE. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. Approximately 860,000 people lived in Abu Dhabi as of 2007. One of the world's largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to diversify its economy in recent years through investments in financial services and tourism.
Parts of Abu Dhabi were settled in the 3rd millennium BC and its early history fits the nomadic herding and fishing pattern typical of the broader region. Modern Abu Dhabi traces its origins to the rise of an important tribal confederation, the Bani Yas, in the late 18th century, which also subsequently assumed control of the town of Dubai. In the 19th century the Dubai and Abu Dhabi branches parted ways.
Into the mid-20th century, the economy of Abu Dhabi continued to be sustained mainly by camel herding, production of dates and vegetables at the inland oases of Al Ain and Liwa Oasis, and fishing and pearl diving off the coast of Abu Dhabi city, which was occupied mainly during the summer months. Most dwellings in Abu Dhabi city were, at this time constructed of palm fronds (barasti), with the wealthier families occupying mud huts. The growth of the cultured pearl industry in the first half of the twentieth century created hardship for residents of Abu Dhabi as pearls represented the largest export and main source of cash earnings.
In 1939, Sheikh Shakhbut Bin-Sultan Al Nahyan granted petroleum concessions, and oil was first found in 1958. At first, oil money had a marginal impact. A few lowrise concrete buildings were erected, and the first paved road was completed in 1961, but Sheikh Shakbut, uncertain whether the new oil royalties would last, took a cautious approach, preferring to save the revenue rather than investing it in development. His brother, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, saw that oil wealth had the potential to transform Abu Dhabi. The ruling Al Nahyan family decided that Sheikh Zayed should replace his brother as ruler and carry out his vision of developing the country. On August 6, 1966, with the assistance of the British, Sheikh Zayed became the new ruler.
With the announcement by the UK in 1968 that it would withdraw from the Persian Gulf area by 1971, Sheikh Zayed became the main driving force behind the formation of the United Arab Emirates.
After the Emirates gained independence in 1971, oil wealth continued to flow to the area and traditional mud-brick huts were rapidly replaced with banks, boutiques and modern highrises.
The emirate of Abu Dhabi is located in the oil-rich and strategic United Arab Emirates and is an active member of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC). It borders with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (south) and the Sultanate of Oman (east). The emirate borders the emirate of Dubai to its northeast. In the north is the Persian Gulf.
Abu Dhabi city is on an island located less than 250 metres from the mainland and is joined to the mainland by the Maqta and Mussafah Bridges. A third bridge, designed by Zaha Hadid, is currently under construction. Bridges connecting to Reem Island and Saadiyat Island are also under construction and should be completed in 2011.
Most of Abu Dhabi is located on the island itself, but it has many suburbs on the mainland for example: the Khalifa A, Khalifa B, Rhaha Beach, Between Two Bridges, Baniyas and Mussafah Residential.
Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest emirate of the UAE in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and per capita income. The average net worth for Abu Dhabi's 420,000 citizens is AED 62 million (US$ 17 million), and more than $1 trillion is invested worldwide in this city alone. The GDP per capita also reached $63,000, which is far above the average income of the United Arab Emirates and which ranks third in the world after Luxembourg and Norway. Abu Dhabi is also planning many future projects sharing with the 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: in 2006 the per capita income grew by 9%, providing a GDP per capita of $49,700 and ranking third in the world at Purchasing power parity. Abu Dhabi plays a large role in the world economy. Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), currently estimated at US$ 875 billion, is the world's wealthiest sovereign fund, in terms of total asset value.
Today's Jumble (01/24/09):
VENIA = NAIVE; TALEE = ELATE; LACCIO = CALICO; LUNYUR = UNRULY
1438 - The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
1679 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament.
1742 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1776 - Henry Knox arrives at Cambridge, Massachusetts with the artillery that he has transported from Fort Ticonderoga.
1826 - Mississippi College is founded in Clinton, becoming the first college in the state of Mississippi.
1848 - California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.
1857 - The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first full-fledged university in south Asia.
1859 - Political union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected as ruler.
1862 - Bucharest proclaimed capital of Romania.
1878 - The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.
1887 - Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians.
1916 - In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
1918 - The Gregorian calendar introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective from February 14(NS)
1924 - Petrograd, formerly Saint Petersburg, Russia, is renamed Leningrad.
1943 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
1952 - Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.
1961 - 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. One weapon nearly detonates; its uranium core is still lost.
1966 - An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117.
1972 - Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
1977 - Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy.
1978 - Soviet satellite Cosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor onboard, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
1984 - The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
1986 - Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 km (50,680 miles) of Uranus.
1993 - Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu is assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara.
1996 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow.
2002 - American journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan.
2003 - The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
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