UAE now and 40 year ago

In the 20th century, the Arab world wasn't very well known. It was isolated from the world because they did not interact with them. Modernization appeared in the middle of the 20th century and that is when the Arab world was revealed.

Before 1971 the United Arab Emirates were separate emirates. People's lives were so different from now. They all lived on the coast because they couldn’t live in the dessert where it is hard to get food or water. They had very small houses made of mud and rocks and they were very close to each other.

Men either owned their own shop or they would work as sailors and women just worked as housewives where they cooked, cleaned, sewed etc.

Their education was limited, they first learned how to read and write but after many years it grew. Only men were educated at that time but then women started getting education at the late 60's.
The population size was so small that people living in an emirate would know everyone around.

After the discovery of the oil and petrol and after the union of the seven emirates, the country grew so quick that it became one of the fastest growing countries in the world. Roads, buildings, schools and hospitals were built. The country was an unexpected surprise to the world.
Forty years ago the UAE was nothing but a dessert but it grew to be part of the modern world. It became one of the most popular countries in the world.