Page 189 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Five

The Traditional Economies

1 General
The development of the one major natural resource, petroleum, found
within the territory of the Trucial States depended on people and
technologies imported from abroad; this together with the flow of oil
revenues produced an instantaneous increase in the area’s capacity
to accommodate a rapidly-growing immigrant population. This
radical change is in stark contrast to the period immediately
i
preceding the discovery and export of oil. The estimates of the
population figures in all the Trucial States in the first half of the
1950s show a decrease in numbers of almost every tribe and coastal
settlement as compared to the figures in the Gazetteer. The obvious
reason was the emigration of many of the able-bodied men to
neighbouring countries where they found work. The underlying
cause of this exodus was, given the lack of natural resources other
than pearls, the decline in this industry hastened by the opportu­
nities for men to work in the oil industry of neighbouring countries.
There was no alternative source of income for them at home. The
effects of the decline of the pearling industry since the 1930s show
how delicate the balance was between the local resources and the
number of people who could live off them.
The traditional economies of the region had not been static for
centuries, and there was a considerable movement within the society.
During the 18th and early 19th century, communications with India
improved considerably, opening greater opportunities to sell pearls
in this expanding market. Also the Perpetual Treaty of Peace signed
in 1853 meant that pearling communities could pursue their seasonal
occupation in greater security. A number of local factors combined to
decrease the percentage of predominantly nomadic families and to

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