Page 31 - UAE Truncal States
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Chapter Onn
                  companies which hold concessions to explore for and produce oil in
                   lhe UAE. the majority of the shareholders used to bo major American
                  and European oil companies in various groupings. During the early
                  1970s japanese companies found a footing in the area. Soon
                  afterwards the governments of the oil-producing countries look an
                  equity share in the oil companies operating on their land, and they
                  have sought markets for their share of the crude oil, thereby
                  broadening and diversifying their economic links with the rest of the
                  world.

                  A country of the “Middle East”
                  Although the UAE is separated by hundreds of miles of desert from
                  the traditional centres of the Middle East, it forms a part of this
                  greater geographical unit. The very wording of the term ‘‘Middle
                  East” indicates that the region is viewed from the direction of
                  Western Europe. Much of the region’s historical importance in recent
                  centuries stemmed from the fact that it was in the middle, that is
                  between Europe and the European interests in India and the Far
                  East. Besides this crucial function as a gateway, the Middle East was
                  by necessity of its geographical position influenced by the strategic
                  importance of the Mediterranean to the whole of Europe. Thus, the
                  Levant and Egypt have been for centuries focal points within the
                  geographical unit of the Middle East.
                    As the constellations of the worldwide balance of power shift
                  away from a predominantly European context, the Pacific and Indian
                  Oceans gain in importance. For strategic reasons, the eastern
                  extremities of the Middle East are of increasing worldwide interest.
                  The rising demand for oil gives the producing countries of the Gulf
                  greater economic strength and political weight both within the
                  Middle East and throughout the whole world. One third of the
                  Western World’s oil consumption passed through the Straits of
                  Hormuz in 1978, before the oil-production of Iran was reduced in the
                  wake of political changes there.

                  Geographical features of the country

                  General
                  The UAE forms part of the geographical subdivision of south-eastern
                  Arabia, together with its western neighbour, Qatar, and its eastern
                  neighbour, the Sultanate of Oman.2 It has some 750 kilometres of
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