Page 189 - UAE Truncal States
P. 189

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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