Page 31 - UAE Truncal States

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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