Exploring Umm Al Quwain

Umm Al Quwain is one of seven emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The term 'emirate' compares roughly to the old term 'shiekhdom'. It is the last of the seven that I will have written about. To read about the emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, and Sharjah, please see my posts dated February 13, 2009 (Bye Bye, Dubai?), March 6, 2009 (Exploring Abu Dhabi), April 3, 2009 (Exploring Ajman), May 8, 2009 (Exploring Fujairah), June 12,2009 (Exploring Ras Al Khaimah), and July 17, 2009 (Exploring Sharjah). It has been a fascinating and enriching journey for me.

Umm Al Quwain's population is 41,000, which makes it the least populated of the seven UAE emirates.

gowealthy.com summarized the history of Umm Al Quwain:

"The history of Umm Al Quwain dates back to remote antiquity. The name Umm Al Quwain is derived from Umm Al Quwatain, which means "Mother of two powers", a reference to the powerful seafaring tradition of this emirate.

The earliest settlements in Umm Al Quwain had strong Hellenistic traits; some of these are more than 7,000 years old. Traces of these ancient communities are still discernible in Al Dour, near the town of Umm Al Quwain.

Arrowheads and other polished flint tools have been unearthed in various sites across the UAE, including Umm Al Quwain. And pieces of Ubaid pottery have been unearthed along the shores of the emirate; all evidence obtained so far indicate that contact with Mesopotamia existed as early as the 5th millennium BC as an indigenous ceramic industry did not emerge until the 3rd century BC.

During the Bronze Age (3000 – 1300 BC), semi-nomadic tribes inhabited the region; they shifted in groups from place to place foraging for timber from the indigenous acacia for smelting copper. The metal was sent to all the prominent ports on the Gulf, Umm Al Nar being one of them. Ties with Mesopotamia were jealously maintained and consequently the trade in copper ushered in prosperity in the region.

Also during the Bronze Age, agriculture flourished, with dates being the prominent crop. Wheat, millet and other grains were also cultivated wherever there was enough water for irrigation. It is now widely believed that the climate during the period was more temperate than now. Buildings, mostly fortress towers came up in the UAE, especially in Umm Al Quwain, during the Umm Al Nar period (2500 – 2000 BC). The most common buildings associated with this era are the circular burial tombs. In Alexander the Great’s day, Hellenistic culture thrived in the Al Dour settlement in Umm Al Quwain.

Al Dour was located roughly where the town of Umm Al Quwain is now. It was an important trading port from about 200 BC to 200 AD. The site is interesting not only due to its fort and cemeteries but also because of the discovery, of a temple which has been attributed to the sun god.

The modern history of Umm Al Quwain began some 200 years ago when the Al Ali tribe moved their capital from Al Sinniyah Island to its present location in the mid 18th century, when the sweet water supply dried up.

In 1775 Sheikh Majid Al Mu’alla, founder of the ruling Al Mu’alla lineage of the Al Ali clan, established an independent sheikhdom in Umm al-Quwain. The emirate became a British protectorate on Jan 8, 1820 when the then ruler Sheikh Abdullah I signed the General Maritime Treaty with the United Kingdom. Owing to its strategic position on the way to India, Umm Al Quwain, like Ajman, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah was made a salute state. And on Dec 2 1971, Sheikh Ahmad II joined the United Arab Emirates. The current ruler of Umm Al Quwain is Sheikh Rashid III bin Ahmad Al Mu’alla; he has reigned since 1981, when he succeeded his father Sheikh Ahmad II.

In the 21st century, Umm Al Quwain has made major economic and technological inroads and ranks as one of fastest developing emirates in the country."

How has the current economic crisis affected Umm Al Quwain? This question came to me as I had just read that the unemployment rate for Las Vegas is up to 13.1%. Do we have an unfortunate area of common interest with the citizens of this emirate? Unfortunately, yes.

recruitgulf.com has a page devoted to Umm Al Quwain. I clicked on each of the 30 job categories and found the following lead sentence on each of them:

"There are currently no job vacancies matching your particular criteria in Umm al-Quwain."

Let's hope that the job situation in Umm Al Quwain and Las Vegas reverses the current trend so we can both share prosperity again soon. Of course I want to expand that hope to all countries as well.

Check out the recreation. You might enjoy the emirate's Dreamland Aqua Park. If you can wait until 2015, the Umm Al Quwain Marina will be a site to see. With an expected completion date of 2011, White Bay sounds like a residential area not to miss, with "...an arrangement of 8 thousand leasehold residential units as waterfront villas, park-view villas, terraced condominiums, mid-rise apartments and townhouses...".

Can you see yourself enjoying these attractions, and chatting with local folks? I can. Such a vision makes the alleged differences between the citizens of the United States and the citizens of the United Arab Emirates seem trivial.

Forget what fearmongering politicians might want us to believe. Think for yourself. The benefits might surprise you.