Because I literally didn't know the history of the UAE National Day myself until Wiki-ing this a few minutes ago, I thought rather than try to sound like I know what I'm talking about (I soo do not), I'll let Wikipedia do it's thing to explain a short history of the UAE to you:
"Prior to independence in 1971, the UAE was known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a 19th-century truce between the local sheikhs, hereditary rulers of the territories, and the United Kingdom. The term Pirate Coast was also used by some to refer to the emirates from the 18th to the early 20th century, owing to the preponderance of pirates operating from emirati ports.[10]
The UAE's political system, is based on its 1971 Constitution, which is composed of several intricately connected governing bodies. As a federation of seven monarchies, whose rulers retain absolute power within their emirates, but with a UAE president, it is neither a constitutional monarchy nor a republic. The emirs choose one of their members to be the president of the federation, but this does not alter the monarchical character of the government of the individual emirates. The constitution is concerned solely with the relations between the emirates as members of the federation, and does not prescribe a constitutional system of government.
Islam is the official religion of the UAE, and Arabic is the official language.[11]
UAE oil reserves are ranked as the world's sixth-largest[12] and it possesses one of the most developed economies in West Asia. It is the thirty-fifth-largest economy at market exchange rates, and has a high per capita gross domestic product (GDP), with a nominal per capita GDP of US$ 47,407 as per the International Monetary Fund (IMF).[13] It is 15th in purchasing power per capita and has a relatively high Human Development Index for the Asian continent, ranking thirtieth globally.[14] The UAE is classified as a high-income developing economy by the IMF."
What this means for ME is that I get my independence from my JOB for a few extra days. Yipeee! What else it means is that traffic will come to screeching halt for approximately four days while UAE locals literally party in the streets.
Talking about this celebration will certainly NOT do it justice, so I will do my best to show it to you in photos over the next few days. Stay tuned, if you are tuned at all.
*I did not take this photo
