Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, one of the most modern cities in the world today, is the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and Federal capital of the United Arab Emirates. It is the center of business life and headquarters of the emirates oil operating companies.
  
The city of Abu Dhabi, located on an island in the Gulf of Arabia just off the coast the UAE, boast a modern, artificial deep-water port and the Abu Dhabi international airport ranks among the best in the world. The architecture of its modern buildings and sky scrapers is the finest in the Middle East and the main thoroughfare is the 7-km (4-mi) long Corniche, a beautifully landscaped, sea-front boulevard.

The settlement of Abu Dhabi was founded in the 1760s and in 1795 became the seat of the rulers of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The town had only local significance until the discovery of vast oil reserves in the late 1950s. In 1971 the city was made the provisional federal capital of the newly formed United Arab Emirates, becoming its permanent capital in 1996.