Biography of a Tolerant Nation

Abstract

Officially designated the “Year of Tolerance” by the local government, 2019 has been defined by the largesse of institutionally supported and funded initiatives in the United Arab Emirates aimed at promoting appreciation of intercultural diversity and awareness across a wide spectrum of the social scene. The country consists of seven emirates, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujeirah, Ras A1 Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Qaiwan, which were unified on December 2,1971. With a local population of Emiratis, or Nationals of roughly 1 million, the UAE has been anything but lacking diversity, especially since the 1950s after the momentous discovery of vast oil reserves in the Arab Gulf and the explosive growth of the population. The World Bank cites an overall population size of 92,418 in 1960, while for 2018 the statistics show a population of 9,630,959, more than a hundredfold increase; about 89 percent of the population is expatriate (“United Arab Emirates”).