In
1820,
Great Britain destroyed the pirate fleets of seven small
emirates (
city-states, really) on the south coast of the
Persian Gulf, and bound them together by truces:
These formed a British protectorate called the
Trucial States or
Trucial Oman. In
1967 Trucial Oman joined
OPEC. In
1971, the Emirates adopted a provisional
constitution, and renamed themselves the "United Arab Emirates".
Up until
1996, the Emirates were considered as seven
independent countries (by the
United States, at least). I remember looking up trade figures for various countries and seeing trading partners I had never heard of -- until I found out they were part of the UAE.
In 1996, the UAE adopted a new
constitution placing a permanent capital at
Abu Dhabi.
Sources:
http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/trucialoman.htm
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/uae.html
http://www.cultural.org.ae