Abu Dhabi. Oil-Rich Capital of the UAE

just a few decades ago this place was inhabited by fishermen and pearl collectors but it all changed in the nineteen sixties when they discovered large deposits of oil and what you see today is the luxurious abu-dhabi that wants to be one of the best capitals in the world so let's take a look at this wonderful city hey guys in this video we're gonna talk about Abu Dhabi the United Arab Emirates consists of seven separate emirates the largest of them being Abu Dhabi which occupies 87% of the entire territory it owns 95 percent of the country's oil production and accounts for about two-thirds of the roughly 400 billion dollar UAE economy Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE the core of the city is a wedge-shaped island connected to the mainland by the bridges the wide end of the wedge forms the city centre for the Kurdish promenade running along the coast the city features modern skyscrapers and opulent shopping malls large Gardens parks and green boulevards all line in the city streets how is it possible to keep the city so green especially in the desert right you need a lot of water there are two sources of water available here desalinated seawater and groundwater unfortunately 90% of groundwater in Abu Dhabi is saline in some cases many times more than the actual seawater so the only option they have is to have a lot of desalination plants well before the money from the oil boom Abu Dhabi was just a coastal town thriving off the money made from the pearls the shallow Arabian Gulf waters provided an ideal environment for purlins because oyster beds were shallow enough for divers to reach that modern scuba equipment more than a thousand votes would go out to sea for pearls 420 days at the beginning of the summer to return only in September eventually the pearl industry came to an end because Japan learned to cultivate artificial pearls luckily everything changed in 1958 when oil was discovered and it is from this period that the development of modern Abu Dhabi begins in 1971 Seven Kingdoms United in to one state of the UAE Abu Dhabi became the capital and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan became the first president today Abu Dhabi holds 9% of the world's proven oil reserves and 5% of the world's natural gas you'll see headquarters of numerous oil companies in the city like AB NOC which stands for Abu Dhabi national oil company it's one of the world's largest energy companies but it's not just oil they have a full-scale industrial complex cement plants pipe rolling plants and building materials factories much more population is growing fast in 2013 it was 921,000 in 2018 it was already 1,450,000 locals make up just about 20% of the population the rest are foreigners while highly skilled professionals that mostly come from Europe and the US get high salaries regular jobs don't really pay that much say a taxi driver makes about six or eight hundred dollars a month but it's still a lot of money for people coming from Pakistan Bangladesh Nigeria and Uganda Gerald good you come from I come from you can do you like looking up Dhabi yeah is it difficult to drive in Abu Dhabi it's difficult for new drivers but once you get used his worries of the business so much complicating the roads asteroid what about the fines what if you're caught speeding like how much is a fine of course you have to take the finest the fines are so huge here they give me an example um like now if you offer speed if you go above the speed limits the flying start from 300 raha okay it goes up to 1,000 plus Oh anyone you find it how fast [Music] you AE Nationals receive a lot of perks from the government for example the newlyweds will normally receive a land lot for building a house and at least $20,000 as a gift for outstanding students the state will cover the tuition at any university in the world it is also not unusual for the government to be so generous as to settle the debt owned by the Nationals the country is now implement in the Abu Dhabi 2030 economic vision plan part of that plan is to grow local professionals that would be able to compete with the expats for high-ranking positions the goal is to replace 75% of managers and engineers with UAE Nationals by 2030 so they know that education is paramount there's a number of international schools including government sponsored New York University Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and others Abu Dhabi has a hot desert climate and it never rains well almost in the summer between May and September it's hot and humid and feels like a sauna with temperatures in many days over 40 degrees Celsius that is 104 Fahrenheit now it doesn't come as a surprise that it gets really hot during the summer in this country so how can you get away from the heat well you can use a bus stop which is air-conditioned how convenient I feel so much better never the best time to visit the city is in the so called winter season from November till March now let's take a look at different parts of the city the best place to start is the Abu Dhabi knish which is a prominent that stretches for 8 kilometers along the waterfront and it's home to many hotels and malls making it a desirable place to live [Music] the corniche Beach was accorded the status of a blue flag beach in 2011 just a few steps away from the central business district and all the skyscrapers of Abu Dhabi you can always find it place we can relax on the beach blue waters and wide sand it doesn't get better than this let's go swimming walking along the promenade you'll see the Emirates Palace Hotel one of the most luxurious hotels in the world you can go inside even if you're not a guest and admired the luxury of the interior one of the most iconic features of the hotel is the dome in it's a dream the most impressive part of which is the 22 karat gold leaf that covers the inside of it known as the third most expensive hotel in the world to build the Emirates Palace cost three billion dollars to construct that's almost twice as expensive as Burj Khalifa in Dubai it will cost you around $400 a night if you want to stay at this luxurious record-breaking hotel opposite the hotel you'll see Etihad towers which is graceful complex a five skyscrapers with residential apartments offices and hotels did you know that the Etihad towers and the Emirates Palace Hotel were used as filming locations for the movie Furious 7 in which Clarence rush through the Beldon and smash through the windows of the towers at the end of the corniche road you'll see the presidential palace it's set on a hundred and fifty hectares and it includes an Palace and mini Gardens it probably doesn't come as a surprise that you're going to see a lot of nice cars in the city streets [Music] now let's take a look at some other parts of the city the city is very much spread out with most sites concentrated on the Central Park yes Island and study at Island let's take a look at different parts of the city for an action-packed day you'll want to have two Yas Island which was created in 2006 with one thing in mind entertainment it is located 40 kilometers away from the city centre here you will find Ferrari work it's an amusement park that includes the Guinness Book of World Records fastest roller coaster in the world formula Rossa that will take you from 0 to 240 kilometers an hour in just five seconds there's also Yas Marina Circuit which is a Formula one racetrack Yas Waterworld waterpark Warner Brothers world theme park SeaWorld Abu Dhabi which is due to open in 2022 and it will be the first SeaWorld outside of the United States UAE roads are some of the best in the world no wonder UAE had the number one when it came to quality roads in the world for a number of years the speed limit on freeways is 140 kilometers an hour but honestly it doesn't really feel that fast because the road service is great although Abu Dhabi's in the desert the city is making great efforts to preserve its natural resources such as mangroves and turtle nesting spots let's take a look at yet another Island Sadia Island which is less than a kilometer off the shore of Abu Dhabi city centre I know you've heard of uber in Paris but here you'll find the louver Abu Dhabi which is an art and civilization museum I'm standing next to louver but I'm not in Paris France I'm in Abu Dhabi look at the dome it's made in a form of an artificial web so that the sunlight can get in now works of art have been collected from all over the world to bring east and west together let's go inside take a look it wasn't cheap the cost of the construction was about six hundred million euros on top of that five hundred and twenty five million was paid to be associated with a Louvre Ernie artworks from around the world are showcased of this museum with particular focus placed on bridging the gap between eastern and western heart soon the louver abu-dhabi will have the most expensive paintin in auction history Leonardo da Vinci's painting Salvator Mundi it was auctioned for 450 million by charli's in November 2017 the mystery buyer turned out to be a Saudi prince who had no history as a major art collector he later presented it to the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi the museum did not disclose whether it expected to receive the painting as a gift alone or rental all together the planning to invest 27 billion dollars into Saudi an island some highly anticipated museums are on the way Guggenheim Museum and Zayed National Museum besides the cultural district this island will have villas and high-end apartment blocks and it will be home to about 160,000 residents this has to be one of the most beautiful mosques in the world Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque oh this place is large enough to accommodate over 40,000 people [Music] it is surrounded by pools that emphasizes beauty there are four minarets on the four corners of the courtyard which rise about one hundred and seven meters in height the courtyard is 17,000 square meters and is considered to be the largest example of marble mosaic in the world the carpet in the main prayer hall is the largest in the world it measures 5,600 square meters and it's weight is 35 times [Music] to accomplish sheikh zayed grandma has seven chandeliers imported the Munich Germany that incorporate millions of Swarovski crystals [Music] [Music] Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan was the first president of the United Arab Emirates and his contribution to the development of the country cannot be overestimated and there is a memorial to him on knish wrote called the founders memorial one of the busiest and the most crowded places in the city is the AL minute fish market which is located in Minnesota and that's one of the largest ports in the Arabian Gulf that can accept up to five cruise ships at a time here you can choose some of the freshest fish and then have it cooked for you at the nearest restaurant a lot of fish spartacus better what's the name of this parrot fish better fish [Music] is it a lobster lobster okay a shrimp Wow and you do have very good scary oh hello Alan Thanks [Applause] how's the food good across the bridge you'll find marina city district with marina mall one of the largest malls in the city marina I which is a waterfront ferries will an iconic hotel which resembles Atlantis Hotel in Dubai called Fairmont Marina Abu Dhabi it was due to open in 2016 four years later and still not open you can also visit Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club that hosts local and international sports events if you want to see a typical Arabian village then you should visit heritage village this is a fascinating reconstruction of a desert oasis town it's located in Marina City district many people wonder what's gonna happen to Abu Dhabi when the oil deposits run out here is what khaldoon al mubarak one of the major developers of Abu Dhabi has to say about this quote you look at Dubai as an example Dubai has done a phenomenal job of transforming itself from 40 years ago highly dependent on oil to today pretty much a negligible I would say dependence of oil so that work in Abu Dhabi we've gone from 90% maybe dependence on oil to our GDP to now less than 35% so it's been a successful strategy and I think we should continue going down that route and quote [Music] in a bit to attract tourism and foreign investment the land sales to foreigners were allowed and restrictions of alcohol were loosened this advertisement says people of all nationalities can buy a real estate from us which makes you wonder has it not always been this way well apparently not the idea of diversifying the economy was also seen in Abu Dhabi economic vision 2030 according to this plan the economy should be sustainable and not dependent on any single source of revenue in September 2019 the construction of UAE s first official synagogue was announced to begin in 2020 as a part of the multi-faith Abrahamic family house complex in Abu Dhabi they also held a ceremony to grant licenses to 17 Christian churches and the first-ever traditional Hindu temple they are planning a metro line which will be 130 kilometers long and it should be opened by the end of 2020 what are some cool things to do in the city well you can do some shopping for perfumes the UAE is famous for its perfumes this is or you can shop for some carpets but they love the carpet centers even a carpet market some of them can be very pricey and cost several thousand dollars 50 plus some holes and few tourists in this is piece of art so this is something that can last for more than more than 100 years it does not really have age at all and in each carpet we could use more than more than two to thirteen colors where do the locals hang out because drinking is not part of the culture instead of hidden bars and pubs they come to fancy coffee shops and nice locations by the water like this one away from the tourists what is it like living here for foreigners well first of all salaries are tax-free that's great but you'll be renting while you staying here and it's not cheap a two-bedroom apartment in a high-end building on the corniche for example will be around thirty to fifty thousand dollars a year another disadvantage is that for some Reynolds you will have to sign a yearly lease and even pay the rent upfront alcohol is restricted and is only available at licensed restaurants and bars and at some hotels foreigners will have to get used to the sound of the cold to prayer five times a day and dress more conservatively when it comes to nightlife Abu Dhabi cannot compete with Dubai but that's not a problem in fact Dubai is just a hundred and thirty kilometers away and that's about a 90-minute drive so people go back and forth frequently I really enjoyed my stay in Abu Dhabi a modern-day Arabian miracle thanks for watching guys and let me know what you think in the comments [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: CoolVision

Views: 3,470,592

Rating: 4.8133297 out of 5

Keywords: uae, abu dhabi, abu dabi, ferrari world, louvre, loover abu dhabi, corniche, capital uae, Abu Dhabi 4K

Id: TnOr5O-vQF8

Length: 21min 21sec (1281 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 01 2020