Abu Dhabi (in Arabic: Abu Zabi), literally Father of gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. Abu Dhabi houses important offices of the federal government, and is the seat for the United Arab Emirates Government and the home for the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE from this family. Abu Dhabi has grown to be a cosmopolitan metropolis. Its rapid development and urbanization, coupled with the relatively high average income of its population, has transformed Abu Dhabi to a larger and advanced metropolis. Today the city is the country's center of political, industrial activities, and a major ultural, and commercial centre due to its position as the capital
Abu Dhabi is full of archeological evidence pointing to civilizations having been located there from the 3rd millennium BCE. Settlements were also found further out of the modern city of Abu Dhabi but close to the modern city of Al Ain.
There is evidence of civilizations around the mountain of Hafeet (Jebel Hafeet). This location is very strategic because it is the UAE’s second tallest mountain so it would have great visibility and it contains a lot of moisture in the form of springs and lakes today, which means there would have been even more back thousands of years ago
Prior to 1892, when a formal treaty was made between Abu Dhabi and Great Britain, Abu Dhabi worked in the pearl business and traded with others. According to a source about pearling the Persian Gulf was the best location for pearls. Pearl divers dove for 1-1.5 minutes and would have dived up to 30 times per day. There were no oxygen tanks and any other sort of mechanical device was forbidden. The divers had a leather nose clip and leather coverings on their fingers and big toes to protect them while they search for oysters. The divers were not paid for a day’s work but received a portion of the season’s earnings.
The city of Abu Dhabi is geographically located on the north-eastern part of the Persian Gulf in the Arabian Peninsula. It is on an island located less than 250 meters from the mainland and is joined to the mainland by the Maqta and Mussafah Bridges. A third, Sheikh Zayed Bridge, designed by Zaha Hadid, was opened in late 2010. Abu Dhabi island is also connected to Saadiyat Island by a 5-lane motorway bridge. Al-Mafraq bridge connects the city to Reem Island and was completed in early 2011. This is a multilayer interchange bridge and it has a total of 27 lanes which allow roughly 25 thousand automobiles to move per hour. There are three major bridges of the project, the largest has 8 lanes, four leaving Abu Dhabi city and four coming in.
Most of Abu Dhabi is located on the island itself, but it has many suburbs on the mainland for example: Khalifa City A,B and C, Al Raha Beach, Al Bahia City A,B and C, Al Shahama, Al Rahba, Between Two Bridges, Baniyas and Mussafah Residential.
Abu Dhabi has a hot arid climate. Sunny/blue skies can be expected throughout the year. The months of June through September are generally hot and humid with maximum temperatures averaging above 35 °C (95 °F). During this time, sandstorms also occur intermittently, in some cases reducing visibility down to a few meters.
The weather is cooler from November to March. This period also sees dense fog on some days. The oasis city of Al-Ain, about 150 km (93 mi) away, bordering Oman, regularly records the highest summer temperatures in the country; however, the dry desert air and cooler evenings make it a traditional retreat from the intense summer heat and year round humidity of the capital city.
