Abu Dhabi is the capital of the seven-member United Arab Emirates (UAE). With a population of 921,000, it is the second-largest city in the United Arab Emirates. Fifty years ago the city was not much more than a fishing village with a fort, huts and above all, the desert. Today, it is one of the world’s largest producers of oil and is a cosmopolitan metropolis experiencing rapid development and appealing to tourists from Europe and across the Middle East. The city has a more laid-back atmosphere and is more authentically Arab and less westernized than the other major UAE city, Dubai.