Introduction Four decades ago, the economy of the Trucial States or United Arab Emirates (UAE) was a simple subsistence economy dependant on agriculture, nomadic animal husbandry, fishing, seafaring and extraction and trade in pearls and ranked among the least developed countries of the world (Library of Congress 18). This reflected the limited natural resources the country had. Today, UAE ranks among the most industrialized nations. The process of industrialization for this country started in 1970s after the discovery of oil. The country realizes enormous revenues from oil and natural gas which has transformed it into a high mass consumption nation within a short period of time. Unlike other developed nations which have passed through lengthy and difficult process of saving and building up capital resources for development, UAE reaped into this status without much difficult due to the large revenues brought in by oil and natural gas (UNDP 10). The country embarked on a resource-based industries strategy for economic growth and a huge deployment of income to ‘once-and-for-all’ social and economic development projects which have made it grow within a short time frame (Nourallah 19). The country has further become one of the most prosperous in the world with high GDP per capita and living standards (UNDP 45). The diversification of the economy from one driven by oil to a strong service sector which includes logistics, tourism, and financial services and recently committed focus on knowledge capital have made the country very competitive. The World Economic Forum ranked the country position 25 out of 139 nations in Global competitiveness Index in 2010-2011 period. This has been enabled by remarkable political stability and a government that is committed to economic development and prosperity (Emirates Competitiveness Council 18). UAE had a small population of about 4,975,593 people in 2005 national census which has grown from the estimated eighty six thousand people in 1961 according to Abed and Hellyer. The population increase was a result of mainly due to improvements in diet, health care and general living standards and from importation of foreign labor. This later factor has led the country to become expatriate labor dependent and the Emirati population account for only 20%. The other 80% of the population is mainly made up of immigrants from Asian countries; which take the biggest chunk, Arabs, Europeans, and Americans (UNDP 25). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors that led to the economic and social development in UAE so as to give the reader an insight into the features of UAE as they appear, experience and live in this country. This analysis is important in overall knowledge as well as in advising on what a country needs to do so as to realize economic and social development. The paper covers the stages in which UAE economic and social development passed and the historical developments that are related to them. The factors that led to this phenomenal development are outlined and discussed as well as their importance and origin. The paper is concluded by giving a summary of the discussion and the writer’s expectations of the future of UAE Stages of economic and social development The UAE’s economy has come a long way from the simple subsistence economy relaying on limited natural resources to w