Today, this modern metropolis has 600,000 residents. The gusher of oil wealth has spelled good times for the economy. Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE, has spread the good times around. The country boasts one of the world's best health care systems. In fact, if a local doctor can't provide a cure, the government will pay for treatment overseas.
Education is free, and every citizen is promised a job.
Locals do not pay income taxes, which might explain why so many foreigners try to get citizenship. In Abu Dhabi, I drove by row after row of palaces, each one more ornate than the next. The UAE is spending billions of dollars on desalinization plants. The gold souk, or market, looked as though Midas himself had paid a recent visit. Management calls it the world's only seven-star hotel.