Since the discovery of petroleum in the late 1950s, the country has undergone extensive modernization. Because of huge profits from petroleum exports, the United Arab Emirates has one of the world's highest per capita gross national products. Less than 0.2 percent of the land can be cultivated. Wheat, barley, millet, fruits, and vegetables are grown with the aid of irrigation. Date palm and alfalfa are produced in oases.
Fishing is of some economic significance.
Dubai, with an extensive transit trade, is the chief seaport. The area became known as the Trucial Coast in 1853 when the Treaty of Maritime Peace in Perpetuity was signed. From 1873 to 1947 the region was administered by British India and after 1947 by the London Foreign Office. Each of the states maintained full internal control, however. In 1960 the Trucial States Council was formed, with representation from each state.