Fifty-four years ago today, on December 2, 1971 (October 15, 1971 in the lunar calendar), the United Arab Emirates was officially proclaimed. President Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates On December 2, 1971, six emirates in the Arabian Gulf region officially announced the establishment of the United Arab Emirates. The six emirates are: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain. They have been under the so-called "protection" of Britain for a long time. On the morning of the founding of the United Arab Emirates, the rulers of these six emirates held a meeting in Dubai and elected Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, as the president of the United Arab Emirates, and Rashid bin Saeed Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, as the vice president, both for a term of five years. They have been sworn in in accordance with constitutional procedures. The meeting also appointed Crown Prince Maktoum bin Rashid Maktoum of Dubai as Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. On December 6th, the Arab League joined the League through the United Arab Emirates at a special meeting, becoming its eighteenth member state. On December 9th, at the plenary meeting of the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly, a resolution recommended by the Security Council to admit the United Arab Emirates as a member was adopted. According to reports at the time: The United Arab Emirates consists of six emirates on the Arabian Peninsula: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Qawain and Fujairah. It covers an area of more than 81,000 square kilometers. The population is about 160,000, mostly Arabs. The main language is Arabic. The capital city, Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates is rich in oil resources, of which Abu Dhabi has known reserves of more than 1.57 billion tons, and its output reached 32.8 million tons in 1970; Dubai's known reserves are more than 130 million tons, with a production of 4.2 million tons in 1970. Since the 16th century, colonialists such as Portugal, the Netherlands and France have invaded this area one after another. In 1820, Britain occupied the area of today's United Arab Emirates, turning the emirates in this area into British "protectorates". The oppression and exploitation of the emirates by the colonialists aroused the resistance of the people of these countries. On December 2, 1971, the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain and Fujairah declared the establishment of the United Arab Emirates after the expiration of their original special treaties with the United Kingdom.