Talk:Abu Dhabi

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should not reem island be menntioned her (since dubai have all ther big project added )?

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Was this area really not settled until the 1700s? Tuf-Kat 06:59, Oct 2, 2003 (UTC)

Most likely the tribe mingled with existing residents in the area, but the dtuy might well have had no permanent inhabitants. These were all nomads; and to this day there are still quite a few that live the nomadic lifestyle, the main change being the addition of cellphones. 1/2 :-) But I just wrote what Abu Dhabi says about itself, don't have a massive tome of Arabian history to work from. Stan 13:08, 2 Oct 2003 (UTC)

No, Abu Dhabi Island was not settled before ca. 1760. Which does not mean the Island was not 'used' earlier (see below under Translation of "Abu Dhabi" and 'father of the gazelle'). --x@x 19:25, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 Link suggestions 2 Emirate and City 3 Disambiguation 4 Garfield and irony 5 i used to live there... 6 no mention of BCCI? 7 no mention of BCCI? 8 Translation of "Abu Dhabi"

[edit] Link suggestions

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Name of ruler Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan should be mentioned somewhere...

[edit] Emirate and City

Does anyone familiar with the area think it would be useful to have two articles: this one, Abu Dhabi (Emirate) and another Abu Dhabi (City). The images are just of the city itself which is a little misleading. The images simply show the city itself and the article doesn't make things perfectly clear. The Emirate as a whole is actually quite massive though most of it is desert. Marskell 18:46, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I lived a while in a quite remote area in the Emirate near the town of Ruwais. Have a look on the German article [1] on Wikipedia. I have added some Cities there. But there are not much information available except maybe Al Ain. The section is reporting about that motorway in the night illuminated all the way long and some stuff on desalination and power plants. Have also a look on the links to the cities ("Halbinsel"=paninsula). Contact me if more information are required, maybe I can help. -ThorstenS 11:48, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I agree with Marskell. If nobody objects, I will attempt to separate the article into two parts shortly. -- Earle Martin [^t/_c] 16:41, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Disambiguation

Abu Dhabi is also the name of submission wrestling event.

Trench 21:01, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

In that case, this information would be much more usefully added to submission wrestling, which doesn't mention it. siafu 22:49, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

I am currently trying to get some info about the event on the submission wrestling article. I thought I'd mention it here as the competition is almost always refered to solely as 'Abu Dhabi'. In fact before checking here I had no idea Abu Dhabi was a place :). If the general consensus is that there's no need for any mention of it in this piece that's fine. Anyone else have any other thoughts? - Trench 20:11, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

I have heard the Submission Wrestling event refered to as the "ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship" and the "Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championship" (ADCC stands for Abu Dhabi Combat Club" Unfortunately the ADCC doesnt have an article yet.

I have been a member of the ADCC and have the patch to prove it, I was a student of Ju-jitsu. It is situated near the abu dhabi equistrian club. The wrestling event is indeed the Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championship and it takes place in the combat club yearly. Angrynight 21:06, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship now has it's own page. I'm not certain if it's notable enough to be mentioned in this article. Abu Dhabi has hosted all but one of the events. -- Trench 20:29, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Garfield and irony

"The cartoon cat Garfield would often put his nemesis, the kitten Nermal, in a box and ship him to Abu Dhabi. A common phrase from Garfield: "Abu Dhabi is where all the cute kittens go". Ironically, there is an active non-profit society named Feline Friends in Abu Dhabi and the other towns in the UAE which specialises in finding homes for abandoned or stray cats and kittens."

This paragraph combines two of my favourite hot-button issues: cats and misuse of the word 'ironically'. Irony is difficult to define briefly and precisely, but it implies something unexpected. Good example: it is ironic that the song 'Ironic' by Alanis Morisette does not mention a single thing that is actually ironic. Rain is as likely on your wedding day as any other day, other things (e.g. season) being equal. Only if you set your wedding date according to when the weather forecast said it wouldn't rain, and it rained, would it be ironic. And so on. It would be ironic that there is a cats' protection society in Abu Dhabi only if Garfield sent Nermal to Abu Dhabi because he believed that they killed and ate cats, or something. I'm going to reword the paragraph, hope no-one objects. --Last Malthusian 11:12, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] i used to live there...

I go back to visit every now and again. If there are any others who live there or used to I invite them to improve the page. It is a relativley small city and yet capital of a country which has been appearing a lot in the news lately. There are numerous expatriates who have experience being there as well. Angrynight 21:10, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I live in Abu Dhabi, but nothing big ever happens around here (which is a good thing) so I doubt there's anything more to add to the article. Maybe Dubai though, it's a lot more active. --195.229.242.55 20:10, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] no mention of BCCI?

"...the greatest victim, by far, is the tiny Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi, which is today deeply humiliated and embittered by the whole affair.

By the FT's estimate, Abu Dhabi's exposure to BCCI and related entities amounts to Dollars 9.4bn. This includes direct investment in BCCI, official deposits placed with the bank and the enormous cost of propping up BCCI as it tottered to its end.

Some of this may be recovered when the bank's remaining assets are liquidated - but most has gone for good. Even this immense sum amounts to only nine months' worth of the Dollars 12bn that Abu Dhabi earns from oil sales each year. For Abu Dhabi, the loss of face has been far more wounding."

David Lascelles, Banking Editor, Richard Donkin, Alan Friedman, Christina Lamb, Richard Tomkins, Bernard Simons, Chris Tighe, Jimmy Burns, James Buxton, Stephen Fidler And Richard Waters, "BCCI, Behind Closed Doors: The biggest bank fraud in history", Financial Times, November 9, 1991

[edit] no mention of BCCI?

I heard that no neighborhood in the city is older than a few decades.

[edit] Translation of "Abu Dhabi"

There was no translation of "Abu Dhabi" so I've added "Father of Gazelle." If this translation can be improved, those with Arabic-language expertise should do so. Badagnani 22:13, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

In Arabic, "Abu Dhabi" means "gazelle's owner" or "gazelle's father". However, I am not familiar with the history of this name.

Father of the Gazelle is correct
Abu Dhabi does indeed mean 'Father of the Gazelle', where 'father' may be taken to mean 'land' as well. The name reflect the local lore that tells the story of the Bani Yas tribe hunting a gazelle. They followed the animal onto what is now Abu Dhabi island (earlier know as Mleih), where they suddenly found it to drink fresh water from a well or spring. The presence of fresh water prompted the start of a permanent settlement, beginning with the construction of a tower (later the Qasr al-Hosn) to guard the well.

Most likely the Bani Yas were active on the island some time before the settlement (fishing, pearling), but the lack of water prevented more permanent settling. --x@x 19:23, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

"Father of Oryx" is probably a closer translation. --Zenjibar 11:17, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Yesterday, I wrote: "Good point, strictly speaking I think a gazelle would normally be a "Reem" rather than a "Dhabi", but there may be many more words that mean one or another type of gazelle..". However, my dictionary does give "dhabi" (ظبى)for gazelle together with "ghazal" (غزال), and something else for oryx: المارية : ضرب من بقر الوحش الأفريقي to be precise. So I guess Oryx is not a good translation after all. But I am open to be convinced otherwise.. --x@x 09:47, 31 October 2006 (UTC)