History

1820 - Britain and local rulers sign a treaty to combat piracy along the Gulf coast. From this, and later agreements, the area becomes known as the Trucial Coast.
1950s - Oil is discovered.
1952 - The seven emirates form a Trucial Council.
1971 November - Iran occupies the islands of Greater and Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa.
Federation formed
1971 December - After independence from Britain, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujayrah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Qaywayn come together as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sheikh Zayed Bin-Sultan Al Nuhayyan presides over the federation.
1972 - Ras al-Khaymah joins the federation.
 1972 February - Federal National Council (FNC) is created; it is a 40 member consultative body appointed by the seven rulers.
1986 October - Sheikh Zayed Bin-Sultan Al Nuhayyan is re-elected as UAE president - his fourth term.
Coup attempt
1991 - UAE forces join the allies against Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait. 
1994 June - 11 of the 12 former BCCI executives accused of fraud are given jail sentences and ordered to pay compensation.

Islands disputed

1996 - Iran fuels the dispute over Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb by building an airport on Abu Musa and a power station on Greater Tunb.

1996 June - Two BCCI executives are cleared of fraud charges on appeal.

2006 March - Political storm in the US forces state-owned Dubai Ports World to relinquish control of terminals at six major American ports. Critics of the ports deal feared an increased risk of terrorist attack, saying the UAE was home to two of the 9/11 hijackers.

2008 January - France and the UAE sign a deal allowing France to set up a permanent military base in the UAE's largest emirate, Abu Dhabi.

2009 March - Sulim Yamadayev, a rival of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, died after an apparent assassination in Dubai.

2010 January - Burj Khalifa tower opens in Dubai as the world's tallest building and man-made structure. Known as Burj Dubai during construction, it was renamed after ruler of neighbouring Abu Dhabi and UAE president Sheikh Khalifa al-Nahyan at completion.

Brother of Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Khalifa, Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, cleared of charges that he tortured a business associate on a video circulated in 2009.

Palestinian militant leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh is killed in a Dubai hotel, in a hit widely blamed on Israel.







The First UAE president Zayed



The Burj Khalifa under construction