
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, who oversaw the transformation of his country into a global economic power, has died at 73.
Early Life: Khalifa was born on Sept. 7, 1948, in Abu Dhabi, which was one of the seven Persian Gulf sheikhdoms that existed as British protectorates under the banner of the Trucial States. The sheikhdoms would join together as an independent UAE in 1971, with Khalifa’s father Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as the nation’s first president.