Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was born in 1918 and became the ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1927 after his father's death. As ruler, he transformed the poor, undeveloped emirate of Abu Dhabi into a prosperous nation by developing the economy and infrastructure after the discovery of oil. Sheikh Zayed is respected for uniting the seven emirates of the UAE and driving development that improved living standards. Today, his son Khalifa continues his legacy of modernizing and developing the UAE.