50U is a book about the United Arab Emirates, the UAE. It was published on the occasion of the UAE’s golden jubilee: 50 years ago – December 2, 1971 – the confederation of seven Gulf states was officially declared.

50U tells the story of the UAE in 50 portraits of people, plants and places, painting an intimate picture of life in the Emirates, with the memories and expectations of its inhabitants. Over a period of just fifty years, they have witnessed the transformation of a partly nomadic, partly town-based community into a globally active metropolitan society. Interviews with a former minister, a fisherman, an astronaut, a fashion designer, an AI specialist, a female racing driver, a contemporary artist, a conservation expert, a Japanese baker, a tailor and many more tell first-hand what it is like to grow up in the UAE or to spend better part of one’s life in the region. An extensive photo essay by Charlie Koolhaas documents the present of ‘where the people are’, while a documentation of plant life shows what an amazing variety of species the desert contains.