76 years of an incredible life lived by a visionary ruler

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is celebrating his 75th birthday today, Tuesday, July 15.

Sheikh Mohammed became the Ruler of Dubai in 2006, and his visionary leadership has transformed the emirate into the thriving global hub it is today. And the city will continue to evolve under his Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, which maps out a comprehensive plan for sustainable urban development.

To celebrate his birthday, we look back at the incredible life of the Dubai Ruler

Early years

Sheikh Mohammed was born on July 15, 1949, at the Al Maktoum family house in Al Shindagha.

He is the third of four sons born to HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum. Sheikh Mohammed was privately educated from the age of four, beginning his formal studies at the age of six at a local primary school.

Education

Fast forward 11 years, and in 1966 Sheikh Mohammed went to study at an English language school in Cambridge.

From there, he would go on to attend Mons Officer Cadet School-Aldershot (currently the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst), as his studies took a military turn. He soon became the top Commonwealth student.

He returned to Dubai in 1968, and at the tender age of 19, he received his first public position as head of the Dubai Police and Public Security. Three years later he was appointed Minister of Defence and became the world’s youngest defence minister.

Ruling Dubai

Sheikh Mohammed became Ruler of Dubai on January 4, 2006, after the death of his brother Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum. And on January 5, 2006, the Federal Supreme Council appointed Sheikh Mohammed as Vice President of the UAE.

On February 11, 2006, the late UAE President HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan nominated Sheikh Mohammad as Prime Minister of the UAE.

Since then, he has gone on to do great things for Dubai including his UAE Vision 2021 plan, which aimed to make the UAE one of the best countries in the world by the year 2021 – the Golden Jubilee of the Union – or as many may know it – the Year of the 50th.

After this, he set his sights even higher and started putting plans in place for UAE Centennial 2071 –  a long-term vision that extends the UAE Vision 2021 for another five decades to prepare the nation for future generations.

Huge plans for Dubai

Other megaplans launched by Sheikh Mohammed include the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, which includes increasing the size of Dubai’s public beaches, Hatta Master Development Plan, and more.

The Dubai Ruler also approved the Dubai Metro Blue Line – a new metro line that will connect with the existing Dubai Metro Red and Green Line, serving nine key communities across Dubai. Another huge megaproject is the new passenger terminal at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport (AMI) – a 128 billion dirham project that is set to handle up to 260 million travellers a year – nearly triple DXB’s current crowd.

Sheikh Mohammed also approved the new futuristic master plan for Palm Jebel Ali, which will be twice the size of Palm Jumeirah. It will be home to no less than 80 new hotels and resorts and a wide choice of entertainment and leisure facilities.

And these are just to name a few of the projects our visionary leader has launched. To stay up to date, bookmark this page.

Spotted: Sheikh Mohammed visits these restaurants in Dubai

As well as being a visionary leader, Sheikh Mohammed is a prominent poet, accomplished athlete, keen horseman (he regularly attends the Ascot Gold Cup in London), and humanitarian.

Happy birthday, Sheikh Mohammed!

Images: Dubai Media Office