America and the Middle East: A Friendship Since 1777

In 1938 American geologists struck oil at Dammam Well No. 7 in Saudi Arabia. The American company that developed the field grew into Saudi Aramco, now fully Saudi-owned and one of the most valuable companies in the world. In February 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt met King Abdulaziz Al Saud aboard the USS Quincy on Egypt's Great Bitter Lake, beginning a partnership between the two countries that has lasted more than eighty years. See Saudi Arabia's history.

Across the Gulf, the same story repeated: American engineers, companies and schools helped build modern economies, and Gulf investment flows back into the United States today.

Nonstop flights link more than a dozen American cities with the region, on Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Saudia, Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Royal Air Maroc, Turkish Airlines and American carriers. At Abu Dhabi you clear US immigration and customs before you board, so you arrive home as a domestic passenger. See the best airlines and US nonstops.

Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the US dollar, English is widely spoken, and hotels, malls and hospitals will feel familiar from the moment you arrive.