Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid celebrates 71st birthday

The Vice President and Ruler of Dubai has played a leading role in the rapid rise of the Emirates in recent years

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid visits the tea and coffee sections of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre at their headquarters in Jebel Ali

Sheikh Mohammed with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in Abu Dhabi, during the unveiling of the Zayed National Museum's design, in November 2010.

Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, ride the London Metro in July 2016.

Sheikh Mohammed with fellow members of the Kohima brigade in Mons Officer Cadet School in 1968

Sheikh Mohammed with Saudi King Salman during the Dubai Ruler's visit to the kingdom. Saudi Press Agency

Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, presents Xi Jinping, President of China, with a copy of his book during a reception in 2018. Rashed Al Mansoori / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid meets Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, during iftar at Saraya Ramadan Tent in Abu Dhabi in 2016. Ryan Carter / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Mohammed leads a brainstorming session of his Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiatives Foundation at Bab Al Shams Resort. Wam

Sheikh Mohammed enjoys a day at the races at Meydan Racecourse. Pawan Singh / The National

Sheikh Mohammed meets top Emirati students from UAE universities, military colleges and academies and high schools. Wam

Sheikh Mohammed at Dubai's Future Museum.

Sheikh Mohammed inaugurates the new Dubai canal. Dubai Media Office

Sheikh Mohammed opens the second Federal National Council session

Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikha Al Jalila open the Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital. Wam

Sheikh Mohammed has embraced technology as a means to propel the UAE to new heights. Courtesy: UAE Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and The Future

The Ruler of Dubai tours Hatta.

Sheikh Mohammed visits Dubai International Airport along with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed.

Sheikh Mohammed celebrates UAE Flag Day at Union House. Wam

Sheikh Mohammed opens the second Federal National Council session. Wam

Sheikh Mohammed visits Jumeirah Model School. Wam

Congratulations are flooding in from across the UAE as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid celebrates his 71st birthday on Wednesday.

The country’s Vice President and Ruler of Dubai became the nation’s first Minister of Defence in 1971 following the formation of the UAE.

Sheikh Mohammed later became Dubai’s ruler in 2006 after the death of his older brother, Sheikh Maktoum.

He has since continued the work of his father, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, in transforming Dubai into a global tourist destination and business hub.

UAE residents took to social media to pay tribute to Sheikh Mohammed, with well-wishers lauding him as the "pride of the nation" and an "inspiration of generations" of Emiratis.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, paid tribute to his father on Twitter.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation also heaped praise on Sheikh Mohammed in a birthday message posted on the social media platform.

"Today marks the birthday of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid which also coincides with the approaching launch of Hope Probe to Mars carrying with it the name of the Emirates and the ambition that his highness announced, that is we shall not accept any substitute for first place."

Sheikh Mohammed's path to leadership was shaped from an early age.

At the age of four he was privately tutored in Arabic and Islamic studies. He began formal education at the age of six and 11 years later, attended an English language school in Cambridge, where he boarded with a local family and was given £2 as a weekly spending allowance, worth the equivalent of about Dh165 today.

Sheikh Mohammed’s education took a military turn when he attended a cadet school, in Aldershot, that later became part of Sandhurst. There he would emerge as the top Commonwealth student before going to Italy to be trained as a pilot.

While a significant part of his development took place under the tutelage of academics and military officials overseas, sitting under the learning tree provided by his father in the Emirates proved vital.

As a young man, he had a front row seat to his father’s pro-business mentality that established Dubai as a commercial and trading centre after the collapse of the pearling industry and well before the discovery of oil.

These lessons, coupled with his extensive military training, served him well when he went on to become Minister of Defence and, decades later, Ruler of Dubai.

As a teenager, Sheikh Mohammed was on hand for a crucial chapter in the success story that would come to be the fledgling UAE.

In January 1968, at the age of 19, he accompanied his father to meet Sheikh Zayed in the desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi to agree to forming a union between the Emirates.

Sheikh Mohammed's 71st birthday has been marked with a golden portrait crafted by Emirati artist, Abdulrauf Khalfan.