The area was part of Ad Dhahirah Region until October 2006, when a new governorate was created from the Wilayats (Provinces) of Al Buraymi and Mahdah.

[11][12][13] Being in the region of the Western Hajar,[14][15] the area of Al-Buraimi and Al-Ain, traditionally referred to as 'Tawam', is of historical and cultural importance.

[16][17] It is demonstrated to have been inhabited as far back as the Hafit period of the early Bronze Age,[18] and according to one author, an oasis in this region and Al-Hasa in Saudi Arabia are the most important in the Arabian Peninsula.

"[23] The dispute arose from Saudi Arabia's claim, first made in 1949, of sovereignty over a large part of Abu Dhabi territory where oil was suspected to be present and an area in a 20 miles (32 km) circle around the centre of the Buraimi Oasis.

The Saudis relied on historical precedent (the oasis was under Wahhabi influence in the period between 1800 and 1870) for their claims, which were countered by arguments from Abu Dhabi and Muscat based on more recent events.

The argument led to the 1950 London Agreement, whereby exploration and troop movements in the area would continue until the issue of sovereignty was resolved.

The Sulṭan of Muscat and Imam of Oman gathered his forces to expel the Saudis but was persuaded by the British government to exercise restraint pending attempts to settle the dispute by arbitration.

A few weeks later, the Saudi party was forcibly ejected from Hamasa by the Trucial Oman Levies, a paramilitary group raised by the British.

The dispute was finally settled in 1974 by an agreement, known as the Treaty of Jeddah, between Sheikh Zayed (then President of the UAE) and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.