ChChapter 2: Origins and influences of nationality law such as in the United Arab Emirates. There, the legislation adopted after independence from British rule in 1971 establishes that the original body of UAE nationals will be comprised of Arabs who maintained their ordinary residence in one of the Emirates since 1925 or before.66 In a similar vein, Yemeni law constructed the country’s original body of nationals from “those settled in Yemen who will have resided in the territory for at least fifty calendar years by the time this law enters into force”.67 In reality, demonstrating proof of residence on a particular day or during a particular timeframe may be cumbersome, especially if documentary evidence is required that was not readily available – or not equally available to all of the state’s inhabitants – during the period in question. This may lead to people not being recognised as nationals by the state under the operation of its law, even though on first sight they would seem to meet the criteria for nationality. Where they do not enjoy a connection to any other state – or cannot satisfy the conditions for nationality elsewhere because they were not residents at the crucial moment – this can leave people stateless. The Lebanese experience 66 - Article 2. It is of interest to note that the law was amended on this point just a few years after the original UAE nationality act was adopted in 1972. Acknowledging that it was important to include the nomadic population of UAE within the country’s citizenry, a slight modification was made to this provision in 1975, changing the phrase “continued to reside” to “continued to have ordinary residence” to allow make allowances for the nomadic lifestyle. 67 - Article 2. 57