The man who forged the ultramodern United Arab Emirates out of a federation of seven tiny Persian Gulf states has died.

President Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was 86.

No cause of death was reported, but he had a kidney transplant in 2000 and had been ill for several years.

United Arab Emirates Supreme Council President Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 2001. (AP Photo)

Sheik Zayed became the head of the emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1966. He helped combine it and six other emirates into a federation.

He became the head of the United Arab Emirates when it won its independence from Britain in 1971.

Since then, the emirates, fuelled by oil money, have been transformed from quiet desert provinces into a banking and trade centre.

In just 40 years, the city of Abu Dhabi has gone from a collection of huts to a modern high-rise city of more than a million people.

The city of Dubai was nothing but desert three decades ago. It's now a major trade centre.

The rulers of the seven emirates will choose the next president.

Sheik Zayed's eldest son, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has been chosen as his successor, the official Emirates news agency WAM reported Wednesday.