Dubai (in , ) is one of
the seven
emirates of the United Arab Emirates
(UAE). It is located south of the Persian Gulf
on the Arabian
Peninsula. The Dubai Municipality
is sometimes called Dubai state to
distinguish it from the emirate.
Written accounts document the existence of the city for at least
150 years prior to the formation of the UAE.
Legal,
political,
military and
economic
functions with the other emirates within a
federal framework, although each emirate has
jurisdiction over some functions such as civic law enforcement and
provision and upkeep of local facilities.
Dubai has the largest
population and is the second largest emirate by area, after
Abu
Dhabi
. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the only two
emirates to possess
veto power over critical
matters of national importance in the country's
legislature. Dubai has been ruled
by the
Al Maktoum dynasty since 1833.
Dubai's current ruler,
Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum, is also the Prime Minister and Vice President of the
UAE.
The emirate's main revenues are from
tourism,
property and
financial services. Although Dubai's
economy was originally built on the
oil
industry, revenues from
petroleum and
natural gas currently contribute less
than 6% (2006) of the emirate's
US$ 80 billion economy (2009).
Property and construction contributed 22.6% to the economy in 2005,
before the current large-scale construction boom. Dubai has
attracted attention through its real estate projects and sports
events. This increased attention, coinciding with its emergence as
a
Global City and business hub, has
highlighted
labour and
human rights issues concerning its largely
South Asian workforce.
Established in 2004, the Dubai International
Finance Centre was intended as a landmark project to turn Dubai
into a major international hub for banks and finance to rivals
New
York
, London
and Hong Kong
.
Etymology
In the 1820s, Dubai was referred to as
Al
Wasl by
British historians.
Few records pertaining to the cultural history of the UAE or its
constituent
emirates exist due to
the region's oral traditions in recording and passing down
folklore and
myth. The
linguistic origins of the word
Dubai are also in dispute,
as some believe it to have originated from
Persian, while some believe that
Arabic is the linguistic root of the word.
According
to Fedel Handhal, researcher in the history and culture of the UAE,
the word Dubai may have come from the word Daba
(a derivative of Yadub), which means to creep;
the word may be a reference to the flow of Dubai Creek
inland, while the poet and scholar Ahmad Mohammad
Obaid traces it through the same word, but in its meaning of
locust
History
Very little is known about
pre-Islam culture in the south-east
Arabian peninsula, except that many ancient towns in the area were
trading centers between the
Eastern
and
Western worlds.
The remnants of an
ancient mangrove swamp, dated at
7,000 years, were discovered during the construction of sewer lines
near Dubai Internet
City
. The area had been covered with sand about
5,000 years ago as the coastline retreated inland, becoming a part
of the city's present coastline. Prior to
Islam, the people in this region worshiped
Bajir (or
Bajar). The
Byzantine and
Sassanian (Persian) empires constituted the great
powers of the period, with the Sassanians controlling much of the
region. After the spread of Islam in the region, the
Umayyad Caliph, of the eastern
Islamic world, invaded south-east
Arabia and
drove out the Sassanians.
Excavations by the Dubai Museum
in the region of Al-Jumayra (Jumeirah
) found several artifacts from the Umayyad
period. The earliest recorded mention of Dubai is in
1095, in the "Book of Geography" by the Andalusian
-Arab geographer Abu Abdullah al-Bakri.
The
Venetian
pearl merchant Gaspero Balbi
visited the area in 1580 and mentioned Dubai (Dibei) for
its pearling industry.
Documented records of the
town of Dubai exist only after
1799.
In the early 19th century, the Al Abu Falasa clan (
House of Al-Falasi) of
Bani Yas clan established Dubai, which remained a
dependent of Abu Dhabi until 1833. On 8 January 1820, the
sheikh of Dubai and other sheikhs in the region
signed the "General Maritime Peace Treaty" with the British
government. In 1833, the Al Maktoum dynasty (also descendants of
the
House of Al-Falasi) of the
Bani Yas tribe left the settlement of Abu Dhabi and took over Dubai
from the Abu Fasala clan without resistance. Dubai came under the
protection of the United Kingdom by the "Exclusive Agreement" of
1892, with the latter agreeing to protect Dubai against the
Ottoman Empire. Two catastrophes
struck the town during the 1800s.
First, in 1841, a smallpox epidemic broke out in the Bur Dubai
locality, forcing residents to relocate east to
Deira
.
Then, in 1894, fire swept through Deira, burning down most homes.
However, the town's geographical location continued to attract
traders and merchants from around the region.
The emir of Dubai was
keen to attract foreign traders and lowered trade tax brackets,
which lured traders away from Sharjah and Bandar Lengeh
, which were the region's main trade hubs at the
time.
Dubai's geographical proximity to Iran made it an important
location. The town of Dubai was an important port of call for
foreign tradesmen, chiefly those from Iran , many of whom
eventually settled in the town. Dubai was known for its pearl
exports until the 1930s; pearling was damaged irreparably by
World War I, and later on by the
Great Depression in the 1930s. With
the collapse of pearling many residents migrated to other parts of
the Persian Gulf. Since its inception, Dubai was constantly at odds
with Abu Dhabi. In 1947, a border dispute between Dubai and Abu
Dhabi on the northern sector of their mutual border, escalated into
war.
Arbitration by the British and the
creation of a buffer frontier running south eastwards from the
coast at Ras Hasian resulted in a temporary cessation of
hostilities.
Border disputes between the emirates continued even after the
formation of the UAE; it was only in 1979 that a formal compromise
was reached that ended hostilities.Dubai. Carter, T and Dunston, L.
Lonely Planet Publications Electricity, telephone services and an
airport were established in Dubai in the 1950s, when the British
moved their local administrative offices there from Sharjah
. In 1966 the town joined the newly
independent country of Qatar
to set up a
new monetary unit, the Qatar/Dubai
Riyal, after the devaluation of the
Persian Gulf rupee. Oil was
discovered in Dubai the same year, after which the town granted
concessions to international oil companies. The discovery of oil
led to a massive influx of foreign workers, mainly Indians and
Pakistanis. The city's population from 1968 to 1975 grew by over
300 percent, by some estimates.
On 2
December 1971 Dubai, together with Abu Dhabi and five other
emirates, formed the United Arab Emirates after former protector
Britain left the Persian
Gulf
in 1971."Six Persian Gulf Emirates Agree to a
Federation". New York Times. Jul 19, 1971. pg. 4 In
1973, Dubai joined the other emirates to adopt a uniform
currency: the UAE
dirham.
In the 1970s, Dubai
continued to grow from revenues generated from oil and trade, even
as the city saw an influx of immigrants fleeing the civil war in Lebanon
."Beirut Showing Signs of Recovery From Wounds of
War". New York Times. 26 May 1977. pg.2 The Jebel Ali
port (reputedly the world's largest man made port)
was established in 1979. Jafza (
Jebel Ali Free Zone) was built around
the port in 1985 to provide foreign companies unrestricted import
of labour and export capital.
[30155].
UAEFreeZones.com.
The
Persian Gulf War of 1990 had a huge
effect on the city. Depositors withdrew massive amounts of money
from Dubai banks due to uncertain political conditions in the
region.
Later in the the 1990s many foreign trading
communities — first from Kuwait
, during the
Persian Gulf War, and later from Bahrain
, during the Shia unrest — moved
their businesses to Dubai. Dubai provided refueling bases to
allied forces at the Jebel Ali free
zone during the Persian Gulf War, and again, during the
2003 Invasion of Iraq. Large increases
in oil prices after the Persian Gulf War encouraged Dubai to
continue to focus on free trade and tourism.
The success of the
Jebel Ali free zone allowed the city to replicate its model to
develop clusters of new free zones, including Dubai Internet
City
, Dubai
Media City
and Dubai Maritime
City. The construction of Burj Al Arab
, the world's tallest freestanding hotel, as well as
the creation of new residential developments, were used to market
Dubai for tourism. Since 2002 increased private property
development has recreated Dubai's skyline with such projects as
The Palm Islands, The World
Islands
, Burj
Dubai
and The Dynamic
Tower. Recent robust economic growth has been
accompanied by high
inflation (at 11.2% as
of 2007 when measured against
Consumer Price Index) which is
attributed in part due to the near doubling of commercial and
residential rents.
Robust growth poses threat of inflation to
high-flying Dubai.
Kuwait Times. Mar. 8, 2007
Geography

City level map of Dubai.
Dubai is situated on the Persian Gulf coast of the United Arab
Emirates and is roughly at
sea level (
above).
The emirate of Dubai shares borders with Abu
Dhabi in the south, Sharjah
in the northeast, and the Sultanate of
Oman
in the southeast. Hatta
, a minor exclave of the
emirate, is surrounded on three sides by Oman and by the emirates
of Ajman
(in the
west) and Ras Al
Khaimah
(in the north). The Persian Gulf borders the
western coast of the emirate. Dubai is positioned at and covers an
area of 4,114 km² (1,588 mi²).
Dubai lies directly within the
Arabian
Desert. However, the
topography of
Dubai is significantly different from that of the southern portion
of the UAE in that much of Dubai's landscape is highlighted by
sandy desert patterns, while gravel deserts dominate much of the
southern region of the country. The sand consists mostly of crushed
shell and
coral and is fine, clean and white.
East of the city, the salt-crusted coastal plains, known as
sabkha, give way to a north-south running line of dunes.
Farther east, the dunes grow larger and are tinged red with
iron oxide. The flat sandy desert gives
way to the Western Hajar Mountains, which run alongside Dubai's
border with Oman at Hatta. The Western Hajar chain has an
arid, jagged and shattered landscape, whose mountains
rise to about 1,300 meters in some places.
Dubai has no natural
river bodies or oases; however, Dubai does
have a natural inlet, Dubai
Creek
, which has been dredged to make it deep enough for
large vessels to pass through. Dubai also has multiple
gorges and
waterholes
which dot the base of the Western Al Hajar mountains.
A vast sea of sand
dunes covers much of southern Dubai, and eventually leads into the
desert known as The Empty
Quarter
. Seismically, Dubai
is in a very stable zone — the nearest seismic fault line, the
Zargos Fault, is 120 km from the UAE and is unlikely
to have any seismic impact on Dubai. Experts also predict that the
possibility of a
tsunami in the region is
minimal because the Persian Gulf waters are not deep enough to
trigger a tsunami.
The sandy desert surrounding the city supports
wild grass and occasional
date
palms. Desert
hyacinths grow in the
sabkha plains east of the city, while
acacia and
ghaf
trees grow in the flat plains within the proximity of the Western
Al Hajar mountains. Several indigenous trees such as the date palm
and
neem as well as imported trees like the
eucalypts grow in Dubai's natural parks.
The houbara
bustard, striped
hyena,
caracal,
desert fox,
falcon and
Arabian oryx are common in Dubai's
desert. Dubai is on the migration path between
Europe, Asia and Africa, and more than 320 migratory
bird species pass through the emirate in spring and autumn. The
waters of Dubai are home to more than 300 species of fish,
including the
hammour.
Dubai Creek
runs northeast-southwest through the city.
The
eastern section of the city forms the locality of Deira
and is flanked by the emirate of Sharjah
in the east and the town of Al Aweer
in the south. The Dubai
International Airport
is located south of Deira, while the Palm Deira is located north of
Deira in the Persian
Gulf
. Much of Dubai's real-estate boom is
concentrated to the west of the Dubai Creek, on the Jumeirah
coastal belt. Port Rashid
, Jebel
Ali
, Burj Al
Arab
, the Palm Jumeirah
and theme-based free-zone clusters such as Business Bay
are all located in this section. Five main
routes —
E 11 (Sheikh Zayed Road),
E 311 (Emirates Road),
E 44
(Dubai-Hatta Highway),
E 77 (Dubai-Al Habab
Road) and
E 66 (Oud Metha Road) — run through
Dubai, connecting the city to other towns and emirates.
Additionally, several important intra-city routes, such as
D 89 (Al Maktoum Road/Airport Road),
D
85 (Baniyas Road),
D 75 (Sheikh Rashid
Road),
D 73 (Al Dhiyafa Road),
D 94 (Jumeirah Road) and
D 92 (Al
Khaleej/Al Wasl Road) connect the various localities in the city.
The
eastern and western sections of the city are connected by Al Maktoum
Bridge
, Al Garhoud Bridge
, Al Shindagha Tunnel
, Business Bay Crossing
and Floating Bridge
.
Climate
Dubai has a hot
arid climate. Summers
in Dubai are extremely hot, with an average high around 40 °C and
overnight lows around 30 °C. Sunny days can be expected throughout
the year. Winters are warm and short with an average high of 23 °C
and overnight lows of 14 °C.
Governance and politics
Dubai's government operates within the framework of a
constitutional monarchy, and has
been ruled by the
Al Maktoum family since
1833.
The
current ruler, Mohammed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is also the Prime Minister of the
United Arab
Emirates
and member of the Supreme Council of the Union
(SCU). Dubai appoints 8 members in two-term periods to the
Federal National Council
(FNC) of the UAE, the supreme federal
legislative body.
The Dubai
Municipality
(DM) was established by the then ruler of Dubai,
Rashid bin Saeed Al
Maktoum in 1954 for purposes of city planning, citizen services
and upkeep of local facilities. DM is chaired by
Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
deputy ruler of Dubai and comprises several departments such as the
Roads Department, Planning and Survey Department, Environment and
Public Health Department and Financial Affairs Department. In 2001,
Dubai Municipality embarked on an
e-Government project with the intention of
providing 40 of its city services through its
web portal (Dubai.ae). Thirteen such services
were launched by October 2001, while several other services were
expected to be operational in the future.
Dubai and
Ras al
Khaimah
are the only emirates that do not conform to the
federal judicial system of the
United Arab Emirates. The emirate's judicial courts comprise
the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal, and the Court of
Cassation. The Court of First Instance consists of the Civil court,
which hears all civil claims; the Criminal Court, which hears
claims originating from police complaints; and
Sharia Court, which is responsible for matters
between
Muslims. Non-Muslims do not appear
before the Sharia Court. The Court of Cassation is the
supreme court of the emirate and hears
disputes on matters of law only.
The Dubai
Police Force, founded in 1956 in the locality of Naif
, has law
enforcement jurisdiction over the
emirate; the force is under direct command of Mohammed bin Rashid
al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai. Dubai Municipality is also in
charge of the city's sanitation and sewage infrastructure. The
city's rapid growth has resulted in its limited sewage treatment
infrastructure’s being
stretched to
its limits.
Article 25 of the
Constitution of the
UAE provides for the equitable treatment of persons with regard
to
race,
nationality,
religious beliefs or
social status. However, many of Dubai's
250,000 foreign laborers live in conditions described by
Human Rights Watch as being "less than
human."
NPR reports that workers "typically live
eight to a room, sending home a portion of their salary to their
families, whom they don't see for years at a time."
On 21 March 2006, workers at the
construction site of Burj
Dubai
, upset over bus timings and working conditions,
rioted: damaging cars, offices, computers, and construction
tools. The global financial crisis has caused the working
class of Dubai to be especially hard hit, with many workers not
being paid but also being unable to leave the country.

Dubai Police in a BMW Sedan
Judicial rulings in Dubai with regard to foreign nationals were
brought to light by the alleged attempts to cover up information on
the rape of Alexandre Robert, a 15-year-old French-Swiss national,
by three locals—one of whom was HIV positive[49]—and by the recent
mass imprisonment of migrant laborers—most of whom were from
India—on account of their protests against poor wages and living
conditions.[50] Prostitution, though illegal by law, is
conspicuously present in the emirate because of an economy that is
largely based on tourism and trade. Research conducted by the
American Center for International Policy Studies (AMCIPS) found
that Russian and Ethiopian women are the most common prostitutes,
as well as women from some African countries, while Indian
prostitutes are part of a well organized trans-Oceanic prostitution
network.[51] A 2007
PBS
documentary entitled
Dubai: Night Secrets reported that
prostitution in clubs is tolerated by authorities and many foreign
women work there without being coerced, attracted by the
money.
Demographics
Year |
Population |
18221 |
1,200 |
19001 |
10,000 |
19301 |
20,000 |
19401 |
38,000 |
19541 |
20,000 |
19601 |
40,000 |
1968 |
58,971 |
1975 |
183,000 |
1985 |
370,800 |
1995 |
674,000 |
2005 |
1,204,000 |
1 The town of Dubai
first conducted a census in 1968. All population figures in this
table prior to 1968 are estimates obtained from various
sources. |
According to the
census conducted by the
Statistics Center of Dubai, the population of the emirate was
1,422,000 as of 2006, which included 1,073,000 males and 349,000
females.
The region covers 497.1 square miles (1,287.4 km2). The population
density is 408.18/km2 more than eight times that of the entire
country.Dubai is the
second
most expensive city in the region, and 20th most expensive city
in the world.
As of 1998, 17% of the population of the emirate was made up of
UAE nationals.
Approximately 85% of
the expatriate population (and 71% of the
emirate's total population) was Asian,
chiefly Indian (51%), Pakistani (15%), Bangladeshi
(10%) and others (10%). A quarter of the
population however reportedly traces their origins to neighboring
Iran
. In addition, 16% of the population (or
288,000 persons) living in collective labour accommodation were not
identified by
ethnicity or
nationality, but were thought to be primarily
Asian. The
median age in the emirate was
about 27 years. The crude
birth rate, as
of 2005, was 13.6%, while the crude death rate was about 1%.
Although
Arabic is the official
language of Dubai,
Urdu,
Persian,
Hindi,
Malayalam,
Bengali,
Tamil,
Tagalog,
Chinese and other languages are spoken in
Dubai.
English is the
lingua franca of the city and is very
widely spoken by residents.
Article 7 of the UAE's Provisional Constitution declares
Islam the official
state
religion of the UAE. The government subsidizes almost 95% of
mosques and employs all
Imams; approximately 5%
of mosques are entirely private, and several large mosques have
large private endowments.
Country Profile: United Arab Emirates (UAE). United
States Library of Congress
Dubai also has large
Christian,
Hindu,
Sikh,
Buddhist, and other religious communities residing
in the city. Non-Muslim groups can own their own houses of worship,
where they can practice their religion freely, by requesting a land
grant and permission to build a compound. Groups that do not have
their own buildings must use the facilities of other religious
organisations or worship in private homes. Non-Muslim religious
groups are permitted to openly advertise group functions; however,
proselytizing or distributing religious
literature is strictly prohibited under penalty of criminal
prosecution, imprisonment, and
deportation for engaging in behaviour offensive
to Islam.
Economy
Dubai's
gross domestic
product as of 2005 was
US$37 billion.
Although Dubai's economy was built on the back of the
oil industry, revenues from oil and
natural gas currently account for less than 6%
of the emirate's revenues. It is estimated that Dubai produces
240,000
barrels of oil a day and substantial
quantities of gas from offshore fields. The emirate's share in
UAE's gas revenues is about 2%. Dubai's oil reserves have
diminished significantly and are expected to be exhausted in 20
years.
Property and
construction (22.6%),
trade (16%),
entrepôt (15%) and
financial services (11%) are the largest
contributors to Dubai's economy.
A
City Mayors survey rated Dubai as 44th among the world's
best financial cities, while another report by
City Mayors
indicated that Dubai was the world's 33rd richest city, in terms of
purchasing power parity
(PPP). Dubai is also an international financial centre and has been
ranked 37th within the top 50 global financial cities as surveyed
by the Mastercard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index (2007), and
1st within the Middle East.
Dubai's
top re-export destinations include
Iran
(US$ 790
million), India
(US$ 204 million) and Saudi Arabia
(US$ 194
million). The emirate's top
import
sources are Japan (
US$ 1.5
billion), China (
US$ 1.4
billion) and the United States (
US$ 1.4 billion).
Historically, Dubai and its twin across the Dubai
creek, Deira (independent of Dubai City at
that time), became important ports of call for Western
manufacturers. Most of the new city's banking
and financial centres were headquartered in the port area. Dubai
maintained its importance as a trade route through the 1970s and
1980s.
Dubai has a free
trade in gold and until the 1990s, was the
hub of a "brisk smuggling trade" of gold
ingots to India
, where gold
import was restricted.
Dubai's
Jebel
Ali
port, constructed in the 1970s, has the largest
man-made harbour in the world and was ranked eighth globally for
the volume of container traffic it supports. Dubai is also
developing as a hub for service industries such as
IT and
finance, with the establishment of industry-specific
free zones throughout the city.
Dubai Internet
City
, combined with Dubai Media City
as part of TECOM (Dubai Technology, Electronic
Commerce and Media Free Zone Authority) is one such enclave whose
members include IT firms such as EMC
Corporation, Oracle
Corporation, Microsoft, and IBM, and media organisations such as MBC, CNN,
BBC, Reuters, Sky News and AP.
The
Dubai Financial Market
(DFM) was established in March 2000 as a
secondary market for trading
securities and
bond, both local and foreign. As of
fourth quarter 2006, its
trading volume stood at about 400 billion shares, worth US$ 95
billion in total. The DFM had a
market capitalisation of about US$ 87
billion.
The government's decision to diversify from a trade-based, but
oil-reliant, economy to one that is service and tourism-oriented
has made
property more valuable,
resulting in the property appreciation from 2004–2006. A
longer-term assessment of Dubai's property market, however, showed
depreciation; some properties lost as much as 64% of their value
from 2001 to November 2008.
The large scale real estate development
projects have led to the construction of some of the tallest
skyscrapers and largest projects in the
world such as the Emirates
Towers
, the Burj
Dubai
, the Palm Islands and
the world's second tallest, and most expensive hotel, the Burj Al Arab
.
Dubai's property market has experienced a major downturn in
2008/2009, as a result of the slowing economic climate. Mohammed
al-Abbar council of the sheik told the international press in
December 2008 that Emaar had credits of US$ 70 billions and the
state of Dubai additional US$ 10 billions while holding estimated
350 billion in real estate assets. By early 2009, the situation had
worsened with the
global economic
crisis taking a heavy toll on property values, construction and
employment. As of February 2009 Dubai's foreign debt was estimated
at apprx. USD 100 billion, leaving each of the emirate's 250,000
UAE nationals responsible for 400,000 USD in foreign debt. However,
it should be noted that little of this is soverign debt.
Transportation
Transport in Dubai is controlled by the Roads and Transport
authority. The
public transport
network faces huge congestion and reliability issues which a large
investment programme is attempting to address, including over AED70
billion of improvements planned for completion by 2020, when the
population of the city is projected to exceed 3.5 million.
Dubai
International Airport
(IATA: DXB), the
hub for Emirates Airline, services
the city of Dubai and other emirates in the country.
Dubai
International Airport
served a total of over 37 million passengers and
handled over 1.8 million tons of cargo in 2008. In 2008, Dubai
International Airport
was the 20th busiest
airport in the world and, with over 35 million international
passengers, the 6th
busiest international airport in the world, in terms of
international passenger traffic. In addition to being an
important passenger traffic hub, the airport is one of the busiest
cargo airports in the world, handling 1.824 million tonnes of cargo
in 2008, making it the
11th busiest airport
in the world, a 9.4% increase of cargo traffic since 2007.
Emirates Airline is the national
airline of Dubai, and operates internationally to 101 destinations
in 61 countries across 6 continents.
The
development of Al Maktoum International
Airport
, currently under construction in Jebel Ali, was
announced in 2004. The first phase is expected to be
completed by 2010, and once operational the new airport will host
foreign airlines and emirates with an exclusive terminal for
them.
The Public Bus Transport system in Dubai is run by the Roads and
Transport Authority (RTA). The bus system services 140 routes and
transported over about 109.5 million people in 2008. By the end of
2010, there will be 2,100 buses in service across the city. The
Transport authority has announced the construction of 500
air-conditioned (A/C) Passenger Bus Shelters, and has plan for 1000
more across the emirates in a move to encourage the use of public
buses.
A $3.89 billion
Dubai Metro project is
under construction for the emirate. The Metro system was partially
operational by September 2009 and will be fully operational by
2012. UK-based international service company Serco is responsible
for operating the metro.
The metro will comprise four lines: the
Green Line from Al Rashidiya to the main city center and the Red
Line from the airport to Jebel Ali
. It also has a blue and a purple line. The
Dubai Metro (Green and Blue Lines) will have 70 kilometers of track
and 43 stations, 37 above ground and ten underground. The Dubai
Metro is the first urban train network in the
Arabian Peninsula. All trains and stations
are air conditioned with
platform
edge doors to make this possible.
A
monorail on the Palm Jumeirah
opened in 2009. It is the first monorail to
be built in the region. Two trams are expected trams to be built in
Dubai by 2011. The first is the Downtown Burj Dubai Tram System and
the second is the Al Sufouh Tram. The Downtown Burj Dubai Tram
System is a 4.6 km tram service that is planned to service the
area around the Burj Dubai, and the second tram will run 14.5
kilometres along Al Sufouh Road from Dubai Marina to the Burj Al
Arab and the Mall of the Emirates.
One of
the more traditional methods of getting across Bur Dubai
to Deira
is through
abras, small boats that ferry
passengers across the Dubai
Creek
, between abra stations in Bastakiya and Baniyas Road. The Marine Transport
Agency, is in the process of implementing the Dubai Water Bus
System.
There are
two major commercial ports in Dubai, Port Rashid
and Port Jebel
Ali
. Port Jebel Ali is the 7th busiest port in
the world. Jebel Ali is the world's largest man-made harbour and
the biggest port in the Middle East.
The government has invested heavily in the Dubai's road
infrastructure, although this has not kept pace with the increase
in the number of vehicles. This, coupled with the
induced traffic phenomenon, has led to
growing problems of congestion.
Dubai also has an extensive taxi system, by far the most frequently
used means of public transport within the Emirate. There are both
government-operated and private cab companies. There are around
7,500 taxis operating within the emirate.
Culture
In 2005,
84% of the population of metropolitan Dubai was foreign-born, about
half of them from India
.
The
city's cultural imprint as a small, ethnically homogenous pearling community was changed with the
arrival of other ethnic groups and
nationals — first by the Iranians in
the early 1900s, and later by Indians
and Pakistanis
in the 1960s. Dubai has been criticized for
perpetuating a class-based society, where migrant workers are in
the lower classes. Despite the diversity of the population, only
minor and infrequent episodes of
ethnic
tensions, primarily between expatriates, have been reported in
the city. Major holidays in Dubai include
Eid al Fitr, which marks the end of
Ramadan, and
National Day (2 December), which marks the
formation of the United Arab Emirates. Annual entertainment events
such as the
Dubai Shopping
Festival (DSF) and
Dubai
Summer Surprises (DSS) attract over 4 million visitors from
across the region and generate revenues in excess of
US$ one billion.
Large shopping malls in the city, such as Deira City
Centre
, BurJuman, Mall of the
Emirates
, Dubai
Mall
and Ibn Battuta Mall
as well as traditional souks attract shoppers from the
region.
Arab food
is very popular and is available everywhere in the city, from the
small shawarma diners in Deira
and Al Karama
to the restaurants in Dubai's hotels.
Fast food,
South Asian,
Chinese cuisines are also very popular and
are widely available. The sale and consumption of
pork, though not
illegal, is
regulated and is sold only to non-
Muslims, in
designated areas. Similarly, the sale of
alcoholic beverages is regulated. A liquor permit is
required to purchase alcohol; however, alcohol is available in bars
and restaurants within hotels.
Shisha and
qahwa
boutiques are also popular in Dubai.
Hollywood
and Bollywood movies are
popular in Dubai. The city hosts the annual
Dubai International Film
Festival, which attracts celebrities from
Arab and
International
cinema. Musicians
Amr Diab,
Diana Haddad,
Tarkan,
Aerosmith,
Santana,
Mark
Knopfler,
Elton John,
Pink,
Shakira,
Celine Dion,
Coldplay,
Keane and
Phil
Collins have performed in the city.
Kylie Minogue was paid 4.4 million dollars to
perform at the opening of the Atlantis resort
on November 20, 2008. The
Dubai Desert Rock Festival is
also another major festival consisting of Heavy metal and rock
artists.
Football and
cricket are the most popular sports in Dubai.
Five teams —
Al Wasl,
Al-Shabab,
Al-Ahli,
Al
Nasr and
Hatta — represent Dubai in
UAE League football. Current champions
Al-Wasl have the second-most number of championships in the UAE
League, after
Al Ain.
Cricket is followed
by Dubai's large South Asian community and in 2005, the International Cricket Council
(ICC) moved its headquarters from London
to
Dubai. The city has hosted several India-Pakistan matches and two new grass
grounds are being developed in Dubai Sports City
. Dubai also hosts both the annual Dubai Tennis
Championships
and The Legends
Rock Dubai tennis tournaments, as well as the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament, all of which attract sports stars from
around the world. The Dubai World
Cup, a thoroughbred horse race, is held annually at the
Nad Al Sheba
Racecourse
.
Despite Dubai's progressive and ostentatious image,
censorship is common in Dubai and used by the
government to control content that it believes violates the
cultural and political sensitivities of the Emiratis.
Homosexuality,
drugs and
the
theory of evolution are
generally considered taboo.
Dubai is known for its nightlife. Clubs and bars are found mostly
in hotels due to the liquor laws. The
New
York Times listed Dubai as its travel choice for partying in
2008.
Education

Dubai Knowledge Village was built to
allow Universities to open branches and campuses in Dubai
The
school system in Dubai does not differ from that of the United Arab
Emirates
. As of 2006, there are 88 public schools run
by the Ministry of Education that serve
Emiratis and expatriate
Arab as well as 132 private schools. The medium
of instruction in
public schools is Arabic
with emphasis on
English as a
second language, while most of the
private schools use English as their medium
of instruction. Most private schools cater to one or more
expatriate communities.
The New Indian Model School, Dubai (NIMS),
Delhi Private School, Our
Own English High School, the Dubai Modern High School, and
The Indian High School,
Dubai offer either a CBSE or an ICSE Indian
syllabus. Similarly, there are also several
reputable Pakistani schools offering
FBISE
curriculum for expatriate children. Dubai English Speaking School,
Jumeirah Primary School, Jebel Ali Primary School, the Cambridge
High School (or Cambridge International School), Jumeirah English
Speaking School, King's School and the Horizon School all offer
British primary education up to the age of eleven. Dubai British
School,
Dubai College,
English College Dubai, Jumeirah
English Speaking School,
Jumeirah
College and St. Mary's Catholic High School are all British
eleven-to-eighteen secondary schools which offer
GCSE and
A-Level.
Emirates International School,
along with the
Cambridge High
School, provides full student education up to the age of 18,
and offers
IGCSE
and
A-Level.
Wellington International
School, which caters for students aged from 4 to 18, offers
IGCSE and A-Levels.
Deira
International School and
Dubai International Academy also
offer the
IB program
including the IGCSE program. Jumeirah English Speaking School
caters for pupils from 4 through to 18 and offers the British
curriculum up to 16 (
GCSE) and the
International Baccalaureate
.
Dubai
has several schools with an American
curriculum such as Dubai American Academy, American
School of Dubai
and the Universal American School of
Dubai.
The Ministry of Education of the United Arab Emirates is
responsible for school's accreditation. The Dubai Education Council
was established in July 2005 to develop the education sector in
Dubai. The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) was
established in 2006 to develop education and human resource sectors
in Dubai, and license educational institutes.
Approximately 10% of the population has
university or
postgraduate degrees.
Many expatriates tend
to send their children back to their home country or to Western countries for university education and to India
for
technology studies. However, a sizable number of foreign
accredited universities have been set up in the city over the last
ten years.
Some of these universities include Michigan
State University Dubai (MSU Dubai), the Birla Institute of Technology &
Science, Pilani - Dubai
(BITS
Pilani
), Heriot-Watt University Dubai,
American
University in Dubai
(AUD), the American College of Dubai, Mahatma Gandhi University
(Off-Campus Centre),IMT-Dubai(INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY),
SP Jain Center Of Management, University of Wollongong in
Dubai, Institute
of Management Technology and MAHE Manipal. In 2004, the Dubai School of Government in
collaboration with Harvard University
's John F. Kennedy School of
Government and Harvard Medical School Dubai
Center
(HMSDC) were established in Dubai.
The
Dubai Public Libraries is
the public library system serving Dubai.
Media
Dubai has a well established network of
print,
radio,
television and
electronic media which service the city.
Dubai is the home of the Arabian Radio Network, which broadcasts
eight FM radio stations including the first talk radio station in
the Middle East,
Dubai Eye 103.8.
Multiple international channels available through
cable, while
satellite, radio and local channels are
provided via the
Arabian Radio
Network and
Dubai Media
Incorporated systems.
Many international news agencies such as
Reuters, APTN, Bloomberg L.P. and MBC as well as network news
channels operated out of Dubai Media City
and Dubai Internet City
. Additionally, several local
network television channels such as
Dubai One (formerly
Channel 33), and
Dubai TV
(formerly
EDTV) provide
programming in English and Arabic respectively. Dubai-based
FM stations such as Dubai FM (93.9),
Dubai92 (92.0), Al Khaleejia (100.9) and Hit FM (96.7) provide
programming in English, Arabic and South Asian languages. Dubai is
also the headquarters for several
print
media outlets.
Al
Khaleej,
Al Bayan and
Al Ittihad are the city's
largest circulating
Arabic language
newspapers, while
Gulf News and
Khaleej Times are the largest
circulating
English newspapers.
Dubai is also a hotbed for online information sources such as
Explocity
Dubai and Dubai City Guide.
Etisalat, the government owned
telecommunications provider, held a virtual
monopoly over telecommunication services in Dubai
prior to the establishment of other, smaller telecommunications
companies such as Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company
(EITC — better known as
Du) in 2006.
Internet was introduced into the UAE (and
therefore Dubai) in 1995. The current network is supported by a
bandwidth of 6
GB, with 50,000
dialup and
150,000
broadband port. Dubai houses two of four
DNS data
centers in the country (DXBNIC1, DXBNIC2). Internet content is
regulated in Dubai.
Etisalat uses a proxy server to filter internet content that is deemed to
be inconsistent with the values of the country, that provides
information on bypassing the proxy,
dating, gay and lesbian networks,
pornography, sites pertaining to the
Bahá'í faith, sites
originating from Israel
, and even
sites that are critical of the UAE. Emirates Media and
Internet (a division of Etisalat) notes that as of 2002, 76% of
internet users are male. About 60% of internet users were
Asian, while 25% of users were
Arab. Dubai enacted an Electronic Transactions
and Commerce Law in 2002 which deals with
digital signatures and electronic
registers. It prohibits
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
from disclosing information gathered in providing services. The
penal code also contains some provisions;
however, it does not address
cyber crime
or data protection.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Dubai has 31
sister cities, and most
of the twinning agreements have been done post-2002.
- Monterrey
, Mexico
- Paris
, France
- Gold Coast, Queensland,
Australia
- Hong
Kong

- Guangzhou
, People's Republic of China
- Shanghai, People's
Republic of China

- Frankfurt
, Germany
- Osaka, Japan

- Gandhinagar
,India
- Kish Island
, Iran
- Tehran
, Iran
- Beirut
, Lebanon
- Barcelona
, Spain
- Granada
, Spain
- Tripoli
, Libya
- Vancouver
, British
Columbia
, Canada
- Dundee, Scotland
, United
Kingdom
- Moscow
, Russia
- Damascus
, Syria
- Geneva
, Switzerland
- Istanbul
, Turkey
- Baghdad
, Iraq
- Caracas
, Venezuela
- Detroit
, Michigan
, United
States
- Los Angeles
, California
, United
States
- New York City
, New
York
, United
States
- Phoenix
, Arizona
, United
States
- Busan
, South Korea
- Kuwait City
, Kuwait
- Hyderabad
,Andhra
pradesh
,India
- Brisbane
, Australia
See also
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External links