Dubai

INTRO
Dubai can either refer to one of the seven United Arab Emirates, or to that emirate's main city - often called Dubai City in order to be distinguished from the Dubai emirate. Being a relatively new tourist destination, Dubai has gained its huge popularity during the past 15-20 years. Essentially, that is a desert city with superb infrastructure, great tourist amenities and quite liberal policies. Sand, sun and shopping are the three main features of Dubai. Back in the old days, the town was a tranquil settlement of coral-and-gypsum courtyard houses and palm-frond huts, housing Bedouin fishermen, Persian traders and pearl divers. Today, Dubai is a city of superlatives - for the biggest, fastest, largest, tallest and highest. Don't be amazed by the shiny new high-rises and vast artificial islands with more than 120 km of new beachfront - the locals find them just normal. If you are keen on shopping, partying, sunbathing, fine dining and even sinful pleasures - Dubai is the right destination to visit.

City Profile
City: Dubai
Country: United Arab Emirates
Area: 4,114 km2
Population: 1, 492, 000
Governor: Sheikh - Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Language: Arabic, English

LOCATION
Dubai is located directly within the Arabian Desert. It lies on the northeast coast of the United Arab Emirates, roughly at sea level. It borders with Abu Dhabi on the south, Sultanate of Oman on the southeast and Sharjah emirate in the northeast. Seismically, Dubai is in a very stable zone, and the possibility of a tsunami in its region is minimal due to the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf.

TIME TO VISIT
Weatherwise, the best time to visit Dubai is the "winter season between October and April when temperatures and humidity are relatively mild. The rest of the year is extremely hot, and instead of hanging out most people just run from one air-conditioned spot to another. Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting, and it is strictly adhered in all the seven emirates of UAE. On the Western calendar, it takes place at a different time each year. During this period, it is rude and even illegal to eat, drink or smoke in public from sunrise to sunset.The official weekend for the public sector and schools is Friday and Saturday.

POPULATION
The population of Dubai emirate as of 2006 was 1,422,000. Only around 17% of the population of Dubai comprises of UAE nationals. Almost 85% of the expatriate population is Asian, mainly Indian (51%), Pakistani (16%) and Bangladeshi (9%). The official language in Dubai is Arabic, although English, Hindi, Bengali and Tagalog are widely spoken by different ethnic groups. 95% of the Sunni mosques are subsidized by the government. There are large Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities in Dubai. Those non-Muslim groups are allowed to practice their religions freely and built their houses of worship.

DISTRICTS
The most popular areas among visitors of Dubai are:

Bur Dubai and Deira forms the centre of Dubai, situated northeast of the beach areas. Divided with a creek and connected by two bridges and a tunnel, these districts are the heart of tourist life in Dubai, with most of upmarket hotels and glittering steel-and-glass tower buildings. Vast shopping malls and traditional markets of Deira make it the main trading hub of Dubai, while Bur Dubai remains a financial district. However, there are also some old sections housing Heritage Village and Museum.
Jumeirah and Umm Suqueim - are two entartainment districts of Dubai. The green areas spread along the costline and Jumeirah Beach Road, offering many excellent beaches.
Garhoud and Mirdif lies east of central districts Bur Dubai and Deira. They are both close to the Dubai International Airport.
Sheikh Zayed Highway stretches parallel to Jumeirah Beach Road and leads to Jebel Ali Zone.
Jebel Ali Zone is situated in westsouthern Dubai.After establishing a free zone area in 1985 there, it turned into active business district, drawing foreing investments with a plenty of economic incentives.

SIGHTS & ATTRACTIONS

Burj al-Arab hotel - having a unique shape of a boat's sail and built on an artificial island, it has proclaimed itself as the only 7-star hotel in the world. Actually, it is 5-star deluxe. If you want to reserve a room, you need to do that at least one month in advance. http://www.burj-al-arab.com/
Dubai Museum - if you are interested in the social history of Dubai and the whole UAE that undoubtedly is a "must-see place. There is a considerable focus of the quick transition of Dubai from a poor pearling village to an ultra-modern metropolis.
Ibn Battuta Mall - trade is one of the major industries of Dubai, so it is no wonder that most tourists do a lot of shopping while staying in the city. The mall is worth visiting not only for its commercial purpose, but also for its architectural ambience created in six courts designed according to the traditional architecture of India, Persia, Tunisia, Andalusia, Egypt and China.
Mall of the Emirates - apart from the shopping, dining and entertainment facilities, it houses the world's largest indoor ski slope. Guests of the adjacent hotel have free clothing and ski passes hire, while other visitors need to purchase them.
Jumeirah Mosque - one of the largest and most attractive mosques in UAE. It is one of a few that are opened for visits and tours of non-Muslims.
Jumeirah Beach Park - a beautiful grassy park that adjoins Jumeirah Beach. The long stretch of beach is clean, lined with palm trees, with lots of walkways, kiosks, picnic tables and barbecue pits.
Sheikh Saeed al-Maktoum House - built in 1896, it was once the home of the Al-Maktoum family that has been ruling Dubai for more than a century now. Inside there is an interesting exhibition showing the astonishingly quick transformation of Dubai from a small fishing and pearling village to a ultra-modern hi-tech city of oil, trade and big money.

AIRPORT
Dubai International Airport is the major air transportation hub serving Dubai - the largest city in UAE. The passengers handled by the facility in 2006 were 28.7 million, 33 million are expected for 2007. The airport is the main transportation hub of "Emirates - the Dubai-owned airline and consists of 2 separated terminals, and a third one is planned to open by the end of 2007. Dubai International Airport is famous for the duty-free shopping facilities. The airport is easily reachable from Central Dubai by taxi, and all major hotels offer shuttles - very often free of charge. http://www.dubaiairport.com/

LOCAL TRANSPORTATION

Public buses - Dubai has good bus service at intervals of about 20 minutes. Bus services are also available to other emirates of UAE. Timings during Ramadan differ - always double check if you happen to visit Dubai during that time.
Taxi - the official cabs in Dubai are cream-colored. They are reasonably priced and easy to find. From the airport there is a standing charge of AED 20, and every kilometer costs AED 1.60.
Boat - an easy way to cross the Dubai Creek is by abra - which, basically, is a small ferry. The cross-river trip costs AED 1 per passenger, and the trip offers marvelous views to the city. The service is available around the clock.

HISTORY
The earlist recorded mention of Dubai dates from 1095 - in the "Book of Geography by geographer Abu Abdullah al-Bakri. The first documented records of the town of Dubai exist only after the beginning of the 19th century. The geographical proximity to India made Dubai an important location. Until the 1930s, the town was known for its pearl exports. It was not until the 1950s when telephone, electricity and airport services were established in Dubai. In the last few decades, trade, tourism and oil have turned the city into a modern metropolis of big money, modern lifestyle and gigantic structures such as The Palm Islands and Burj Dubai.

CITY LINKS

Official website of Dubai Government - http://www.dubai.ae/en.portal
Official website of the ruler of Dubai - http://www.sheikhmohammed.ae/
Dubai Municipality official website - http://www.dm.gov.ae/portal/dt?desktop.suid=uid=ARAnonymous,ou=people,o=public,dc=dm,dc=gov,dc=ae
Map of Dubai - http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/maps/dubai_map.php
Dubai travel guide - http://wikitravel.org/en/Dubai

UNIVERSITY LINKS

Al Ghurair University - http://www.agu.co.ae/
American University of Dubai - http://www.aud.edu/
British University of Dubai - http://www.buid.ac.ae/buid/html/home.asp