Dubai Fact File
Geography
Located in the Arabian Peninsula, on the coast of the Persian Gulf, Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a collection of 7 states or emirates formed in 1971.
The city of Dubai first grew up around the Dubai Creek, an inlet of water that formed the hub of the local fishing community for centuries and an important trading port.
Today, Dubai is the second largest emirate in the UAE in landmass but the largest in population. Dubai is currently ruled by Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Currency
The UAE uses the Dirham (international currency code is AED)
The Dirham is currently pegged to the US Dollar at 1.00 USD = 3.67120 AED
Dirham to Thai Baht
1 AED = 8.5 THB approximately
(To see latest currency exchanges visit xe.com)
Population
In fact Dubai has the largest population of the UAE states. Recently it was estimated that Dubai had a population of 1,422,000, with approximately 85% of those being expatriates. However this figure is likely to have been exceeded by now as the population in Dubai has seen fast and steady growth in recent years.
Living There
This population growth is due to the number of immigrants that flock to Dubai every year. This is unsurprising as Dubai is a very welcoming and cosmopolitan community. Whilst Arabic is the official language, English is spoken widely along with Persian, Hindi, Urdu and Tagalog among others.
Dubai is also a relatively liberal city. In hotels and licensed bars you can purchase and consume alcohol, although you cannot take the alcohol off the premises. There aren’t any laws pertaining to dress, however visitors are reminded to exercise common sense in their choice of clothing. People are free to practice their own religion at their specific place of worship.
Economy
The incredible thing about Dubai’s US $37 billion economy is that only some 6% of this total has come from petroleum and natural gas revenues. In contrast with many of the oil-rich states in the Gulf, Dubai has focused on building its reputation as a tourism and business hub for the Middle East. Furthermore it has benefited hugely by the success of Emirates Airlines that has a huge network and an ever growing fleet of modern aircraft.
Architecture
Dubai is a very modern city with many architecturally stunning buildings on display. You only have to look as far as the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel, the stunning twin Emirates Towers and the Burj Dubai, now the tallest building in the world.
Dubai has also developed some innovative real estate developments, most noticeably The Palm developments (reclaimed land off the coast of Dubai, formed in the shape of a palm trees) and The World development (man-made islands that have been formed in the shape of the world).
In addition to these incredible developments, Dubai has also got one of the largest subzero indoor ski slopes in the world. Ski Dubai is based in the Mall of the Emirates one of the largest shopping malls in the world. Visitors can enter the slopes to ski, snowboard or just to play in the snow.
