Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates known for luxury shopping, ultramodern architecture, and a lively nightlife scene. Burj Khalifa, an 830m-tall tower, dominates the skyscraper-filled skyline. At its foot lies Dubai Fountain, with jets and lights choreographed to music. On artificial islands just offshore is Atlantis, The Palm, a resort with water and marine-animal parks.
Area: 35 km²
Founded: 9 June 1833
Local time: Monday, 2:11 pm
Weather: 24 °C, Wind SW at 18 km/h, 77% Humidity weather.com
Population: 33.3 lakhs (2019)
Founder: House of Maktoum
Welcome to Dubai - The Most Luxurious City In The World | Burj Khalifa Dubai City Tour | In 4K ULTRA HD
The character of the city
Dubai is a city of skyscrapers, ports, and beaches, where big business takes place alongside sun-seeking tourism. Because of its large expatriate population, it feels like a Middle Eastern melting pot, and the atmosphere is generally tolerant. Religious affiliations are not a prominent aspect of city life. Islam is the majority religion, but churches and Hindu temples coexist with Dubai’s mosques.
Dubai is a relatively crime-free place where administrative efficiency and openness to business have encouraged astounding growth. However, criticism of Dubai’s authoritarian government and ruling elite is not tolerated, and there persists an atmosphere of discreet corruption.
Landscape
The western area of Dubai benefits from small stretches of sandy beaches, which have helped to catalyze the city’s tourism industry. Dubai’s rulers have sought to increase the city’s limited seafronts, and, in the absence of natural offshore islands, developers were encouraged to construct giant man-made islands off the coast of the city. The most famous of these is Palm Jumeirah, which has the shape of a palm tree. Others include the “World” islands, a cluster of small islands positioned to resemble a world map when viewed from above.
City site and layout
Dubai straddles a natural inlet called Dubai Creek on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf. For more than a century, the area was Dubai’s center, because of the early city’s reliance on fishing, pearl diving, and maritime trade. Lining the creek are the oldest buildings in Dubai, most of which date from the 1960s and are rarely more than two stories in height. In the Bastakiyyah quarter, on the western shore of the creek, some much older buildings have been restored, and many of these feature the distinctive wind tower design that was imported by Persian merchants early in the 20th century.
Climate
Like much of the Persian Gulf coastline, Dubai has a year-round hot climate. Humidity is high in the summer months and moderates the rest of the year. The coldest winter month is usually January, with lows of about 15 °C (49 °F), while the hottest summer month is July, with highs of more than 40 °C (104 °F).
History
From humble beginnings as a small fishing village first documented in the 18th century, the city grew rapidly as it became a major center of the pearl-diving industry. With its business-savvy ruling family reducing taxes and welcoming foreign merchants, the city expanded further in the early 20th century and soon became a re-exporting hub for Persia and India. Benefiting from modest oil wealth in the latter half of the 20th century, Dubai continued to focus on trade and attracting investment, channeling oil surpluses into major infrastructure projects such as an international airport, dry docks, and a trade center. In the 1990s the city began to diversify, building up its luxury tourism, real estate, and financial sectors. These all required skilled, educated foreign workers, and many moved to Dubai for its tax-free salaries and relatively stable politics. With expatriates coming from elsewhere in the Arab world as well as from Asia, Europe, and North America, the city took on a rather cosmopolitan air and was considered to have one of the most liberal societies in the region.
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