Dubai

One of the fastest growing cities in the world…

Dubai is a city located in the Arabian Desert and on the southeastern part of the Persian Gulf located in the United Arab Emirates, Middle East, and occupies an area of 4,110 square km (1,588 square miles).
In 2012, Dubai was the wealthiest city in the Middle East and the 27th wealthiest city in the world and is nicknamed the ‘City of Gold’, due to its significant trade in gold, and includes 250 gold retail outlets in the city.
The main religion of Dubai is Islam, and Arabic is the official language with English being the second.
Dubai is the home of its ruler, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai’s population of over 2 million people originate from over 200 countries, with only a little over 15% of them being nationals, and over 50% of the expatriates are Indian.

Up until the 1930s, Dubai was a significant exporter in pearls, when the industry gave way due to war, the Great Depression and the production of artificial pearls.
Dubai has an important role in trade, as the city is located near the Persian Gulf, a main trading water route, which really kicked off in the 1900s, and then in 1966, oil was found in Dubai, which contributed to a huge increase in the population, mainly expatriates, although the oil industry now only makes up a small percentage of the city’s revenue.
Dubai is a great tourist destination attracting visitors with no less than 70 shopping malls and 600 fancy hotels, and attracted 10 million people in 2012, ranking it in the top ten most visited cities in the world.
Dubai achieved the world’s tallest skyline in 2010, and is home to some of the largest and most unique hotels, gardens, buildings and entertainment centres, and one hotel is nicknamed as a ‘seven star hotel’.
Dubai is the home to the Burj Khalifa, an apartment and office building, which became the tallest building in the world in 2010, measuring 829.8 meters (2,722 feet) in height.