Dubai Facts
Fact 1: Arabic is Dubai's official language, but it's common in this multi-cultural city to hear English, Hindi, Tagalog and Urdu as well.
Fact 2: Oil was discovered in 1966, but the Sheikh poured much of the initial profits back into infrastructure and other investments – today, just 3% of Dubai's GDP comes from oil. The emirate's oil reserves are projected to be exhausted by about 2020.
Fact 3: Dubai's population is growing exponentially, and currently stands at about 1.5 million. At least 80% of the population consists of ex-pats, mostly from India, Pakistan and the Philippines.
Fact 4: To encourage international business, Dubai has set up numerous industry-specific free zones with names like Internet City, Healthcare City, Media City, Knowledge Village and Studio City.
Fact 5: One of the world's main gold-trading centers, Dubai annually imports some 360 million tons of the precious metal, but then re-exports 350 million tons of it! Nevertheless, the average resident purchases 34 grams of gold jewelry each year, the highest per capita expenditure in the world.
Fact 6: Dubai is a city of superlatives. It's home to the tallest hotel in the world, the Burj al-Arab at 321 meters. But the Rose Rotana Suites, scheduled to open in late 2007, will surpass even that record. At completion, the building will stretch to 333 meters. The city is also known for having the largest man-made harbor in the world, Jebel Ali.
Fact 7: Construction of the Burj al-Arab was complicated and time-consuming. For example, in order to cool the 180-meter atrium (tallest in the world), the temperature had to be lowered incrementally, a half a degree at a time, over a period of months, to prevent the formation of excessive condensation (or even a rain cloud!) inside.
Fact 8: Dubai has become renowned worldwide for its elaborate land-reclamation projects. The World, a collection of 300 islands resembling a world map, is nearly complete. Several of the individual islands have been purchased for themed resort development, others for private use. The Palm Jumeirah is a palm-tree-shaped island with 520 km of shoreline. It will eventually feature 30 beach front hotels and thousands of private residences.
Fact 9: The official United Arab Emirates weekend is Friday-Saturday, but up until 2006 it was Thursday-Friday.
Fact 10: Ramadan is perhaps the most important religious observation in the Islamic calendar. Daily from sunrise to sunset during the ninth lunar month (usually beginning in September), Muslims fast and focus on prayer, charity and inner purity. For travelers, it's important to note the dates of Ramadan – since Islam is the official religion of the UAE, public eating, drinking and smoking from sunrise to sunset is illegal during this time. On the other hand, hotel rates drop drastically.
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