Dubai is a city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf and the northern coast of the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates and was named one of the best places to live in the Middle East in 2014. It is a very expensive city with hotel prices second in the world after Geneva. The laws in Dubai are so strict that there is no crime, which makes Dubai one of the safest places in the world. Dubai is so expensive that police drive luxury cars so they can catch rich drivers while they are speeding.
The Burj Al Arab Hotel uses enough gold to cover the Mona Lisa painting 46,265 times.
The earliest mention of Dubai in history is from a book titled Book of Geography, from 1095.
The interior of the Burj Al Arab is decorated with around 1,790 square meters of 24-carat gold leaf.
In 1580 a Venetian pearl merchant visited Dubai and made mention of it for its pearling industry at the time.
Constructing Dubai’s Palm Islands required 94 million cubic meters of sand. The Empire State Building is only 37 million cubic meters.
Dubai became an important port for merchant traders until the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Dubai’s police force uses supercars to impress tourists and show how “classy” the city is.
Once cultured pearls became possible in the 1930s much of Dubai’s population, which relied on the pearling industry, was forced to migrate or starve.
Dubai holds a world record for the fastest police car; a Bugatti Veyron which they purchased for US$ 1.6 million!
Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum began to build the area of Dubai up in the 1950s, and since then it has continued to flourish.
Roughly 85 percent of Dubai’s population is foreign.
Construction is so constant in Dubai that it is estimated that 20% of the cranes in the world are being used in Dubai to build.
It is estimated that around 15 percent of Dubai’s population are Emiratis.
Between 1968 and 1975 Dubai’s population grew by 300% because of the discovery of oil in Dubai’s territorial waters.
Most of the workers building Dubai’s hundreds of skyscrapers immigrated to the United Arab Emirates from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
The Gulf War in 1990 had a negative impact on Dubai but it recovered later in the decade.
Camel racing is a very popular sport in Dubai, similar to what football is to the USA and hockey to Canada.
Dubai was an important refuelling base during the 2003 Iraq invasion.
It wasn’t until 2015 that Dubai started assigning so-called Makani numbers (a unique 10 digit code) to all buildings to help identify them.
Dubai is home to many of the world’s tallest and largest structures.
Apart from an often very attractive salary you also won’t have to pay any income taxes when you make your money in Dubai.
The world’s largest aquarium is located in Dubai. The tallest hotel, and the second largest man-made marina are located in Dubai.
More than 25% of the world’s physical gold passed through Dubai.
Dubai has become a tourist attraction, with millions visiting every year to see the buildings and the opulence of Dubai.
There are ATMs in Dubai that dispense gold bars!
In 1968 Dubai only has 13 cars. There are so many cars today and the population and city are growing so fast that they have built double-decker roads to accommodate the cars and traffic.
Dubai holds a world record for making the longest gold chain. The chain measures 5,522 meters (18,116 ft 9.14 in)!
The world’s tallest manmade structure is located in Dubai. It is the Burj Khalifa of Dubai, at 2,717 feet. Within the building’s tower are the highest nightclub, highest restaurant, and highest mosque in the world.
Dubai Square, as it will be called, will be equivalent to the size of 100 football fields!
The lobby of the restaurant Al Mahara in Dubai is taller than the Statue of Liberty.
The total population of Dubai is 3.3 million.
There are air conditioners outside in Dubai, to help keep the temperature cooler.
Arabic is the official language of Dubai.
Dubai is in the process of building an indoor city that will be 50 million square feet in size and climate controlled.
The currency used in Dubai is UAE dirham (AED).
Dubai constructed artificial islands called the Palm Islands. They are shaped like a palm tree, and required importing enough sand to fill the Empire State Building 2.5 times.
Islam is the official religion of Dubai.
Oil accounts for only 6% of Dubai’s economy. The rest is mostly based on tourism and real estate.
Only non-Muslims are allowed to buy and consume alcohol and pork.
