Travellers Guide to Dubai

Dubai is the second largest of the seven Arab emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates - the others are Abu Dhabi, the capital city, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. Facing the Persian Gulf, the city of Dubai straddles the Dubai Creek, a natural inlet which divides the city into the Deira and Bur Dubai districts. By the turn of the 20th century Dubai was a sufficiently prosperous port attracting settlers from Iran, India and Baluchistan, while the souk on Deira side was thought to be the largest on the coast, with some 350 shops. The facilities for trade and free enterprise were enough to make Dubai a natural haven for merchants who left Lingah, on the Persian coast, after the introduction of high customs? Settlers were mostly of distant Arab origin and Sunni, unlike most Persians, and... [read full story]