Dubai is the capital of one of the seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates. It is located on the Arabian Peninsula and overlooks the Persian Gulf. It has undergone rapid expansion and urbanization, literally skipping two generations, in terms of facilities and development.
Before telling you about my days, I want to tell you all the curiosities about Dubai that I discovered thanks to a guided tour. Find out the Staycations deals in Dubai.
Difficult to meet more than one local
Emirati people born and raised locally have a tendency, not frequent tourist spots. It is therefore highly unlikely to meet locals on the beach. Usually, the tourist has one of the few approaches with a local to border control, when he gets the visa in his passport. But it’s certainly not the ideal place to strike up a conversation about Emirati customs.
To satisfy the curiosities related to traditions you can go to the Mohammed Sheikh Museum where important initiatives are held, including cooking lessons, traditional dinners and tours of the artistic heritage, in which tourists come into contact with citizens. Because most of the inhabitants are from other nationalities, including India, the Philippines, Pakistan.
Not the city with the highest number of skyscrapers
According to the latest estimates, Dubai has 1344 completed skyscrapers. Here, then, that compared to Hong Kong and New York, respectively with 6606 and 6180, it is not much. Although it still holds the record as the tallest tower in the world with the Burj Khalifa which reaches a height of 828 meters.
A decade ago a quarter of cranes around the world were working on construction sites in Dubai but, with the financial crisis, the relentless construction of skyscrapers has slowed down.
Police cars are luxury
There are so many supercars on the streets of Dubai that even law enforcement can’t be outdone. So the police cars are Lamborghini and Porsche, Ferrari and Bentleys. To which were added an Mc Laren and a Bugatti.
The Abu Dhabi intervention
The largest skyscraper in the world, the Burj Khalifa, an icon of the city that towers over Dubai, could not have been built without the financial help of the neighboring Emirate, Abu Dhabi. If initially the name was supposed to be Burj Dubai, it was in fact renamed in honor of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Emir of Abu Dhabi who made its construction possible.
Projects never realized
So many architectural follies have been built in Dubai. Whether they are artificial islands, record-breaking towers or something else. But there are also countless equally whimsical designs that haven’t gone beyond the drawing board.
Examples include the International Chess City, a group of 32 black and white skyscrapers designed to look like chess pieces, the Steven Gerrard Tower and the Dynamic Tower whose floors were designed to rotate.
The Sheikhs: rich and forgetful
The lost and found statistics are breathtaking. In 2015, a passenger left almost 40,000 euros in cash in the plane’s toilet. In 2016, the proceeds from lost property at the airport amounted to almost 10,000 euros and two lost diamond rings were handed over to the airport police. A taxi driver handed over a gold bar left in the taxi: its value was around one million euros.
There are far more men than women
Out of a population of 2.5 million, 1.7 are males. Almost 70%. Females represent just over 30% of Dubai’s population. This figure reveals that most of the emigrants to the city are males who have left their families in their home countries. 58% of the population is between the ages of 25 and 44, with the majority of people between 30 and 34. Only 15% of the inhabitants are over 45 years old.
The most social prince in the world
The king’s son, Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is beautiful, appreciated, and respected by the national community. Practice parachuting, falconry, fishing and diving. He loves playing tennis, being with animals and pampering ponies.
He is passionate about horses and an expert skier and does not disdain hard work with the men of his staff. But he is also the most social royal in the world, beating even the William of England. The Sheikh boasts 3.4 million followers on his Instagram profile where many photos of his daily habits between sports and animals are posted.
Dubai’s fortune was built on pearl fishing
Before tourism, Dubai enriched itself with oil. And even before that with fishing, agriculture and diving. In the 20th century, there were at least 300 shows (the typical boats), with over 7000 sailors on board, who set out for pearl fishing.
It is possible to buy anything from the vending machines
The Gold to Go ATM in the Dubai Mall allows you to buy from one coin to gold bars. Laptops, tablets, cameras and phones can also be purchased directly from the vending machine at the Sharaf DG store in Times Square Center.
A man and a woman, in order to live together and have children in Dubai, must necessarily get married
Being an Islamic country, marriage is considered a rigorous foundation as well as a real contract that confers rights, duties and protection on the couple and their children. On national soil, not only Islamic couples, who must follow a specific procedure, can marry, but also couples of different religions residing in the territory, as long as they contact the church or the national embassy of reference and follow the laws.
To be able to give birth, a woman must necessarily be married
In fact, already on the first visits, he will have to show the marriage certificates; especially for a foreign resident, if she presents herself pregnant but is not married, she has the possibility of marrying immediately according to her religion or the laws of her country of birth, or to return home to give birth (without getting married). Abortion is illegal except in cases where there are serious complications, and it is punishable
The Burj Khalifa has completed thanks to the intervention of Abu Dhabi
The tallest skyscraper in the world, the Burj Khalifa (828 m), an icon of the city that towers over Dubai, could not have been built without the financial help of the Emirate near Abu Dhabi. If initially the name was supposed to be Burj Dubai, it was in fact renamed in honor of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyane, the Emir of Abu Dhabi who made its construction possible.
Palm Jumeirah is the largest inhabited man-made island in the world
The palm-shaped artificial island was built by crumbling rocks from various mines in the United Arab Emirates, and hundreds of millions of tons of sand obtained from the seabed of the Persian Gulf were used.
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