Tourist Information about Dubai, UAE

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Middle East. It is also known as the emirate's main city due to its popularity. In fact, the term Dubai City is used in order to clearly distinguish it from the emirate names Dubai. Most of the time when people say Dubai they rarely refer to the emirate but rather Dubai City.

The United Arab Emirates s located at the southeast end of the Persian Gulf. Dubai is also the second last emirate in terms of size though it is the most populous of them all.

One major distinction between Dubai and the other emirates is that the government of Dubai is aggressively pursuing trade practices that are geared towards reducing its dependence on oil. Most of Dubai's revenues are now coming from Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZ) through the tourism industry.
Apart from tourism, Dubai also promotes free trade with no significant taxes levied on imported items that can be purchased by anyone at the lowest prices anywhere in the world.

Located on the very shores of the Persian Gulf, Dubai is sometimes nicknamed the Hong Kong of the Arab World. It is a tax-free commercial port where buying, selling, and shipping has surpassed the oil trade of the emirate. The population of Dubai is approximately 1 million. Out of these a majority are South Asia or South East Asia expatriates. Almost 25% of its population can trace itself back to Iran. Then there are about 100,000 British and other western expatriates Dubai. This makes the emirate unique in that the native population is an overwhelming minority.

The Dubai map in political terms is divided into 9 sectors. Sectors 1-4 and 6 are urban. Sectors 7-9 are rural. Sector 5 is Jebel Ali and sector 7 is Hatta. Each sector is then divided into communities. There were 132 communities at last count.

Geographically the Dubai map can divided into five regions:

• Deira along the east coast
• Bur Dubai, on the center shoreline
• Jumeriah Beach, on the west coast
• Airport region located in the interior western part

The Jumeirah Beach involves a strip of 20 beach front hotels and resorts strung along from Jebel Ali Hotel and Golf Resort (9-hole golf course and a marina) in the west all the way to the Regent Beach Resort to the east. Other areas in this region include Wild Wadi Water Park, Internet City, and the Camel Race Track. Bur Dubai is located around Port Rashid on the east bank of the Dubai Creek and includes the Dubai World Trade Center.

Bur Dubai and Deira are separated by the Dubai Creek and make up the City Center.