Dubai

History

The first mention of the town of Dubai goes up with 1799. The tribe Bedouin of the Bani Yas with at their head Al Abu Falasa then flees the Wahhabites of the Nejd which extended their territory. A community of fishing, in particular of Pearl S, settles then with the current site of the wearing of Dubai. Known under the name of “Coast of the Pirates”, Dubai and the emirates close sign a peace treaty (the General Maritime Treaty ) the January 8th 1820 with the the United Kingdom. Then dependant on Abou Dabi, the city and the emirate of Dubai are founded in 1833 when dynasty Al-Maktoum separates from the Yas Outlaw and seizes “without resistance” the site the town of Dubai. A competition is established then between the emirates of Dubai and Abou Dabi. An attempt at catch of Dubai by the Qawasim pirates fell through.

In 1835, Dubai and the other States of the Coast of the Pirates signed a maritime truce with the United Kingdom and a “perpetual Truce maritime” in 1853, which made rename the area “States of the Truce” ( Trucial States in English). In 1892, Dubai is placed under the protection (semi-officially a Protectorat) of the United Kingdom by an exclusive dealing agreement what drives out the Othoman influence of the area. Protectorate is a time attached to the British Raj before being separate about it.

Contrary to their neighbors, the leaders of Dubai encouraged the trade and of many foreign merchants, coming mainly from India, settled in the city, which remained mainly known for its exports of pearls until in the Années 1930.

After the devaluation of the Rupee of the Gulf in 1966, Dubai joint with the Qatar to establish a new monetary unit, the Riyal of Qatar and Dubai. Pétrole is discovered in the Persian Gulf with 120 kilometers of the coast, following what the emirate allots oil concessions.

With five other emirates, Dubai reaches the Indépendance with the creation of the United Arab Emirates the December 2nd 1971. They will be joined the following year by the emirate of Ras el Khaïmah and in 1973 the federation adopts the Dirham of the United Arab Emirates like common currency. Semi-officially, the post of vice-president is reserved for the emir of Dubai who is elected within the Supreme council made up of the seven emirs of the federation.

For a few years and with the awakening on behalf of the government of the extreme dependence of the economy of the emirates with respect to the fossil energies, Dubai has reconverted her economy towards new technologies and the Commerce but especially towards the Tourisme, mainly of luxury, with blow of great work and disproportionate projects. In 2006, oil represented less than 10% of GDP: it counted for 30% in 2003 and 45% at the end of the years 1980.

Geography

The emirate of Dubai east, with 3 885 km ² and 1 186 867 inhabitants, the second emirate of the United Arab Emirates in terms of surface and population.

Its territory is located mainly on the coast of the Persian Gulf, between the emirates of Abou Dabi (in the South) and of Charjah (in North and the East). The emirate has also the enclave of Hatta in the mountains in the East of the country and which has a border with Oman and emirates of Ras el Khaïmah and Ajman. In majority occupied by the Deserted of the Rub Al-Khali, Dubai has few assets except layers of Pétrole and Natural gas.

The town of Dubai is the first port and the first city of the United Arab Emirates. It was created in a loop of the arm of the sea which penetrates in the desert and which constitutes a natural port (Khor Dubai). The downtown area, which keeps an Arab character, is made up small buildings and narrow lanes. The new districts are spread out as for them in the desert and along the coast in North and the South, constituting with the towns of Jebel Ali, Jumeirah, Bur Dubai, Deira, Charjah and Ajman an agglomeration of 2 033 787 inhabitants in 2006. These new districts, created of any part, consist of buildings, residences and houses. They are organized in the South on both sides of Sheikh Zayed Road, the largest artery of the United Arab Emirates and future urban center of the agglomeration. Bordered of Skyscraper S (573 in the emirate), it makes it possible to connect the residential zones to the built tourist complexes or in construction which are in the South of the ville : The Palm, The World, Dubai Waterfront, Ski Dubai, Marina Dubai, Dubai Badly, the Hotel Burj-Al-Arab, the Burj Dubai, Dubaïland,…

The port of Jebel Ali (or Jabal Ali Mined) is located at the South of the emirate. With the proximity of the agglomeration of Dubai and the construction of The Palm, Jebel Ali, of Dubai Waterfront and Marina Dubai, her aspect is being completely upset.

Policy

The current emir is Mohammad Ben Rached Al-Maktoum since the January 4th 2006 following the death of his/her brother Maktoum Ben Rached Al-Maktoum. Member of the Supreme council, he is also the Prime Minister for the United Arab Emirates.

As in the other emirates, it is the Charia which is in force in Dubai. Civil law and penal, as well as the habits are thus governed by the Moslem tradition.

The emirate of Dubai is divided into nine sectors (five urban, three rural and Jebel Ali) themselves divided into 132 “communities” of sizes variable and delimited by the principal arteries.

See also: Political of the United Arab Emirates

List emirs of Dubai

until the June 9th 1833 `Ubayd Ben Said
June 9th 1833 - 1852 Maktoum Ben Built ibn Suhayl
1852 - 1859 Said I Ben Built
1859 - November 22nd 1886 Hushur Ben Maktoum
November 22nd 1886 - April 7th 1894 Rached Ben Maktoum
April 7th 1894 - February 16th 1906 Maktoum Ben Hushur
February 16th 1906 - November 1912 Built Ben Suhayl
November 1912 - April 15th 1929 Said Ben Maktoum (1st time)
April 15th 1929 - April 18th 1929 Mani Ben Rached
April 18th 1929 - September 1958 Said Ben Maktoum (2nd time)

September 1958 - October 7th 1990 Rached Ben Said Al-Maktoum
October 7th 1990 - January 4th 2006 Maktoum Ben Rached Al-Maktoum
Since the January 4th 2006 - Mohammad Ben Rached Al-Maktoum

Population

The town of Dubai knows an important demographic expansion since some années : the population was of 265 702 inhabitants in 1980, 669 181 in 1995, a million in 2004, 1 182 439 in 2006 and it are expected that it reaches 1,4 million in 2011, which makes of Dubai the most populated city United Arab Emirates.

But the great majority of the population (65% of the total population in 2002, 700.000 workers migrant in 2007) is not dubaïote nor even émirati but is made of workers immigrés : the policy of great work requiring strong a Labor, the government calls upon foreigners coming mainly from the other Arab countries, the Indian Sous-continent and Southeast Asia. Many Western business men come temporarily in the emirate to work there in the subsidiary companies of their Multinationale S. They are approximately a hundred and thousand.

Quasi impossibility for a foreigner of obtaining nationality émiratie and of settling definitively in the country created a strong social fracture enters the émiratis and certain immigrant workers coming from the countries in the process of développement : a minority shares the richnesses thus and has a standard of living which exceeds that of many rich countries whereas the majority works under hard conditions, saw very modestly and is underpaid (although the wages are largely higher than what they would touch in their country of origin). The accidents fatal are frequent on the building sites where the personnel works without real security measures and in full sun.

The official language is the Arab . But because of the strong proportion from abroad the English, the Hindi , the Malayalam, the Persan , the Urdu and the Tagalog are used for the businesses and by the foreigners between them.

The religion most represented is the Islam, in majority sunnite. There exist Christian communities , Hindu, sikhs. Dubai is the only emirate which has a Hindu temple and a temple sikh. Since 2001, Catholic churches, orthodoxe and Protestant temples can be built with Jebel Ali thanks to the attribution of pieces by the government. Even if none the rites other than Moslem is subsidized by the government, freedom of worship is assured and it is allowed the various religious congregations to perceive gifts, financial supports coming from abroad, to make publications in the press,…

Economy

Until the Years 1950, the economy of Dubai was based on the Commerce and in particular the export of the Perle S. With the discovery and the exploitation of the Pétrole and the Natural gas the shortly after the Second world war, Dubai received a very large quantity of money of the sale of the black gold and almost any other activity was abandoned with the profit of the sector of the fossil energies.

With the recent fall of the oil exportations and natural gas and the exhaustion of the reserves envisaged from here a few decades, Dubai launches out in a diversification of her economy in favor of new technologies, of the trade and of the Tourisme of luxury, commercial, of business, etc Ainsi, the emirate envisages to become the first world center of tourism of luxury and one of the first tourist countries of the world from here a few years. Already, the export of oil does not represent any more that 5% of GDP of the emirate, the remainder being ensured by the tax re-entries of the companies thanks to the Jebel Ali Free Zone and, more and more, tourism.

This brutal turn is accompanied by a policy of great work in order to create the reception facilities (Aéroport S, marinas, Hôtel S, de luxe hotels, etc), of transport (Autoroute S, Métro, etc) and of leisure (center, watery amusement parks with topic and shopping, etc) for the future visitors. It is estimated that 15 to 25% of the cranes of the world are in Dubai.

In 2002, a law was promulgated in order to make it possible the abroads to reach the property of the buildings (and not of the ground) for beams 99 years. This law will make it possible nonémiratis fortunate to buy residences or apartments in the many real estate projects.

Development of the transport infrastructures

Dubai obtained transport infrastructures to measurement with her economic development and démographique :

the International airport of Dubai is used as Plate-forme of correspondence with the airline company Emirates. It will have a capacity of reception of 70 million passengers in 2007. In the long term, until twenty-six Airbus A380 could be connected at the same time to the terminal. The landing of a A340 Airbus is invoiced 1 274 euros against 9 048 euros with the Airport Roissy-Charles-of-Gaulle. The Kérosène is 10% less expensive than elsewhere. A second international airport, the Dubai World Central International Airport, is in construction in the south of Jebel Ali.
the harbor infrastructures of Dubai largely developed these last years. Dubai occupied, in 2004, it tenth place of the ports with Conteneur S, behind those of Los Angeles and Hamburg. The city counts different ports : Jebel Ali, Rashid Port and Creek Port. The two first are large ports which accommodate ships of large tonnage and the last which is more traditional, shelters the boats of transport out of wood, the dhows, and is devoted to the trade with the Iran and the other countries of the Persian Gulf.
the Highway network consists of broad Avenue S and Autoroute S whose Sheikh Zayed Road is the most known example. This network created a grid connecting the various residential zones, of work and tourist of the agglomeration of Dubai. It arrives at saturation just as the network of bus made up of 59 lines and borrowed by 200 000 passengers each week. In order to allow the crossing of Khor Dubai, an underwater road tunnel was built in seaside. Dubai has also the reputation to be the area of the rich countries which counts the most accidents and deaths on the roads. It is estimated that there is an accident every three minutes in Dubai, which contributes to the clogging of the highway network.
to mitigate road saturation, two lines of Métro are currently in construction and should partially open in 2009 and entirely in 2012 (see Métro of Dubai). The green line in the shape of “U” around Khor Dubai will connect Deira and Bur Dubai to the center town while the red line will connect Jebel Ali to the Dubai International Airport . These two lines will measure 70 kilometers and will count 43 stations (33 underground and ten on the surface). Recently, the construction of another line of 47 kilometers (blue) was announced. It should connect the new airport in construction (the Dubai World Central International Airport ) to Jebel Ali. To supplement the network of subway, it is planned to build seven Monorail S in order to connect it to various sites like Dubaïland, Jumeirah Palm,…
the Taxi S are very numerous in Dubai and one finds some everywhere. They constitute the nonpersonal means of transport more used by the émiratis.
the maritime transport is represented in Dubai by boat-shuttles out of wooden (the iron mounting ) which cross Khor Dubai in ten minutes and make it possible to easily connect Deira to Bur Dubai.

Economic reconversion of Dubai

In order to conclude the policy of reconversion of the economy of Dubai towards new technologies, the Trade and the Tourism, its government endeavors to attract capital and undertaken all while maintaining a policy great work, at the origin many urban, hotel, or balneal complexes. The gigantism and the innovative character of these achievements turn the glances of the whole world towards the emirate and force its fame.

The manufacturers are generally Nakheel or Emaar, groups established well in the emirate and with the now international aimings. Other important projects such as the Business Bay or that which envisages to cover a mountain with a dome then to cover with snow it in order to create a small station of ski are in preparation. Many these projects fall through, but they cause always publicity whose the city-State is nourished. Districts specialized in certain fields were put in place :

“City Media” and “Internet City” are free zones where large companies of the Médias settled (MBC, CNN, Reuters and AP) and of Informatique (EMC Corporation, Oracle, Microsoft and IBM) ;
“Dubiotech”, specialized in research biologiques ;
“Humanitarian City” which accommodates in a center various governmental organizations as well as UNOPS, an organization of the the United Nations.

They will make it possible Dubai to acquire a certain international recognition and to become an important place of decision.

The city has accommodated for several years various events whose Dubai Shopping Festival celebrates it (or DSF), the technological living room Gitex or the Dubai Air Show which have a very favorable impact on consumption as well as the investments.

The contractors do not respect the rights of the foreign workmen (Pakistani, Indians, Chinese,…) employees to build these complexes for rich person. They are exploited sometimes same returned in their country without wages no versed, According to the local regulation, the workmen cannot work under an higher temperature has 50°C but the temperature is taken in the shade thus it arrives that the temperature exceeds the 55°C without work not stopping. On average, there is a suicide every four days in the workmen.

; Burj-Al-Arab

Stamps and postal history

In order to ensure a postal service in their Protectorate of Trucial States, the the United Kingdom created there a postal office of the the British Indies the August 19th 1909. It used the Indian stamps with the overload Dubai Persian GULF ( Persian Gulf Dubai ) until the India obtained its Indépendance in 1947. Stamps of the Pakistan then replaced them until the March 31st 1948, date where this country also obtained its independence.

The British Gouvernement then set up a postal administration in Western Arabia and used British stamps overloaded until the January 7th 1961. On this date, postal autonomy was recovered little by little by the emirates. Stamps specific to the emirates were emitted with like captions Trucial States which, notwithstanding the name, was sold only in the post office of Dubai. This series was only with such a legend. The seven values in naye feeds (the division of the Roupie) accounted for seven palm trees in reference to the seven emirates while the four values in rupees represented a Boutre.

After this first series, postal autonomy allowed each emirate to emit its own stamps. Dubai recovered it the June 14th 1963 and emitted her first stamps the following day with for topic of the scenes of the sea life, the sights of Dubai and the portrait of the sheikh Rached Ben Saïd Al-Maktoum. The emirate realized quickly that the philatelists of the whole world were ready to buy the stamps of Dubai. The production pace increased then considerably what qualified these emissions of abusive. Indeed, the manufacture of the stamps was carried out near foreign printers which printed them already obliterated. The quantities of stamps were such as they were not adapted for the use of the local population which saw them in general never because being sold directly abroad. UPU recognized only part of these emissions of stamps and the catalogs of quotation count only one part of it. With the creation of a federal post office at the time of the creation of the United Arab Emirates to the end of the year 1972, Dubai had emitted more than 400 stamps of which little had been used for the correspondence.

Twinnings

Pact of friendship and co-operation

Appendices

External & Critical bonds

Projects of Nakheel to Dubai
'' Dubai and universalization: souk at the free zone ''
Dubai Ports Authority

Critical Media on the policy of Dubai:

Dubai 1/8 Emission of Radio France devoted to Dubai (episode 1).
Dubai 2/8 Emission of Radio France devoted to Dubai (episode 2).
Dubai 3/8 Emission of Radio France devoted to Dubai (episode 3).
Dubai 4/8 Emission of Radio France devoted to Dubai (episode 4).
Dubai 5/8 Emission of Radio France devoted to Dubai (episode 5).
Dubai 6/8 Emission of Radio France devoted to Dubai (episode 6).
Dubai 7/8 Emission of Radio France devoted to Dubai (episode 7).
Dubai 8/8 Emission of Radio France devoted to Dubai (episode 8).
Report of '' France 2 '' '' Dubai: in the compartments of Eldorado ''! To read with Internet Explorer!

Sources

Leader of Dubai
Population of Dubai

References

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