Dubai villas, Dubai villa rental

one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf, or
that emirate's main city, sometimes called "Dubai City" to distinguish it from the emirate.

Dubai is the most populous and second largest emirate of the United Arab Emirates(in terms of size) after Abu Dhabi. Dubai is distinct from other members of the UAE in that revenues from oil account for only 6% of its gross domestic product. A majority of the emirate's revenues are from the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZ) and now, increasingly, from tourism.

With enormous construction and development in various industries, Dubai has attracted world attention through innovative real estate projects, sports events, conferences and Guinness records. However this increased attention, coinciding with its emergence as a world business hub have also highlighted potential human rights quagmires in relation to its largely immigrant workforce.

Dubai is a land rich in its heritage and culture. There have been many rapid changes to the once small pearling settlement. Although the early history of the area is not very well documented, archeological discoveries suggests that, as long as four thousand years ago, small fishing communities lived along the coast of the Arabian Gulf on the site of modern Dubai.

It is also believed that the natural sheltered harbour afforded by the Dubai Creekwa a busy port of call on the ancient trade route between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

The major part of the Dubai emirate consists of rolling sand dunes lapping the foothills of the arid Hajar mountains in the east. Until a decade or two ago, the dunes were inhabited by nomadic bedouin roaming with their flocks and herds. Today the nomads have all settled, in villages in the few fertile oases or valleys, or else in the city.

Modern Dubai is the product of the past 20 years of intensive development. Prior to that, Dubai was a small trading port, clustered around the mouth of the Creek.

It had grown gradually from a fishing village inhabited in the 18th century by members of the Bani Yas tribe. Its origins, however, go back into the far more distant past. The towns museum displays a rich collection of objects found in graves of the first millennium BC at nearby Al-Qusais, while a caravan station of the sixth century AD was excavated in the expatriate suburb of Jumairah.

The village really began to grow in the early 19th century, when some 800 members of the Bani Yas tribe, the Al Bu Falasah, moved north and settled in Dubai.

Dubai lacked the productive hinterland of Abu Dhabi, with its fertile oases of Liwa and Al Ain - its inhabitants were committed to life on the coast, and looked to the sea for their living. They based their livelihood on fishing, pearling and sea trade.

By the turn of the 20th century Dubai was a sufficiently prosperous port to attract settlers from , 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 dues there in 1902. These people were mostly of distant Arab origin and Sunni, unlike most Persians, and naturally looked across to the Arab shore of the Gulf finally making their homes in Dubai. They continued to trade with Lingah, however, as do many of the dhows in Dubai Creek today, and they named their district Bastakiya, after the Bastak region in southern

The successful early development was due in large part to the foresight of Dubai?s rulers. During the 20th century the city has benefited from the stabilizing influence of two exceptionally long rules: that of H H Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum from 1912 to 1958, followed by that of his son, H H Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed al-Maktoum. For many years prior to his fathers death in 1958 Shaikh Rashid has played a leading role in directing the state. Since then he has guided Dubai in its expansion from a small, old-world town to a modern state with excellent communication, and industrial infrastructure, and all the comforts of contemporary life. Since 1980 Shaikh Rashid has played a background role due to ill health but his four sons have continued his policies in exactly the same mould.

While this development has been greatly facilitated by the discover of oil and its production from the 1960s, oil revenues in Dubai have always been a fraction of those in Abu Dhabi, so Dubai?s growth has always depended partly on the inhabitants own entrepreneurial abilities.

Dubai is unusual in that its population is comprised mainly of expatriates, with UAE nationals (Emirates) constituting the minority. The majority of these expatriates come from South Asia and South East Asia. A quarter of the population reportedly trace their origins to neighboring . Dubai is also home to some 100,000 British and other western expatriates. The UAE government does not allow any form of naturalization or permanent residence to expatriates. However, foreigners are permitted to purchase and own property without a local partner or sponsor.

Nearly all of the commercial establishments are run by expatriates with a silent local partner who merely "rents" the business license for a negotiated annual fee without taking part in any capital investment. The numerous free trade zones allow for full expatriate ownership.

There is an increasing number of "freehold" villas and apartments on artificial islands such as the Palm Islands and in many parts of Dubai for example The Greens, Dubai Marina, International City, etc. Ownership is either permanent or on a 99 year lease depending on which area - freehold areas were announced in the press in July 2006. Ownership or lease of a completed residence allows the owner to apply for (but not guarantee) a residency visa on a 3 year renewable basis. The Federal Government does not state whether foreigners may or may not own property and has left individual emirates to formulate their own property laws.

The official language is Arabic. However, English, Hindi, Malayalam, Persian, Urdu and Tagalog are also widely spoken. Islam is the majority religion of all of the emirates. A vast majority of the locals are Sunnis, although there is a Shiite minority. There are also minority Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians as well. Dubai is the only emirate that has Hindu temples and a Sikh gurdwara.

In early 2001, ground was broken for the construction of several additional churches on a parcel of land in Jebel Ali donated by the government of Dubai for four Protestant congregations and a Roman Catholic congregation. Construction on the first Greek Orthodox Church in Dubai (to be called St. Mary's) would begin at the end of 2005, members of the Eastern Orthodox Christian community in the UAE have had to use churches of other denominations for services, until General Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Ruler and UAE Prime Minister, donated a plot of land in Jebel Ali.

Apart from donated land for the construction of churches and other religious facilities, including cemeteries, non-Muslim groups are not supported financially or subsidised by the government. However, they are permitted to raise money from among their congregants and to receive financial support from abroad. Christian churches are permitted to openly advertise church functions in the press.

Dubai is located on the Persian Gulf, southwest of Sharjah and northeast of Abu Dhabi, and reaches into the interior. The town of Hatta is an exclave of the emirate of Dubai and borders Al Wajajah,

Dubai is divided into 9 sectors: 1-4 & 6 are urban; 7-9 are rural; 5 is Jebel Ali and Hatta is 7. Each sector is sub-divided into communities of various sizes with major (named) roads as the boundaries. Currently there are 132 communities.

Oil reserves in Dubai are less than one-twentieth that of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, and oil income is now only a small proportion of the emirate's income.

Dubai and its twin across the Dubai creek, Deira (independent at that time), became important ports of call for Western manufacturers. Most of the new city's banking and financial centers were headquartered in the port area. Dubai maintained its importance as a trade route through the 1970s and 1980s. The city of Dubai has a free trade in gold and until the 1990s was the hub of a "brisk smuggling trade" of gold ingots to

Today, Dubai is an important tourist destination and port (Jebel Ali, constructed in the 1970s, has the largest man-made harbor in the world), but also increasingly developing as a hub for service industries such as IT and finance, with the new Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Transport links are bolstered by its rapidly-expanding Emirates Airline, founded by the government in 1985 and still state-owned; based at Dubai International Airport, it carried over 12 million passengers in fiscal year 2005.

The government has set up industry-specific free zones throughout the city. Dubai Internet City, now combined with Dubai Media City as part of TECOM (Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce and Media Free Zone Authority) is one such enclave whose members include IT firms such as EMC Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft, and IBM, and media organisations such as MBC, CNN, Reuters, ARY and AP. Dubai Knowledge Village (KV) is an education and training hub is also set up to complement the Free Zone?s other two clusters, Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City, by providing the facilities to train the clusters' future knowledge workers.

The Jumeirah Palm island. The government's decision to diversify from a trade-based but oil-reliant economy to one that is service- and tourism-oriented has made real estate more valuable, resulting in the property boom from 2004-2006. Construction on a large scale has made Dubai to be known as one of the fastest growing cities in the world, only equaled by the large Chinese cities.

The property boom is largely driven by mega-projects, whether off-shore such as The Palm and The World or inland such as Dubai Marina, the Burj Dubai Complex, Business Bay and Dubailand, headed by major players in the real estate sector of the larger Middle East namely Emaar Properties, Al Nakheel and Dubai Properties.

Skyscrapers along Sheikh Zayed Road. The aspirations of the ruling sheikh are reflected by the ultra-modern architecture of the city; home to iconic skyscrapers such as Emirates Towers, which are the 12th and 24th tallest buildings in the world, and the Burj al-Arab located on its very own island in the Persian Gulf and currently the tallest hotel in the world.

Emaar Properties is currently constructing what will become the world's tallest structure, the Burj Dubai. The final height of the skyscraper is a closely guarded secret - an indication of the developer's resolve to attain the title of the world's tallest building and its intention to hold on to it for as long as possible - but estimates so far point to a height upwards of 810m. Burj Dubai is expected to be completed in 2008. Burj Dubai's neighbor is another behemoth under construction: the world's largest shopping mall - the Dubai Mall.

Also under construction is what is planned to become Dubai's new Central Business District, named Business Bay. The project, when completed, will feature a phenomenal 500 skyscrapers built around an artificial extension of the existing Dubai Creek.

In February 2005, the construction of Dubai Waterfront was announced, it will be 2? times the size of Washington D.C., roughly seven times the size of the island of Manhattan. Dubai Waterfront will be a mix of canals and islands full of hotels and residential areas that will add 500 miles of man-made waterfront. It will also contain Al Burj, another one of the tallest buildings in the world.

Dubai has also launched Dubiotech. This is a new park to be targeted at Biotech companies working in pharma, medical fields, genetic research and even biodefense. The aim of this park is to foster the growth of this sector in Dubai and to utilize the region's talent in addressing this rapidly growing sector.

The International Media Production Zone is a project targeted at creating a hub for printers, publishers, media production companies, and related industry segments. This project was launched in 2003 and is estimated to be completed by 2006.

A new project was announced on May 1, 2006 by the authorities. It is named Bawadi and will consist of a 27 billion US-dollar investment intended to increase Dubai's number of hotel rooms by 29,000, doubling it from the current figure offers now. The largest complex will be called Asia, Asia and will be the largest hotel in the world with more than 6,500 rooms.

The first villa freehold properties that were occupied by non-UAE nationals were The Meadows, The Springs, and The Lakes (high-end neighborhoods designed by Emaar Properties, collectively called Emirates Hills).

Expatriates of various nationalities have been pouring capital into Dubai in the past several years, greatly contributing to the city's prosperity. Iranian expatriates alone are estimated to have invested up to US-$ 200 Billion in Dubai.

Since 2000, Dubai's municipality has initiated a plethora of construction phases and plans across the entire city of Dubai, predominantly in the Mina Seyahi area, located further from Jumeirah, towards Jebel Ali. In many areas, it is not easy to see Dubai's sky without at least one crane in your view; Industry experts cautiously estimate that 15% to 25% of the world's cranes are in Dubai. Construction in Dubai and the UAE in general is a much faster process than in any Western country. This is partly because laborers from the Indian subcontinent accept lower wages than those from other countries.

One of the main reasons for the boom in construction in Dubai is its drive to diversify the economy. The Dubai government does not want to depend on its oil reserves which are largely believed to become exhausted by 2010 and, as such, has diversified its economy to attract revenues in the form of expanding commercial and corporate activity. Tourism is also being promoted at a staggering rate with the construction of Dubailand and other projects that include the making of mammoth shopping malls, theme parks, resorts, stadiums and various other tourist attractions.

One of the other reasons for the boom in construction is the recent reversal of a law in 2002 that allows non-nationals of the UAE to own property (not land) in Dubai (albeit freehold and 99 year leases are actually sold to people with ownership still remaining with private companies). The larger of the property tycoons are Al Nakheel and Emaar Properties. In Dubai, demand is currently outstripping supply by a significant margin and is showing no signs of slowing in the near future. Rents have also skyrocketed with the recent inflow of professionals and companies from around the world who are attracted by Dubai's no-tax benefits although rises have been capped to 15% per annum up to 2006 under a directive from Sheikh Mohammad. Legislation in this area is still developing as the property market for foreigners is relatively new.

Dubai has a fairly large bus system run by the Dubai Municipality. The bus system has 59 unique routes on weekdays and transports over 200,000 people each week. Although the Public Transport bus system is large it is not large enough to accommodate the volume of people who would like to use it. The system has come under increasing criticism because of the lack of capacity.

Traffic congestion has come about mainly due to lack of foresight on the recent rapid population increase, the relative ease of credit facilities for obtaining a car and the convoluted road networks that are constantly being changed, improved or reconstructed. Furthermore, Dubai has developed a reputation for having the most deaths and road accidents in the developed world clocking in with a statistic of having a minor road accident at least every 3 minutes. Due to the frequency of such incidents, road networks are blocked and held up quite frequently.

Dubai also has an extensive taxi system, by far the most frequently used means of public transport within the emirate. There are both government-operated and private cab companies. The Dubai Transport Corporation operates cream-colored taxis. Some of the private cab companies are Cars Taxi, National Taxi, Cititaxi and Metro Taxi. Prices are reasonable (the meter begins as Dhs. 3, which is approximately 50pence, or 1 USD), and are charged by distance.

Ports and water travel

Dubai is serviced by several commercial ports and Dubai Creek is still used by local traders in Dhows:

One of the more traditional methods of getting across Bur Dubai to Deira is through abras, small boats that ferry passengers across the Dubai creek, between abra stations in Bastakiya and Bani Yas Road, for a nominal charge of 50 fils (1/2 AED).

Air

The Dubai International Airport is a hub for Emirates airlines and has a large Duty Free shopping centre. The airport has won numerous awards for its excellence in design and services. A third terminal is currently under construction and is due to open in 2006. The new terminal will be dedicated to Emirates airlines and will fully support the new Airbus A380. When completed this will double the capacity of the airport.

Dubai is investing heavily in developing the reach of its airline, Emirates. The idea is to develop Dubai's air transportation ability so that passengers from any city can fly direct to Dubai. When Emirates Airline receives the Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner series aircraft, it will be able to offer direct access to virtually any major city in the world.

Dubai hosts many world class sporting events, including the Dubai Tennis Championships, Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament, and the Dubai World Cup, an annual horse racing event. The World Cup offers the world's largest graded stakes race purse with over US $15 million worth of prize money handed out.

Dubai is fast gaining its name as an international venue for sporting activities. The International Cricket Council selected Dubai as its new headquarters, leaving behind its home for 95 years, Lord's.

Rugby is quickly becoming a popular sport as is netball, Dubai hosts an annual Rugby Sevens tournament which is incredibly popular with the rugby playing nations.