It is an oasis in the desert: skyscrapers abound, golf courses and horse tracks host worldclass events, a seven-star hotel overlooks pristine beaches, there is no income tax and services are abundant. It is a haven for new business, home to the world’s fastest-growing airline, the world’s largest manmade harbor, the third-largest seaport. It hosted more than 5 1/2 million visitors last year. In many ways it is Disneyesque, yet even the great minds at Epcot would be hard pressed to replicate what is, in its own right, so vibrant and compelling.
To many it is known as the "City of Gold," or the "Singapore or Hong King of the Middle East." But its real name is Dubai, one of the seven states that form the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Located in a part of the world known largely for conflict, Dubai has shattered the stereotype. It has emerged as an ode to growth and progress, or as one Dubai business executive said, "It is a place where the people are planning for peace."
The UAE occupies an area of just over 32,000 square miles along the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies to the west, Saudi Arabia to the south and west, and Oman to the north and east. Dubai is the second-largest state in the UAE (Abu Dhabi is the largest) and is situated on the banks of the Dubai Creek, a natural inlet from the Persian Gulf.
Its most recognized landmark is the Burj al-Arab (Arabic "tower of the Arabs") Hotel, which stands on an artificial island and is the tallest (1,053 feet) building in the world used exclusively as a hotel. It is also the world’s first sevenstar hotel. (Note: American golfer Tiger Woods is seen in a television commercial driving golf balls off the heli-deck jutting out near the top of the sail-shaped Burj al-Arab.)
Although the country is more than 300 years old, the discovery of oil put Dubai on the map in the mid-1960s. But oil is just a fraction of what has driven Dubai’s growth
over the past two decades. That growth has been spurred by the foresight of Dubai’s ruler His Highness Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed al-Maktoum, and the country’s entrepreneurial companies whose drive and imagination seemingly have no limit.
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