Travelogue

Essential Guide

Area: 3,885 sq. kms, the second largest of the seven emirates in the UAE.

Geographical Location: North-Eastern part of UAE, extending over 115 kms on the Gulf coast. Inland, Dubai stretches as far as Hatta, an ancient village, about 120 kms to the east.

Latitude: 25 Deg 16 min North.

Longitude: 55 Deg 16 min East.

Status: An Emirate as well as a city.

Government Head: H. H. Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the Ruler of Dubai, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE.

Population: 6,95,000 (as estimated in 1996). Population is mainly concentrated in the city and suburbs while the villages and agricultural settlements account for the rest.

Local Time: Gulf Standard Time: +4 hours GMT.

Religion: Islam.

Languages: The official language is Arabic. English is widely used in business and trade sectors. Other commonly used languages are Hindi, Urdu, and Farsi. Most road and shop signs, restaurant menus and general information leaflets are in both languages.

Weather: Dubai is at its climatic best during early November to March. It is blessed with sunshine for most part of the year with rains during January and February amounting upto 130mm annually. Strong winds blow disregarding time and season and the humidity is high in the summer months. In short, the climate can be describes as sub-tropical arid climate with temperatures ranging from a high of 43 Deg C to a low of 10.5 Deg C.

Currency: UAE Dirham. See the Currency page.

Weights and Measures:The Metric system is followed, although British and most merchants understand American standard weights and measures. Local weights and measures are also used sometimes, but rarely for international trade.

Television: Dubai TV transmits its Arabic programmes on five channels with English programmes on Channel 33 UHF.

Radio: Dubai Radio transmits its Arabic programmes 18 1/2 hours a day (0630 hrs to 0100hrs) with English programmes for 24 hours continuously.

Working Hours:

Banks: 8 am to 1 pm (Sat to Wed) and 8 am to 12 noon (Thu). Some banks also open from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm.

Government Offices: 7.30 am to 1.30 pm (Sat to Wed) and 7.30 am to 12 noon (Thu), in Summer, 7 am to 1 pm (Sat to Thu), in Winter.

Private Offices: 8 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 7 pm (Sat to Wed), 7 am to 12 noon (Thu).

All offices close every afternoon during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Credit Cards: Amex, Visa, Diners Club, Access, and MasterCard.

Licences: The following are essential to rent a car: Your passport, two photographs and either a valid international driving license or a national license from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK or the USA.

Major Industries: Petroleum; manufactured goods such as liquefied gas, aluminium ingots, cement, readymade garments, electric cables and iron scrap and other metals.; and traditional items like dates, hides, seafood including dried fish

Clothing: Light airy clothes to stand the heat and humidity of the summer months and medium clothes during November to March with warm wear for the cooler winter months is ideal.

Shopping: The shopping outlets in Dubai will put one in a dilemma, for there is nothing that one cannot buy here. Right from the traditional souqs to the modern shopping malls and the Dubai Duty Free, there is everything under the sun, perfumes, fashion brands, watches, electronic goods, gold,..the list is endless. What’s more you get good products for great prices.

Air Transport: The Dubai International Airport located 3kms East of the city is one of the busiest in the world. Emirates is the national airline and operates international flights to and from the airport. All the UAE airports are linked by the Gulf Air services. Dubai offers flights to 100 leading destinations in the world and there are direct flights into Dubai from all the major airports in the world.

Road Transport: For transportation within the city, there are many options, you can take a metered taxi run by the Dubai Transport Corporation (Tel: Reservation: 313131, Lost and Found: 640000) which has a smooth and efficient transport system, or take a bus operated by the same on some of the routes like the Dubai- Sharjah route. Other options include non-metered taxis for which it is wise to check rates or share a taxi if u want to travel long distance. Otherwise you can also rent a car from one of the many car rentals in the city.

Water Transport: The Creek is the main waterway with small water taxis or abras running services between Deira and Bur Dubai. They offer a great view of the shoreline and the main landmarks while getting you to your destination smoothly. You can board an abra at one of the three abra stations, one on the Dubai side and two in Deira side. The ports in Dubai make it easily accessible to the traders from as far as East Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Far East. In fact Dubai, with Port Rashid, the freeport of Jebel Ali to the south, and the small port of Hamriyah that receives commercial vessels coming from the ports in the Gulf is one of the major distribution centres linking trade activities between the East and the West.

Entry: Visas are compulsory for all visitors except nationals of AGCC countries. A UAE sponsor can help you obtain a 30-day visit visa, 7-or-14 day transit visa, and multi-entry visa. A yellow fever vaccination certificate is also required from all those coming from infected areas. In addition there are group visas too.