BY MUBEEN & KHUBAIB & USMAN & HAMAYUN

FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT DUBAI DUBAI, LOCATED IN THE SOUTHERN PERSIAN GULF ON THE ARABIAN PENINSULA, IS BOTH A CITY AND AN EMIRATE IN THE UAE (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES). BEING STRATEGICALLY LOCATED, IT HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT TRADING HUB SINCE ANCIENT TIMES. AN EMERGING LEADER IN WORLD ECONOMY, DUBAI ALSO HAS LOTS TO OFFER TO ITS TOURISTS AND IS ALSO A BOOMING REAL ESTATE MARKET. IMPOSING ARCHITECTURE AND SOPHISTICATED CULTURE MAKE DUBAI ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TOURIST HOT SPOTS OF THE WORLD. BELOW IS A LIST OF INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT DUBAI, THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW YET. FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT DUBAI THE WORD DUBAI MAY HAVE EVOLVED FROM THE WORD DABA, WHICH MEANS TO CREEP, REFERRING TO THE PROCESS BY WHICH THE DUBAI CREEK SLOWLY FLOWS INLAND. ANOTHER INTERESTING VERSION IS, THE POET AHMAD MOHAMMAD OBAID CLAIMS THAT DUBAI GOT ITS NAME FROM THE SAME WORD, DABA, WHICH ALSO REFERS TO A SWARM OF LOCUSTS. DUBAI HAD A FLOURISHING PEARL BUSINESS, WHICH COLLAPSED WITH THE ADVENT OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION. DUBAI IS A PART OF THE ARABIAN DESERT, BUT IS TOPOGRAPHICALLY DIFFERENT FROM IT. IT IS DOTTED WITH SANDY DESERTS, WHERE WILD GRASSES AND PALM TREES GROW. TO THE EAST OF THE CITY LIE THE SABKHA, COASTAL PLAINS COVERED WITH SALT, WHICH SEE AN ABUNDANT GROWTH OF DESERT HYACINTHS. EVERY YEAR, IN SPRING AND FALL, OVER 300 BIRD SPECIES MIGRATE THROUGH DUBAI. DUBAI EXPERIENCES EXTREMELY ARID AND HOT CLIMATES, WITH THE MERCURY SHOOTING AS HIGH AS 104OF. AVERAGE PRECIPITATION IS NOT MORE THAN 140 MM ANNUALLY. SUMMERS ARE PRONE TO SEVERE SANDSTORMS, LOCALLY KNOWN AS SHAMAL, WHICH CAN LAST FOR DAYS ON END, AND REDUCE VISIBILITY. THE AL MAKTOUM DYNASTY HAS RULED DUBAI SINCE 1833. DUBAI DOES NOT FOLLOW THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. THE CULTURE AND DRESS CODE IN DUBAI IS MUCH MORE DIVERSE AND LIBERAL THAN THE OTHER EMIRATES OF THE UAE. THOUGH MUSIC, ARTS, AND FOOD HAVE A DISTINCT ARABIC AND BEDOUIN INFLUENCE, THE LARGE INFLUX OF FOREIGNERS VISITING AND WORKING IN DUBAI HAVE LEFT THEIR INDELIBLE MARK ON THE PLACE, WHICH IS EVIDENT IN THE COSMOPOLITAN CULTURE OF THE SOCIETY. TRADITIONALLY, MEN WEAR A KANDURA, A LONG WHITE ROBE, THAT REACHED UP TO THE ANKLES, AND IS EITHER WOOLEN OR MADE FROM COTTON. WOMEN CAN BE SEEN WEARING THE ABAYA, A BLACK GARMENT WORN OVER THE CLOTHES. DUBAI HAS STRINGENT BEHAVIORAL LAWS IN PLACE, AND KISSING AND DANCING IN