Restaurants and alcohol
Restaurants Dubai is home to some genuinely world class restaurants. Obviously Arab food is available everywhere in the city, but the diversity of the population is also reflected in the diversity of cuisine available in Dubai. In addition to traditional fare, South Asian and Chinese food is widely available, as is fast food such as [...]
Language and religion in Dubai
Language Arabic is the official language of Dubai, but English, Hindi, Malayalam, Persian, Tagalog, Bengali and Urdu are all widely spoken. English is generally used as the language of business as it is the second language common to most people. Religion Islam is the state religion of the UAE. The government subsidises 95 percent [...]
Religion in Dubai
Like most of the region, Islam is the official state religion of the UAE but, because of Dubai’s vast expatriate community, it also has large Hindu, Christian, Buddhist and Sikh communities. Dubai is realatively tolerant of other faiths. Non-Muslim groups can practice their religion freely within their own houses of worship, which they can build by [...]
Dubai before Islam
Little is known of the culture of the south-east Arabian Peninsula prior to Islam as there was no written culture, but many ancient towns in the area were used as trading centres between the Eastern and Western worlds. Prior to Islam the people in this area worshiped the god Bajir. The Byzantine and Sassanian empires [...]
Why are there so few Americans in Dubai?
You would think that Dubai would be an American’s dream, like a cross between Vegas and New York everything is bigger, grander, gaudier than anywhere else. It has McDonalds, Pizza Hut and all the usual multi-nationals to make them feel at home, yet there are only 19,000 Americans amongst the 1.2 million expat population. It’s [...]