50 Fun Facts About Dubai

Dubai is the most populous city of which country?

About 4 million people live there and 92 percent of them are expatriates; the wider Dubai–Sharjah–Ajman area holds 6 million.

Dubai sits on the coast of which body of water?

The city grew up around a natural saltwater creek that was dredged in the 1950s and extended in 1961 to take bigger ships.

Dubai began in the early 18th century as a settlement built on which two trades?

The 'Great Storm' of 1908 sank a dozen pearling boats, and the industry's later collapse plunged the town into deep depression before oil.

Which family has ruled Dubai since 1833?

Maktoum bin Butti led the Al Bu Falasah out of Abu Dhabi that year; the current ruler is also vice-president and prime minister of the UAE.

In 1901 Dubai's ruler took what step that turned the town into a regional trading hub?

Merchants moved in from Lingeh across the Gulf, and by 1906 steamers were calling fortnightly and trading 70,000 tons of cargo.

Oil was finally discovered off Dubai in which year, in far smaller quantities than in Abu Dhabi?

The first field was named Fateh, 'good fortune'; the population then grew by more than 300 percent between 1968 and 1975.

By 2018, oil production contributed roughly what share of the emirate's GDP?

Oil had been 24 percent of GDP in 1990; trade, tourism, aviation, finance and real estate now drive the economy.

Which seventh emirate joined the UAE in 1972, a year after the other six formed it?

It joined after Iran seized the Tunbs islands it claimed.

In 1968 Sheikh Rashid briefly imposed a tax on which abundant resource, lifting it after only 11 days?

It is remembered as the shortest-lived tax in the region's history; the same year the town got a reliable piped water supply.

The ruler of which neighbouring state lent the money for the first bridge across Dubai Creek in 1963?

Sheikh Rashid asked his brother-in-law for the money and repaid it with a toll on traffic crossing from the Dubai side.

The two districts on either side of Dubai Creek are Bur Dubai and which other?

One theory says the name Dubai itself refers to these 'two brothers'; a smallpox outbreak in 1841 first pushed residents across to the eastern bank.

What are the small traditional boats that ferry passengers across Dubai Creek called?

They run between stations in Bastakiya and Baniyas Road; the creek itself now handles more than 13,000 ships a year.

The world's tallest building was known by what name until its official opening in January 2010?

It was renamed for the UAE president after Abu Dhabi and the federal government lent Dubai tens of billions of dollars to cover its construction debts.

How tall is the Burj Khalifa, including its spire?

That is just over half a mile; it took the world's-tallest title from Taipei 101 when it topped out in 2009.

Which Chicago firm designed the Burj Khalifa, with Adrian Smith as chief architect?

Smith found his prototype looking out of his office window at Lake Point Tower's curved three-wing layout.

Some of the structural steel in the Burj Khalifa was salvaged from which demolished building?

The primary structure is reinforced concrete; the design also borrows from the Great Mosque of Samarra.

The Burj Khalifa's Y-shaped, three-lobed floor plan is said to be an abstract version of which desert flower?

The design draws on Islamic patterning; a buttressed central core and wings carry the load.

Which fashion designer's first hotel occupies 15 of the lower floors of the Burj Khalifa?

The 304-room hotel was the first of four planned by the designer; sky lobbies on the 43rd and 76th floors hold swimming pools.

The Burj Al Arab hotel's shape is designed to resemble what?

British architect Tom Wright of Atkins designed it; the translucent fibreglass facade shields the desert sun by day and becomes a screen for lights at night.

The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island roughly how far from Jumeirah Beach?

A private curving bridge links it to the shore, on the site of the old Chicago Beach Hotel.

The Burj Al Arab's rooftop helipad has famously been used as a venue for all of these except which?

It sits at the 28th floor, 210 metres up, and was also the jumping-off point for the highest kite-surfing jump in history.

The beach where the Burj Al Arab now stands was once called Chicago Beach because of what?

Chicago Bridge & Iron built giant floating storage tanks called Kazzans on the beach, then floated them out to the Fateh oil field.

The Jumeirah archipelago of artificial islands is laid out to resemble what when seen from the air?

The trunk is mixed-use, the fronds are villas and the outer crescent holds resorts; the first homes were handed over in 2006.

Which Dutch dredging company built the Palm Jumeirah and The World Islands?

Construction began in June 2001 by piling up rock; a 2009 NASA satellite study suggested the islands were sinking 5 mm a year, which the developer disputed.

The monorail linking the Palm Jumeirah to the mainland holds what regional distinction?

It runs from the Atlantis hotel to the Gateway Towers at the foot of the island, with an extension to the Metro's Red Line planned.

Dubai's Jebel Ali port, built in the 1970s, is described as having the world's largest what?

The free zone created around it in 1985 let foreign companies import labour and export capital freely, and it served as a refuelling base in the Gulf War.

In 2024 Dubai's main airport, DXB, ranked as the world's busiest for what?

It handled more than 92 million passengers in 2024 and is the hub of Emirates airline.

The Dubai Metro, opened on 9 September 2009, was the first rapid transit network in which region?

Its trains are fully automated and driverless, and stations are air-conditioned with platform-edge doors.

Which two colours name the Dubai Metro's original lines?

A Blue Line is due in 2029 and a Gold Line in 2032; Guinness recognised it in 2012 as the world's longest driverless network.

Dubai-licensed taxis are recognisable by bodywork of what colour, with roofs varying by operator?

Pink roofs mark the Ladies and Families service with female drivers; more than 3,000 taxis average 192,000 trips a day.

Dubai Mall, next to the Burj Khalifa, was inaugurated in which year?

It opened with about 1,000 retailers and drew a record 105 million visitors in 2023, more than New York City receives in a year.

Dubai is the 'City of Gold' partly because its Gold Souk houses nearly how many gold shops?

In the 1960s the city was already the centre of a lively gold trade, most of it re-exported to buyers waiting in international waters off India.

The Dubai Frame in Zabeel Park, opened in 2018, is about how tall?

It holds the record for the largest frame in the world and offers views of old Dubai to the north and the new city to the south.

Ain Dubai on Bluewaters Island became the world's tallest observation wheel in 2021 at what height?

It is 82 metres taller than the Las Vegas High Roller, but closed in 2022 for 'periodic enhancements' and lost its safety certification.

Expo 2020 kept its name even though the pandemic pushed its opening to which date?

It ran until 31 March 2022 on a 438-hectare site between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with 192 country pavilions.

Expo 2020's site was organised around a central plaza and three districts named for which themes?

American firm HOK drew the master plan around Al Wasl Plaza.

In 2016 Dubai opened the world's first functioning office building made how?

It took 17 days to build, and its architect, Killa Design, went on to design the Museum of the Future.

Which sport's international governing body is headquartered in Dubai?

Football and cricket are the city's most popular sports, and the IPL cricket league was staged in the UAE in 2020 during the pandemic.

The Dubai World Cup, held at Meydan Racecourse, is a race for which animals?

Dubai also stages the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Desert Classic golf tournament each year.

Which of these clubs is NOT based in the emirate of Dubai?

Al Ain, the record champions, are from Abu Dhabi emirate; Shabab Al Ahli also fields the city's top basketball side.

Before 2006, Dubai's weekend fell on which two days?

From 2006 to 2022 it was Friday–Saturday as a compromise with the Western weekend, and since 2022 it has been Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday.

Which nationality forms the largest group of Dubai's expatriates?

Indians made up 51 percent of the population by one 2013 estimate; Britons, at over 100,000, are the largest Western group.

Which mountain range runs along Dubai's border with Oman at the exclave of Hatta?

Hatta is surrounded on three sides by Oman; the mountains rise to about 1,300 metres, while the city itself is only 16 metres above sea level.

Dubai's average annual rainfall is roughly how much?

Record flooding in April 2024 exposed the lack of drainage; the highest temperature ever recorded is 49 °C.

Which UAE public holiday on 2 December marks the formation of the federation?

Eid al-Fitr, ending Ramadan, is the other major holiday; a street in the city was renamed '2 December' in its honour.

Which currency did Dubai adopt in 1973 along with the other emirates?

The change dissolved an earlier monetary union with a neighbouring state.

Dubai Opera opened in Downtown Dubai in 2016 with a performance by which singer?

The venue opened on 31 August 2016 beside the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall.

A British naval surveyor in 1822 described Dubai as an oval town of a thousand surrounded by what?

Goats and camels wandered the settlement, whose main footpath led down to the reedy creek.

Extensive land reclamation has added roughly how much artificial coastline to Dubai?

The Palm Islands and The World Islands began in the early 2000s; the emirate's area grew from about 3,900 to 4,110 square kilometres.

Which global tournament for a seven-a-side sport did Dubai host in 2009?

The city also stages the Dubai Desert Classic and DP World Tour Championship in golf, plus the Dubai Tennis Championships.