Dubai

Dubai is the largest city in the United Arab Emirates and serves as the capital of the Emirate of Dubai. It sits along a creek on the southeastern shore of the Persian Gulf. By 2025, its population had reached 4 million, with expatriates accounting for 92% of that figure. The broader urban zone, which includes Sharjah, had a population of 5 million in 2023, and the combined Dubai–Sharjah–Ajman metropolitan area was home to 6 million people.

The settlement began in the early 1700s as a village focused on pearling and fishing. In 1901, Dubai declared itself a free port, and in 1961 it extended the Creek, which helped it become a regional trading hub by the 20th century. Modest oil revenues fueled growth from the 1960s through the 1990s, after which the city began to diversify its economy. By 2018, oil production made up less than 1% of the emirate’s GDP.

Since the 1990s, rapid construction has created one of the world’s densest skylines, including the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building on Earth. Extensive land reclamation has added over 300 kilometers of artificial coastline. The city has a large real estate market, particularly in luxury properties.

Dubai’s economy is centered on trade, tourism, aviation, financial services, and real estate. The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) ranks as a major global financial hub. In 2024, Dubai was the seventh most-visited city worldwide. Dubai International Airport (DXB) handled more than 92 million passengers that year, making it the busiest airport in the world for international passenger traffic.

Etymology

The origin of the word “Dubai” has several proposed explanations. One theory suggests it was once the name of a souq in Ba. Linguist Zana Vahidzadeh (Dana Pishdar) argues it derives from a word meaning “money,” referencing the wealth of the trading center, or that it refers to “two brothers”—Deira and Bur Dubai. Poet and scholar Ahmad Mohammad Obaid traces it to the same root but to an alternative meaning of “baby locust,” due to the abundance of locusts in the area before settlement.

History

Human settlement in what is now the UAE has a long and complex history, shaped by extensive trade links between the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia, as well as cultures as distant as the Levant. Archaeological finds in Dubai—at Al-Ashoosh, Al Sufouh, and the rich site of Saruq Al Hadid—show occupation during the Ubaid and Hafit periods, the Umm Al Nar and Wadi Suq periods, and the three Iron Ages in the UAE. The Sumerians knew the area as Magan, a source of metal goods like copper and bronze.

About 5,000 years ago, the coast retreated inland, covering the area with sand and forming part of the present-day coastline. Pre-Islamic ceramics from the 3rd and 4th centuries have been found. Before Islam arrived, people in the region worshipped Bajir (or Bajar). After the spread of Islam, the Umayyad Caliph of the eastern Islamic world conquered southeast Arabia and expelled the Sassanians. Excavations by the Dubai Museum in Al-Jumayra (Jumeirah) uncovered several artefacts from the Umayyad period.

An early mention of Dubai appears in 1095 in the Book of Geography by Andalusian-Arab geographer Abu Abdullah al-Bakri. Venetian pearl merchant Gasparo Balbi visited in 1580 and referred to Dubai (as Dibei) for its pearling industry.

Establishment of modern Dubai

Dubai is believed to have been founded as a pearling and fishing village in the early 18th century. By 1822, it was a town of 700–800 members of the Bani Yas tribe, under the rule of Sheikh Tahnun bin Shakhbut of Abu Dhabi. That year, a British naval surveyor noted a population of about a thousand people living in an oval-shaped town surrounded by a mud wall, with goats and camels. The main footpath led to a reedy creek, while another path went into the desert and joined caravan routes.

In 1833, following tribal feuds, members of the Al Bu Falasah tribe seceded from Abu Dhabi and settled in Dubai. The exodus was led by Obeid bin Saeed and Maktoum bin Butti, who became joint leaders until Obeid died in 1836, leaving Maktoum to establish the Maktoum dynasty.

Dubai signed the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 with the British government, along with other Trucial States, after the British campaign against Ras Al Khaimah in 1819. This led to the 1853 Perpetual Maritime Truce. In 1892, Dubai entered an exclusivity agreement with the United Kingdom, which took responsibility for the emirate’s security.

In 1841, a smallpox epidemic broke out in Bur Dubai, forcing residents to relocate east to Deira. In 1896, a fire destroyed half of Bur Dubai’s houses, and the Deira district was said to have been destroyed; many homes were still made of barasti (palm fronds). The next year, more fires broke out, and an enslaved woman caught starting one was executed.

In 1901, Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum established Dubai as a free port with no taxes on imports or exports, and offered merchants land, protection, and tolerance. This prompted merchants to move directly from Lingeh, as well as from those who had settled in Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah (which had historical ties to Lingeh through the Al Qawasim tribe), to Dubai. The growing importance of Dubai’s port is reflected in the movements of steamships.