Hey!

My name is Keely, I am 15, and this is my blog all about Dubai! For the next few weeks I will be keeping this blog updated with the geography of Dubai!

Thursday 9 January 2014

National Clothing

In Dubai the local men and women have their own style of dressing still worn by some of them today. For the women they wear a hijab (scarf which covers their neck and head), abaya (long black robe), and for some women - usually the older generation, they will wear a niqab, which covers their mouth and nose, only exposing their eyes. The men wear a dish dash (a long white robe) and a keffiyeh (a long white head scarf).

Sunday 5 January 2014

Arabic

The Arabic Language (العربية) is very different from the English language in many ways - reading, writing and speaking. When written, the language is written from right to left, or 'backwards' for those who speak English. The alphabet itself has 28 letters in it, almost all of which (with six exceptions) have three different ways of being written depending on whether it is at the beginning, middle or end of a word. Furthermore there are twelve different diacritics which can be put on an individual letter when written, changing the way it is pronounced completely, making Arabic an extremely difficult language unless it is your native tongue.
Here is a video teaching some of the basic greetings in Arabic.

 

Monday 16 December 2013

Language of Dubai

In Dubai, the official language spoken is Arabic (العربية). Although this is the official language of the country, it is not widely spoken. Due to the increasing number of expatriates living in Dubai, only the minority speak Arabic. English is spoken throughout the country by almost everyone, even the locals know how to communicate in English. Other languages spoken around Dubai by expatriates are Indian, Filipino, Hindi/Urdu, Malayalam, Tagalog, Pashto, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish, and many more.

Monday 9 December 2013

Dubai's Population

In Dubai there is an estimated population of 2,106,177, most of which are actually expatriates. An appoximate figure of 88.5% is the number of expats living in Dubai, with only a 11.5% being the local Emaratis. Most of these local Emaratis would be ethnic Persians. An estimated 71% of Dubai's total population is said to be Asain, whilst only 3% is said to be Western.

Thursday 5 December 2013

Dubai's Location

Dubai is one of the seven Emirates; Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain, that makes up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is located in the Middle East on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf in the Arabian Peninsula.