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Dubai It has spectacular beaches but is not Australia; it is one of the world’s most secure destinations but is not Singapore; it has opulent city hotels and superb beachside resorts but is neither Jakarta nor Bali. It has world class shopping but is not Hong Kong

Welcome to Dubai, city of merchants, cultural crossroads, second largest of the seven United Arab Emirates. A country where the dust of the desert is clearing to reveal the potential for one of the most significant international cities of the 21st century.

Wedged between Europe and Asia, buttressed by Africa, Dubai’s encouraging tax regimes, state-of-the-art telecommunications and sympathetic business environment have produced a country that is building energetically on the advantages which location, centuries-old trading savvy and oil wealth have given it. Dubai is not just a city of excitement. It’s also a city of surprises.

Language and religion

The official language is Arabic but English,German, Hindi/Urdu, Malayalam, Tamil, Persian, and Tagalog are also widely spoken. Islam is the majority religion of the Emiratis and while a vast majority of the locals are Sunnis, there is a significant Shiite minority. There are also minority Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians. Dubai is the only emirate that has Hindu temples and a Sikh Gurdwara.

In early 2001, ground was broken for the construction of several additional churches on a parcel of land in Jebel Ali donated by the government of Dubai to four Protestant congregations and a Roman Catholic congregation. Construction on the first Greek Orthodox Church in Dubai (to be called St. Mary's) began at the end of 2005. The land for the construction of the church was also donated by the government to the Greek Orthodox community of Dubai.

Financial support to non-Muslim groups from the Dubai government comes in the form of donated land for the construction of churches and other religious facilities, including cemeteries. They are permitted to raise money from among their congregants and to receive financial support from abroad. Christian churches are permitted to openly advertise church functions.