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The city of '''Dubai''' (Arabic دبيّ) is located in the [[United Arab Emirates]]. Less than 6% of the city's GDP comes from petroleum sales.<ref>http://vgn.dm.gov.ae/DMEGOV/OSI/webreports/Gross.pdf</ref>
The city-state of '''Dubai''' (Arabic دبيّ) is an independent country that is part of the [[United Arab Emirates]] on the Persian Gulf. The size of Rhode Island, it is a financial powerhouse, based on borrowed money. It has a small amount of oil but less than 6% of its GDP comes from petroleum sales.<ref>http://vgn.dm.gov.ae/DMEGOV/OSI/webreports/Gross.pdf</ref> It is a monarchy controlled by the absolute rule of a royal family.
Dubai's origins are largely unknown. It was a small size principality was just a pearl-fishing village when its current rulers, the Maktoum family, took power in 1883. In 1966 the discovery of oil brought vast wealth to he region. Dubai has limited reserves, so its rulers to turn to other industries. Starting in the 1980s, crown prince Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, refashioned Dubai into a free-trade oasis. It opened a tax-free infotech hub, Dubai Internet City, in 2000, to attract technology companies; media, finance and maritime projects soon followed.
Thanks to massive spending and borrowing by its state-owned development companies, Dubai became a global financial center in the 1990s. It built the sail-shaped Burj al-Arab, the most expensive hotel in the world, and the unfinished 160-story Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building. Its coastline has been lined with man-made islands shaped to represent a date palm and a map of the world.
The world financial crisis of 2008-9 has left Dubai staggering, as it cannot repay its debts. In 2008, real estate prices dropped 50% and new construction ended; Sheik Mohammed has downplayed the rising debt, which some estimate to be more than 100% of GDP. Despite a $15 billion bailout from neighboring [[Abu Dhabi]] (which has oil), the crisis continues to mount.
==External links==
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1945354,00.html#ixzz0aAQhvLQZ ''Time'' magazine]
==References==
==References==
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[[Category:Asian Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:Asian Cities and Towns]]