Sharjah is the third largest emirate, has 1.1 million inhabitants and together with Dubai forms one compact and continuously built-up urban agglomeration. From the city center Downtown Dubai and the financial district, the city of Sharjah is approximately 15 km away. Interestingly, it is the only emirate that has a coastline in both the Persian and Gulf of Oman, meaning it has access to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.
Sharjah is a place with a real taste of Arabia that honors and preserves original Arabic values and traditions. In 1998, Sharjah was declared by Unesco as "Capital of Culture of the Arab World". You will find many typical markets such as the famous Blue Souq "Blue Market" (you can buy gold, fabrics and spices of all kinds), green parks and seaside promenades around city lagoons and even a large Ferris wheel with a view. The emirate has the strictest laws of all emirates. It is also called the so-called "dry" emirate (from English "dry Emirate"), since there is a ban on selling and publicly consuming alcohol.
Blue Souq is a tourist-sought attraction and popular meeting place for local residents.
Historically, Sharjah was one of the richest cities in this region. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Qawasim tribe settled in the area of today's Sharjah and around 1727 declared Sharjah independent. On January 8, 1820, Sheikh Sultan I. signed a treaty with Britain accepting the protection protectorate against the Turks. The emirate was used by the British Empire mainly as a stopover for intercontinental flights from Europe to India and China. December 2, 1971 it became part of the federation of United Arab Emirates. The ruler since 1972 is Sultan Bin Mohamed Al Qassimi, who is also the Minister of Culture of the UAE.
The emirate's economy is quite dependent on developments in neighboring Dubai. Apart from tourism, industry and transport, the real estate market and construction have also been developing well recently, as evidenced by the impressive skyline of the city's skyscrapers. Since property prices in Dubai are very high, as are living costs, Sharjah is an advantageous and cheaper alternative for people working in Dubai, with good accessibility to the city center.
