| Ras al-Khaimah إمارة رأس الخيمة |
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| — Emirate — | |||
| Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah | |||
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Ras al-Khaimah
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Government | |||
| • Type | Absolute monarchy | ||
| • Emir | Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi | ||
| • Crown Prince | Mohammed bin Saud al Qasimi | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,683 km2 (650 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| • Total | 263,217 | ||
Ras al-Khaimah (Arabic: رأس الخيمة Rā's al Ḫaima, English: The Top of the Tent) is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the east of the Persian Gulf. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman's exclave. The emirate of Ras Al Khaimah covers an area of 1,700 square km. The capital city and home of most residents is also called Ras al-Khaimah. The city has a population of 263,217 as of 2008.[1] The city has two main sections, Old Ras Al Khaimah and Nakheel, on either side of a creek. It is served by the Ras Al Khaimah International Airport. The emirate of Ras Al Khaimah cover an area of 1,700 square km. Apart from the northern part where the city of Ras Al Khaimah is situated, it also has one large enclave in the South near Hatta, and a few small islands on the Persian Gulf.
Important towns, settlements and areas include:
Jazirat Al Hamra - an old costal town with numerous real estate projects and industrial zone
Rams – a coastal town, in the past a typical fishermen and pearl diver village
Khor Khuwair - an industrial zone, with the largest port in Ras Al Khaimah and numerous companies such as cement factory
Digdaga – a village known for agriculture activities
Khatt - a village surrounded by the mountains, famous for its thermal springs and palm gardens
Masafi – a town in the southern part of Ras Al Khaimah, well known for drinking water
Huwaylat - a central village in the southern part of Ras Al Khaimah
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Ras Al Khaimah has been the site of human habitation for several millennia and there are many historical and archaeological sites throughout the emirate dating from different time periods, including remnants of the Umm Al Nar Civilisation (3rd Millennium BC).
The city was historically known as Julfar. Archaeological evidence has demonstrated that the settlement known as Julfar shifted location over time as harbour channels silted up. Excavations of a sizable tell, which revealed remnants of a Sassanid Era fortification indicate that early Julfar was located in the Shamal area, not far from other sites of historical/archaeological interest such as Sheba's Palace and the largest Umm Al Nar tombs found on the Arabian Peninsula. Sources say that Julfar was inhabited by the Azd (They were a branch of the Kahlan tribe, which was one of the two branches of Qahtan (the aboriginal Arabs), the other being Himyar.) during the eighth and ninth centuries AD, and that the houses of the Azd were built of wood.
In the early 18th century the Qawasim clan established itself in Ras al-Khaimah.
In the early 19th century a British naval force attacked and occupied Ras al Khaimah to put a stop to the powerful hold of the maritime powerful Quwasem tribe. The Quwasem served as a threat to the British imperialism, and endangered the ships in the Indian Ocean.
After British occupation (18 December 1819 - July 1821), Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr al-Qasimi signed in 1822 the General Maritime Treaty with Britain, accepting a protectorate to keep the Ottoman Turks out. Like Ajman, Dubai, Umm al-Qaiwain and Sharjah, its position on the route to India made it important enough to be recognized as a salute state.
In 1869 Ras al-Khaimah became fully independent from neighbouring Sharjah. However from September 1900 to 7 July 1921 it was re-incorporated into Sharjah; the last governor became its next independent ruler.
On 11 February 1972, Ras Al Khaimah, under the leadership of Sheikh Saqr bin Muhammad al-Qasimi, joined the United Arab Emirates.
Its rulers were:
Exact population figures are difficult to come by, but a government census in 2005 calculated that the total population of the UAE was 4.3m. Many suspect that the actual figure is closer to 5m due to the large numbers of expatriate workers residing in the UAE, some of which may have been unaccounted for in the census. Ras al-Khaimah is estimated to have a total population of 300,000. While UAE citizens officially make up less than 20% of the population in the UAE, this figure is higher in Ras al-Khaimah. Emiratis are thought to make up at least 50% of the emirate’s population. The official language of the UAE is Arabic, although English is widely used in business circles. A significant portion of the expatriate population also speaks Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Urdu, Bengali, Persian and other languages of the subcontinent.
Ras Al Khaimah's climate is hot and arid with very hot summers and mild winters. The average temperature is 16-25°C in December and 30-40°C in July. However, temperatures often reach 45 or even 50 °C in the summer. Humidity level is usually high in the summer months. Rains and thunderstorms occur seldom and always in the winter. Snow was reported twice in 2004 and 2009 in the high mountains of Ras Al Khaimah.
Ras al-Khaimah is not a major oil producer, so it has focussed on developing its industrial sector. Today Ras Al Khaimah, especially its capital, is home to many national institutions, government agencies, but also to many international companies. Ras Al Khaimah's ever-growing business community has been noticed globally, regionally, and nationally. Ras al Khaimah is trying to emerge as an investment destination par excellence.
Main Sectors of Ras Al Khaimah’s Economy
Real Estate – numerous residential areas, offices, commercial buildings are constructed in Ras Al Khaimah.
Tourism – Ras Al Khaimah is becoming a new destination on tourist maps. Ras Al Khaimah is home to five star hotels and beach resorts including Hilton, Rotana or Banyan Tree. It has a number of 4 and 3 star accommodations. In September 2010, first water park Ice Land was opened to offer leisure opportunity for both residents and visitors and more new tourism projects are under construction.
Building materials – Ras al Khaimah opened the UAE's first cement company in the early 1970s and is now the UAE's largest producer of cement. In the 1980s, the emirate formed Ras al-Khaimah Ceramics, which has become the world's largest ceramics producer.
Manufacturing and High-Tech Industry – In the 1980s, the emirate formed Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar), the Persian Gulf region's first pharmaceuticals company. Falcon Technologies International (FTI) represents high-tech industry and produces optical storage media (CDR,DVDR, BDR). Service sector – recently growing sector with its prominent RAK Bank and RAK Insurance companies.
Agriculture and Fisheries – in the past, these were the main economy sectors of Ras Al Khaimah. Nowadays they are still significant providing foodstuff not only for the Emirate but for the whole country.
The annual Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, first held in 2007, has called the attention of the world's sporting media to the region. The organisers invest much in the IAAF-label race in order to attract the world's top athletes, resulting in a world record from Samuel Wanjiru in 2007 and the second fastest run of all-time from Patrick Makau Musyoki in 2009.[3]
UAE Awafi festival - a yearly festival in the Ras al Khaimah desert, it focuses mainly on Arabic public. It is three week event held in December or January month with the main attraction is the dramatic sand dune drives by the strongest 4-wheel drives of the UAE, there are many other reasons to visit Al Awafi. A heritage village with traditional food and dance will open on the festival, as well as shops for food and souvenirs. For the children, a petting zoo and lots of games are available. The entry is free of charge, and many families are bringing picnics to enjoy whilst watching the cars battling it out over the sand dunes.
Terry Fox Run RAK - a yearly charity run organized in Ras al Khaimah to support cancer research in UAE [4]. The first event was organized in 2010 ( short movie from 1st RAKTFR event).
Ras al Khaimah has a large number of government-run Arabic-medium schools—primary, elementary and higher secondary. There are also English-medium schools which offer varied curricula to suit the expatriate community, with syllabi such as GCSE, IGCSE, A Levels, O Levels, CBSE, Kerala State-Board (Indian Syllabi), Dhaka Board (Bangladeshi Syllabi) etc.
There are also a number of higher education institutions including some branches of foreign universities:
Within Ras Al Khaimah city, the main mode of transport are metered taxis, with public buses operating on long-haul routes and catering mainly to smaller towns, e.g. Sha`am, Rams, and Jazeerah-al-Hamra. A cheap local bus service in Ras Al Khaimah city was due to be launched by June 15, 2010 to ease transport for low-income earners. The first will be between the jumbo intersection in Al Nakheel and Sha’am village. It will have eight stops and buses will take 80 minutes to cover the distance. The second route will start from Al Nakheel and go via the airport road, Digdag and Khatt and turn south to Al Tawain and Adhen on the Fujairah-Ras al-Khaimah border. The third route going to the industrial areas — from the city to Jazeera Al Hamra and Ras al-Khaimah Industrial Area and the Al Ghail Industrial Area — would be opened in July, 2010.
Ras Al Khaimah is connected to other emirates like Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah by taxis which often embark from the taxi-stand located south of Al Dhaid town near the new Ras al-Khaimah Police Headquarters.
Three dual-carriageways link Ras Al Khaimah with the other emirates and beyond. One follows the coast with beaches on one side and stretches of desert on the other; the other, new route runs out towards the airport in the direction of Khatt, Masafi, Fujairah and Dhaid and further onto Oman.
The newly constructed Emirates Road (E311 Highway) traverses the emirates of Umm Al Quwain, Ajman (60 km) and Sharjah (71 km) to finally end up in Dubai (87 km). The new highway allows journeys from Ras Al Khaimah to Dubai in under 45 minutes.
Saqr Port, located in the industrial area of Khor Khuwair, is the Emirate's main port, providing bulk and container services. It has eight deep water berths, each 200 m long, is dredged to 12.2 m and has two ro-ro ramps plus specialised berths for handling bulk cement and aggregate. Other services include ship handling, crew changes and 40,000 m2 of covered storage together with a vast open storage area. It is also the closest port in the UAE to Bandar Abbas in Iran, however there is no shipping from Saqr port to Bandar Abbas.
Ras Al Khaimah International Airport is currently undergoing an upgrade. It operates cargo and passenger services to a variety of destinations covering the Middle East, North & East Africa, Central Asia, India and the Far East.
On February 17, 2006, Space Adventures announced its plans to develop a $265 million commercial spaceport in Ras Al-Khaimah for space tourism.[9]
The following are some of the major shopping centres in Ras Al Khaimah:
Saqr Park is one of the favorite destinations in Ras Al Khaimah. This park is situated in the Air Port Road. This park is clean, green and well maintained. The park sports a large crowd on national holidays (Eid) and winter months.
New legislation and regulations adopted by Ras al-Khaimah authorities favour big international interest for offshore business purposes. The combination of security and confidentiality is ensured to entrepreneurs. An international company may only have foreign customers and is not liable for paying local taxes. It can open a local bank account, make investments tax-free, obtain mortgages for investing in UAE assets. Employment visas are available. When approved, this type of company can own property in UAE free trade zones.
No income, sales or wealth taxes are payable by individuals. No corporate taxes are charged. In addition, there are no exchange controls, no withholding nor import or export taxes.
There are two government hospitals (Saqr Hospital and Saif Bin Ghobash Hospital) and a private multispecialty hospital (RAK Hospital)[10] which is promoted by Arabian Healthcare LLC, a joint venture between the Government of Ras Al Khaimah and the Dubai-based ETA Star Group, and managed by the Swiss healthcare provider "Sonnenhof-Swisshealth". Ras al-Khaimah Hospital has been accredited by "Joint Commission International" (JCI) and "Swiss Leading Hospitals".
Sights in Ras Al Khaimah Include
of the past centuries, and archaeology.
| Persian Gulf | Musandam | |||
| Ras al-Khaimah (North) | ||||
| Ajman | Sharjah | Fujairah |
| Fujairah | ||||
| Sharjah | Fujairah | |||
| Ras al-Khaimah (South) | ||||
| Al Buraymi | Al Batinah Region |
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