Sharjah

Overview

Sharjah is the third largest city in the United Arab Emirates after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The palace of the ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi is located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of the city.

The city of Sharjah overlooks the Persian Gulf and has a population of over 800,000 (2008). It contains the main administrative and commercial centres together with an array of cultural and traditional projects, including several museums covering areas such as archaeology, natural history, science, arts, heritage, Islamic art and culture. Distinctive landmarks include two major covered souks, reflecting Islamic design, and a number of recreational areas and public parks such as Al Montazah Fun Park and Al Buheirah Corniche. The city is also notable for its numerous elegant mosques.

Location

Sharjah is situated on the Persian Gulf coast of the United Arab Emirates, the emirates borders with Dubai in south, Ajman and Um Al Quwain in north, Ras Al Khaimah in east.It is the only emirates that overlooks the coastline on the Persian Gulf from the west and the gulf of Oman (Indian Ocean) from the East, with the Sharjah coastal towns of Kalba and Khor Fakkan.

Etymology

Sultan Al Omaimi, a UAE poet and researcher in folk literature, says that some historians speculate that Sharjah was the name of an idol worshipped in the pre-Islamic era which was known as Abed Al Shareq.

Other researchers link the word Sharqah to the fact that the city is located to the Sharq, or east, of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Hence the Arabic classical form of Sharjah is Al Shareqah. It is the colloquial form that is Al Sharjah.

History

Sharjah was one of the wealthiest towns in this region with a settlement in existence for over 5000 years. In the early 18th century, the Qawasim clan (Huwayla tribe) established itself in Sharjah, c.1727 declaring Sharjah independent. On 8 January 1820, Sheikh Sultan I signed the General Maritime Treaty with Britain, accepting a protectorate to keep the Ottoman Turks out. Like four of its neighbours, Ajman, Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah, and Umm al-Qaiwain, its position on the route to India made it important enough to be recognised as a salute state (be it of the lowest class: 3 guns).

On 2 December 1971, Sharjah, together with Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Umm Al Qawain and Fujairah joined in the Act of Union to form the United Arab Emirates. The seventh emirate, Ras Al Khaimah, joined the UAE on 10 February 1972, following giant non-Arab neighbour Iran's annexation of the RAK-owned Tunbs islands.

Like the other former Trucial States, Sharjah's name is known by many stamp collectors because of the large numbers of stamps that were issued by the Sharjah Post Office shortly before the formation of the United Arab Emirates. Many of these items feature subjects unrelated to the emirates whose names they bear, and therefore many popular catalogues do not list them.

Rolla Square

Named after the large rolla (banyan tree) that once stood in the square and that inspired the sculpture currently at the centre of the park, Rolla Square is a popular location for workers to stroll during the weekends.

Al Hisn Sharjah

Sharjah Fort was demolished in the 1970s but rebuilt and is today a museum.

'Smile You're In Sharjah' Roundabout

Located between the Blue Souq and Fish Market, near the Union Bank Tower, the floral call to cheer up etched on the roundabout has lent its name to the roundabout itself.

Gold Souq

The Souq Al Markazi, or Gold Souq, is a popular tourist destination and comprises a gold souq, clothing souq and, on its first floors, antiques and jewellery shops. and also it contains electronics and many more.

Mahattah Fort

The fort was built to house travellers on the Imperial Airways Eastern Empire route and was the site of Sharjah Airport until 1977. It is now an aviation museum.

Heritage District

The Heart Of Sharjah houses several galleries, and museums including the charming heritage museum which gives a great insight into the cultural traditions of the past. The area is also home to the traditional Souk Al Arsa, a covered souk with an array of items to sell including antiques and the office of the Sharjah Centre for Cultural Communication where you can get info on Sharjah attractions.

Sharjah Heritage Museum

The Sharjah Heritage Museum is situated near to the Bait Al Naboodah is just opposite Soouq al-Arsah. This is a beautiful architecturally designed interesting two storey family house. It is built around a shaded courtyard and is dedicated to a family life reconstruction many years ago. There are many rooms which has displays of traditional furniture along with household items too. Moreover, there are also provision of children’s costumes, games and even jewellery.

Sharjah National Park

Sharjah National park covers an area of nearly 630 thousand square feet of area.

Sharjah Aquarium

Located in Al Layyeh, Sharjah aquarium has over 250 species to see right from the delicate seahorses to smallest clown fish, reef sharks, rays and moray eels. Visitors can submerge themselves to the colorful, diverse and rich undersea world which is home to a variety of marine life which is native to the sea.

Al Noor Island

Al Noor Island is located in the Khalid Lagoon and covers an area of 45,470 square metres. The destination project features art and light installations, including the 'OVO' and 'Torus' displays.

Arabian Wildlife Center

The Arabian Wildlife Center is the only zoo in Arabia and has different species of animals found in the Arabian Peninsula. Opened in 1999, it is home to more than 100 species of animals. Situated at a convenient location, this center is quite close to the Sharjah International Airport. Despite the hot and dry conditions in most of Arabia, there are a number of mammal species who have adapted to these conditions.

Climate

Sharjah has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), with warm winters and extremely hot and humid summers. Rainfall is generally light and erratic, and occurs almost entirely from November to May. About two-thirds of the year's rain falls in the months of February and March.

Transportation

The city has reasonably well developed transport infrastructure. Like many major cities, Sharjah has a problem with vehicular traffic congestion during rush hours especially the roads leading to and from the Emirate of Dubai. The role of the Sharjah Public Transport Corporation is to reinforce public transportation, setting its policies and find strategic solutions for smooth traffic, providing modern and professional transport services to the passengers, driving Sharjah Emirate or on the InterCity routes, between all emirates in UAE.

Development of transportation services in Sharjah is critical and long term task.

Air

The Sharjah International Airport is the aviation hub of the city. Sharjah Airport is the third largest Middle East airfreight hub in cargo tonnage, according to official 2015 statistics from Airports Council International. Sharjah International Airport is home base of the low-cost carrier Air Arabia. It has daily flights connecting Lebanon, Jordan, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Ukraine, India, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc.

Road

There are two major series of highways in Sharjah, which are "E" and "S". E represents roads connecting other emirates and S for roads within the emirates.

The major roads in the emirate of Sharjah includes

Taxi Taxis in Sharjah are clean, well maintained and reasonable. Sharjah Public Transportation Corporation is organizing and supervising the operations of taxis in Sharjah Emirate. Sharjah taxi service is provided through franchise companies. They cover all parts of the Emirate and cities, including shopping centres, residential areas and airport.Following are the major taxi operators in the emirates.

Sharjah Transport Corporation also provides Sharing Transportation with the purpose of serving certain routes in Sharjah City on a fixed rate for each route without using the meter. Sharjah Sharing Taxi routes are carefully selected to support people with low income and are covering areas with frequent needs for quick transfer within same location, to ease the traffic situation in Sharjah.

Intercity Transport Sharjah Public Transport Corporation operates passenger bus services nationwide, between Sharjah City, Ras Al Khaimah, Khor Fakkan, Kalba, Fujairah, Masafi, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Hamriyah Free Zone, Dhaid, Madam, Dibba Al Hisn, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai.

Utility services

Utility services in the emirate is provided by SEWA (Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority).They provide electricity, water and LPG connection to about 2 Million consumers in the emirates.

Telephone services in the emirate both fixed lines and mobile services are provided by Govt owned Etislat and Du communication Ltd.

Culture

The UAE culture mainly revolves around the religion of Islam and traditional Arab culture. The influence of Islamic and Arab culture on its architecture, music, attire, cuisine and lifestyle are very prominent as well. Five times every day, Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of mosques which are scattered around the country. Since 2006, the weekend has been Friday-Saturday, as a compromise between Friday's holiness to Muslims and the Western weekend of Saturday-Sunday.

The Ruler of Sharjah ordered the establishment of several cultural institutions. The projects covered conservation of cultural heritage, active interaction with other cultures, construction of museums and the other cultural, scientific and artistic centres in the Emirate and the setting up of a television satellite channel that reflects and projects the value of culture.

In 1998, Sharjah was awarded the ‘Cultural Capital of the Arab World’ title by UNESCO representing the United Arab Emirates. Sharjah has kept the spirit of its history alive by indicatively incorporating tradition into every aspect of contemporary development.

Sharjah International Book Fair is a cultural event held every year in Sharjah. It started in the year 1982 and now it attracts publishers, readers and speakers from all over the world.

Economy

Sharjah is the headquarters of Air Arabia, the first low cost airline in the Middle East, which operates to the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The headquarters is in the Sharjah Freight Center, on the property of Sharjah International Airport.

Sharjah Airport International Free Zone, popularly known as SAIF Zone, is one of the prominent free-trade zones in UAE. More than 6000 companies operates from SAIF Zone. The cost of setting up business in Sharjah is less than in any other emirates of UAE, and the focus of industrialisation has in recent years turned Sharjah into a commercial centre. thanks to the facility of 100% foreign ownership, repatriation of capital and profits and exemption from income and corporate taxes, SAIF Zone has attracted investors from more than 90 countries.

Hamriyah Free Zone : Established in 1995, offers competitive and unique opportunities to establish business in a tax free environment, full company ownership, exemption from all commercial levies and repatration of capital and profits. The free zone provde access to 14 meter deep water port and 7 meter deep inners harbor.

Demographics

According to 2015 census conducted by department of statistics and community development in Sharjah, the total population of the emirate is 1.40 Million. Expatriates constitute 87% of the total population. As per the census the total number of emirati polpulation is only 175,432. The population density of the emirates is 341 person per sq km .

Like the rest of UAE, Arabic is the official and national language of the emirate. English is used as a second language, Tagalog and South Asian languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam are spoken widely by the residents of emirates. Islam is the predominant religion in the emirate of Sharjah.

Education

There are several public and private schools in addition to universities in Sharjah, including the University of Sharjah, American University of Sharjah, Skyline College Sharjah, Westford School of Management Sharjah Men's College, and Sharjah Women's College. Some of these universities are located in one area called the University City. Private schools in the city include the Sharjah Indian School, Sharjah English School, American Community School Sharjah, Indian School Sharjah, Sharjah High School, DPS Delhi Private School, Gulf Asian English School and Our Own English High School (Main Branch and Boys' Branch).

Healthcare

Health care in Sharjah can be devided in to two diffrent sectors, Public and Private. Public hospitals in the emirates is adminsitred by Goverment of Sharjah through Ministry of health.

The emirate also has 9 public medical centres to provide primary health care services.

List of Public Hospital iin Sharjah:

List of Private Hospitals in Sharjah:

Sports

The Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium has hosted almost 218 cricket One Day Internationals, more than any other ground, and 4 Test matches. Football clubs include Al Sharjah and Al-Shaab in the First League, and Al Hemriah, Al Khaleej and Dibba in the 2nd league.

Football clubs based in Sharjah

Also, the organisers of Sharjah Grand Prix host the Formula One World Powerboating Championships every year at Al Buhaira Corniche, Sharjah. In 2005, it was held under the patronage of Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah.

Twin towns – sister cities

Sharjah is twinned with: