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*[[University of Pune|The University of Pune (UoP)]]
*[[University of Pune|The University of Pune (UoP)]]
*[http://www.bharatividyapeeth.edu/default.htm Bharati Vidyapeeth University (BVU)]
*[http://www.bharatividyapeeth.edu/default.htm Bharati Vidyapeeth University (BVU)]
*[http://www.vatel.fr/V3/index.php Vatel International Business School for Hotel and Tourism Management]
*[[Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy]]
*[[Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy]]
*[[École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne]]<ref>http://actualites.epfl.ch/presseinfo-com?id=700</ref>
*[[École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne]]<ref>http://actualites.epfl.ch/presseinfo-com?id=700</ref>

Revision as of 10:08, 29 October 2010

Ras al-Khaimah
إمارة رأس الخيمة
emirate
Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah
Flag of Ras al-Khaimah
Flag
Government
 • TypeAbsolute monarchy[citation needed]
 • EmirSaud bin Saqr al Qasimi
Area
 • Total1,683 km2 (650 sq mi)
Population
 (2008)
 • Total263,217

Ras al-Khaimah (Arabic: رأس الخيمة, rās al-Khaymah, literally "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. 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 in Al Jazirah Al Hamra.

History

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:

  • 17?? - 17?? Sheikh Rahma Al Qasimi
  • 17?? - 174? Sheikh Matar bin Rahma Al Qasimi
  • 174? - 1777 Sheikh Rashid bin Matar Al Qasimi
  • 1777 - 1803 Sheikh Saqr bin Rashid Al Qasimi
  • 1803 - 1808 Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi (d. 1866) (1st time)
  • 1808 - 1814 Sheikh al-Husayn bin `Ali Al Qasimi (acting)
  • 1814 - 1820 Sheikh al-Hasan bin Rahma Al Qasimi (acting)
  • 1820 - 1866 Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi (2nd time)
  • 1866 - May 1867 Sheikh Ibrahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi
  • May 1867 - 14 April 1868 Sheikh Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi (d. 1868)
  • 14 April 1868 - 1869 Sheikh Salim bin Sultan Al Qasimi (b. 18.. - d. 1919)
  • 1869 - August 1900 Sheikh Humayd bin Abdullah Al Qasimi (d. 1900)
  • Sharjah then appointed governors:
    • September 1900 - 1909 Currently Unknown
    • 1909 - August 1919 Sheikh Salim bin Sultan Al Qasimi (s.a.)
    • August 1919 - 10 July 1921 Sheikh Sultan bin Salim Al Qasimi (b. 1891 - d. 19..), who stayed on the first of its own rulers:
  • 10 July 1921 - Feb 1948 Sheikh Sultan bin Salim al Qasimi (s.a.)
  • 17 July 1948 – 27 October 2010 Sheikh Saqr bin Muhammad al-Qasimi (b. 1918 - d. 2010)
  • 27 October 2010 - current Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi[2]

Population

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[who?] 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, Urdu, Bengali, Persian and other languages of the subcontinent.

Economy

Ras al-Khaimah is not a major oil producer, so it has focussed on developing its industrial sector. It 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, and Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar), the Persian Gulf region's first pharmaceuticals company. It is trying to emerge as an investment destination par excellence. However it suffers from great electricity shortages, which has caused some residential buildings to be abandoned.

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]

Education

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:

Transport

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. Open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, the airport has an open skies policy with no restrictions no frequencies and time of arrival / departure; offers competitive tariffs and storage facilities; is not congested, and has a full offering of duty-free goods, among other services.

On February 17, 2006, Space Adventures announced its plans to develop a $265 million commercial spaceport in Ras Al-Khaimah for space tourism.[8]

Shopping Malls

The following are some of the major shopping centres in Ras Al Khaimah:

  • Manar Mall (also known as Carrefour by the expatriate community) - the oldest shopping mall in Ras al-Khaimah and the most popular due to its location in the heart of the city. The mall contains one of the two cinemas in Ras al-Khaimah - Almassa Cinema
  • Lulu centre
  • Safeer Mall - a newly installed mall as of 2009
  • Al Hamra Mall - a newly installed mall as of 2009
  • Safeer Market
  • Kerala Super Market
  • Al Wafa Super Market
  • Al Manama Hypermarket

Park

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.

Taxation and companies law

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.

Healthcare

There are two government hospitals (Saqr Hospital and Saif Bin Ghobash Hospital) and a private multispecialty hospital (RAK Hospital)[9] 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".

Tourism in Ras al khaimah

Sights in Ras Al Khaimah Include

  • The National Museum of Ras Al Khaimah: housed in the former palace of the ruling Al Qawasim family, it has exhibits on natural history, arts and crafts

of the past centuries, and archaeology.

  • Dhayah Fort: the only surviving hilltop fort in the UAE.
  • Shamal and Sheeba´s Palace: tombs and ruins of a medieval palace.
  • Al Falayah: the former summer residence of the ruling Al Qawasim family.
  • Jazirat Al Hamra: an abandoned ‘ghost town’ showing the architecture of earlier decades.
  • The Old City and Souq: an opportunity to see both traditional and modern shops as well as artisan’s workshops
  • Awafi festival: 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.

Settlements

Main page: Category:Populated places in Ras al-Khaimah

Tribes

Dunes

See also

References

  1. ^ United Arab Emirates
  2. ^ "Saud is Ras Al Khaimah ruler as UAE mourns Shaikh Saqr". Gulf News. 2010-10-27.
  3. ^ Fairlie, Greg (2010-02-10). Fast times in store as a field of 10 sub-60 men announced for Ras al-Khaimah Half Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-02-11.
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ Ras Al Khaimah campus [2]
  6. ^ Birla Institute of Technology International Center
  7. ^ http://actualites.epfl.ch/presseinfo-com?id=700
  8. ^ Space Adventures Announces $265 Million Global Spaceport Development Project
  9. ^ "RAK Hospital". RAK Hospital. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
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