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Ras al-Khaimah

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Ras Al-Khaimah (Arabic: رأس الخيمة) is one of the United Arab Emirates. It covers an area of 656 square miles (1700 km²). Ras Al Khaimah is in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula.

It is ruled by Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman. The emirate has a population of about 250,000 inhabitants.

The city has a population of 102,000 (2003 census estimate). It is served by the Ras Al Khaimah International Airport.

The city has two main sections Old Ras Al Khaimah and Nakheel on either side of the creek which flows through Ras Al Khaimah.

Contents

History

The city was historically known as Julfar. In the early 18th century the Qawasim clan (Huwayla tribe) established itself in Ras al-Khaimah.

After British occupation (18 December 1819 - July 1821), Sheikh Sultan ibn Saqr al-Qasimi signed in 1822 the General Maritime Treaty with Britain, accepting a protectorate keeping 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 (be it of the lowest class: only 3 guns).

In 1869 Ras al-Khaimah became fully independent from Sharjah. However from September 1900 to 7 July 1921 it was re-incorporated into Sharjah, its neighbour; the last governor became its next independent ruler.

On 11 February 1972 Sheikh Saqr ibn Muhammad al-Qasimi joined the United Arab Emirates.

Its rulers were:

Education

Schools: Ras Al Khaimah has been at the forefront where formal school education is concerned. A large number of Government-run schools - primary, elementary and higher secondary are scattered all over Ras Al Khaimah with Arabic as their main medium of instruction. Among other Arabic-medium schools are those that are run by private managements viz., Apart from the above schools, there are English-medium ones which offer varied curricula to suit the expatriate community, offering syllabi such as GCSE, IGCSE, A Levels, O Levels, CBSE, Kerala State-Board (Indian Syllabi), Pakistani, etc. viz.

University Education: Many Local-established universities and foreign universities have set up base in Ras Al Khaimah, some of which include:

Transportation

Within Ras Al Khaimah: Metered taxis are the main mode of transport within Ras Al Khaimah with fares starting AED 2 (Formerly the fare was negotiable between driver and passenger but all non-metered taxis were phased out by the year 2001). Buses are also available but only on long-haul routes and they cater mainly to people residing in far-flung towns viz. Sha`am, Rams, Jazeerah-al-Hamra, etc.

Over the past 2 years, Ras Al Khaimah has seen a phenomenal increase in road-traffic especially during evening hours. With Ras Al Khaimah also being a sought-after weekend getaway destination for people from various parts of the Emirates, traffic has been increasing progressively.

Emirate-to-Emirate: Ras Al Khaimah is well connected to emirates like Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah by taxis which often embark from the taxi-stand located at the South of Aldhaid near the Ras Al Khaimah new Police Station. The fare per head is AED 20. Engaged taxis are available on request for Dhs 100 to 150 to Dubai and Dhs 200 to 250 to Abu Dhabi.

Cars are available for rent from various Rent-A-Cars at negotiable prices starting Dhe 80.

Highways: Three free-flowing dual-carriageways link Ras Al Khaimah with the other southern emirates and beyond. One follows the coast with beautiful beaches on the one side and stretches of desert on the other; the other, new route runs out towards the airport in the direction of Khatt,( Massafi, Fujairah and Thaid and farthur to Oman. And a newly constructed highway links Ras Al Khaimah Ajman 60 km,Sharjah 71 km, Dubai 87 km and abu Dhabi 248 km which makes travel to those Emiraes much easier than the rest of the roads.

Nowadays, The Emirates Highway is being used aplenty by most motorists. The highway traverses the emirates of Umm Al Quwain, Ajman and Sharjah to finally end up in Dubai. Most travellers would agree that it connects Ras Al Khaimah to Dubai in under 45 minutes.

Seaport: 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.

Airport: The 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. In total 27 airlines including Gulf Air, Egypt Air, Indian Airlines, Aeroflot, Pakistan International Airlines and many other airlines operate scheduled and non-scheduled flights. Open 24 hours 7 day the airport has an open skies policy with no restrictions on frequencies and time of arrival / departure; offers competitive tariffs and storage facilities; is not congested, fast and efficient; and has a full offering of duty free goods among other services.

Spaceport: On February 17th 2006, Space Adventures announced its plans to develop a $265 m commercial spaceport in Ras Al-Khaimah for the purposes of space tourism. (Ras Al Khaimah spaceport)

Sources

See also

External links

U.A.E. based News Papers

 

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