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In February 2005 Dubai Waterfront was announced, it will be 2½ times size of Washington D.C. or the size of the island of Manhattan. Dubai Waterfront will be a mix of canals and islands full of hotels and residential areas that will add 500 miles of man-made waterfront. Dubai Also has launched Dubiotech. this is a new park to be targeted at Biotech companies working in pharma, medical fields, genetic research and even biodefense. the aim from creating this park is to foster the growth of this sector in Dubai and to utilize the regions's talent in addressing such a vital and rapidly growing sector.

Nearly all the commercial establishments are run by expatriates with a silent local partner who merely "rents" the business license for a negotiated annual fee without taking part in any capital investment. The numerous free trade zones allow for full expatriate ownership, but are only suitable for large businesses.

Islam is the official religion of all the emirates. A vast majority of the people are Sunnis. There are foreign minority Hindus and Christians as well. Dubai is the only Emirate to house a Hindu temple.

Dubai has become an important tourist destination, helped by its rapidly-expanding airline Emirates, which is headed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, an uncle of the emir. Dubai is also diversifying as a hub for service based industries such as IT and finance, with the new Dubai International Financial Centre or DIFC. The government has set up enclaves and freezones for industry specific corporations. Dubai Internet City, now combined with Dubai Media City as part of TECOM (Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce and Media Free Zone Authority) is one such enclave and houses IT companies such as EMC Corporation, Oracle, Microsoft and IBM, and media organisations such as MBC, CNN, Reuters and AP.

The first villa freehold properties that were occupied by non-UAE nationals were The Meadows, The Springs and The Lakes, all masterplanned communities designed by Emaar, resulting in luxurious upperclass neighbourhoods collectively known as Emirates Hills. Over the 2005-2006 time frame, most of the freehold skycrapers and other villa projects will be ready for occupation, sparking a new phase in Dubai's history as a city.

Dubai's land-reclamation projects, the Palm Islands The Palm, Jumeira, The Palm, Jebel Ali, The Palm, Deira, and The World will be the world's largest artificial island complexes, developed with villas, golf courses and holiday resorts.

The horse race known as the Dubai World Cup is held annually, and is the world's richest horse race with over US$15,000,000 worth of prize money.

Dubai refers to either one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates on the Arabian Peninsula, or that emirate's main city, sometimes called "Dubai City" to distinguish it from the emirate.