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Dubai is the second largest emirate in the federation after Abu Dhabi. The emirate is located on the Persian Gulf, southwest of Sharjah and northeast of Abu Dhabi, and reaches into the interior. The town of Hatta is a segregated portion of the emirate of Dubai and borders Wajajah, Oman.

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 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.

The ruler of Dubai is H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the Prime Minister of the federation of the United Arab Emirates. The crown prince is H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, one of the emir's younger brothers.

A post office of British India was opened August 19, 1909. It used the stamps of India on mail, with postmark "Dubai Persian Gulf", until India's independence in 1947, then stamps of Pakistan until March 31, 1948. Pakistan also becoming independent, the British government set up a postal administration for Eastern Arabia and used overprinted British stamps until January 7, 1961, when Dubai issued its own stamps inscribed "Trucial States". (Despite the name, these were only on sale in Dubai's post office.)

The official language is Arabic, but English and Hindi are widely spoken.

Apart from donated land for the construction of churches and other religious facilities, including cemeteries, non-Muslim groups are not supported financially or subsidized by the Government. However, they are permitted to raise money from among their congregants and to receive financial support from abroad. Christian churches are permitted to openly advertise certain church functions, such as memorial services, in the press.

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.

Dubailand, a proposed entertainment complex, is to include the Mall of Arabia, the largest shopping mall in the world. Dubailand is slated to open in 2006.