Which is the most popular country among the 6 Middle Eastern Gulf states?

Bahrain? Kuwait? Oman? Qatar? Saudi Arabia? Or the United Arab Emirates?

Everybody has a different answer in their mind. I did a little keyword research to find out what Internet users think. Here are the results generated by a tool called Wordtracker Free Keyword Suggestion Tool

Voice of the Internet - Dubai, Dubai, Dubai

Surprising? Dubai, which is a small emirate (not even a nation), attracts almost as much traffic of all other countries combined. Saudi Arabia, which exports more oil than any other country in the world, is far behind. Another noteworthy observation is that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the country in which Dubai belongs to, attracts only 1/10 of the attention that Dubai does

Note that the Wordtracker network only captures a small portion of web searches, so the absolute number of daily searches is probably much higher. Relative to each other, the ranking tells a good story about popularity of Gulf countries against English-speaking Internet users. My guess is that, if the searches were done in Arabic, Saudi Arabia will be number 1, due to the sheer size of its population

Why is Saudi more popular than Oman? Is it related to GDP? No

I tried to uncover what is driving the frequency of searches. Let’s first look at the GDP of the 6 countries by digging through the World Bank database

Saudi, by virtue of its massive oil reserves, is clearly the largest country in terms of GDP. While data is not available for Dubai, it’s reasonable to assume that Saudi has at least 3 times the GDP of Dubai. This is because the Dubai is the 2nd largest among the 7 emirates within the UAE (Abu Dhabi is the largest), while the whole of UAE’s GDP is USD130 billion

Money does not translate into more interest by web surfers. What attracts their attention then?

Is it related to population? No

If a country has more people, this should result in more interactions with them by the outside world. Is it true? Another World Bank database tells the story

The fact that Qatar’s population is less than 1/3 of Kuwait doesn’t deter it from being a more sought after place by Internet users. A similar contrast can be drawn between Bahrain and Oman. Clearly, other factors play a key role in attracting Internet users to websites of one country over another

Internet users should surf the sites less-traveled

Beyond the symbolic Dubai, there are lots of places worth looking at. They have rich cultural traditions, diverse populations, and huge economic potential. It’s always good to exchange ideas with websites in Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. You will learn a lot from them, and discover their unique charm

If you want to know more about lives in the Middle East, here are a few blogs that talk about the 6 Middle Eastern Gulf countries

Oman Community Blog - latest developments, good and bad, of the country

“Omanis in general are diverse and their experiences are assorted. My views come to you from across the world, usually in the form of a proud Omani looking at the developments and change from far away”

Bahrain For Ever - Views on Bahrain’s social and political issues

“Now I refuse to believe that all Bahrainis won’t work as labor. Just look at ALBA for example, they work in the heat of August and in front of melting Aluminum pots, much worst then construction, yet most of the workers there are Bahrainis”

Cat in the Gulf - life in Qatar and Dubai, mainly on the lighter topics

“Some things in life can be truly learned only by your own experience. Here is some midnight knowledge for you:

1. The opposite of love isn’t hate.
2. Desperate Housewives and Godfather have answers to all possible midnight questions”

Forza Kuwait - Kuwaiti with some free time and much internet browsing

“In an Interview with Alwatan Daily in Kuwait for the Week Topic ( which was about blogging , more like attacking bloggers ) , the Secretary of the Kuwaiti Journalists Association said what is on his mind about bloggers .
which is amazing what he think of blogs , and how many times he show that he demand they be closed or controlled , and that coming from a guy who is supposed to ask for more freedom of speech is priceless irony”

Saudi Jeans - Blog on Saudi, from Saudi

While working on this blog over the past three years, many people have complained to me about the small number of available resources on Saudi Arabia in English, online and offline alike. I think this is one of the reasons behind the increasing popularity of Saudi blogs, mine included

UAE Community Blog - voice of the community

No more sex in dubai
It appears Etisalat has decided to block the popular blog Sex and Dubai

Have you experienced standing in queues at the Dubai airport waiting to get through immigration?

Something called e-Gate will save you from that hassle every time you get through Dubai immigration

What is e-gate and why you should use it?

You probably have noticed some part of the immigration look like a subway station - instead of going to see customs officers, passengers walk pass a row of automatic gates after scanning their cards

This is the power of e-Gate and its smart card. It helps you save time and preserve your dignity

• Time - My personal experience tells me it saves 20 minutes from waiting at the super-crowded Economy class departure hall. On arrival, it saves 20 minutes
• Risks of being delayed - I have been delayed by immigration officers, perhaps because they see stamps from countries that’d suggest suspicious behavior. The e-Gate will solve this problem because you don’t have to show your passport
• Passport space - Not having to show your passport will save you some valuable space for other trips - bear in mind every 4 UAE stamp fill a page on the passport
• Physchological benefits - Don’t you feel happy and privileged when you can get through immigration in a split second?

How can you get it?

• You must first be in Dubai. They’ll approve applications even if you’re a visitor! The good news is that you don’t have to be a Dubai resident
• When you go to the Dubai airport for your next departure, arrive 10 minutes earlier than usual
• Go to the Emirates Airport economy class (non-US destinations) departure hall. Head to the 2nd floor. Follow the big signs to the e-Gate office
• The e-Gate staff will help you with the process. You only need to bring your passport and pay AED 200 (~USD 50). Your card will be ready in 10 minutes and you can try it out at the departure gate!
• Or if you want to do it in town, call the Dubai Airline Center at +971-4-3166-966 and find out their locations

What do others say?

Other travelers have written about e-Gates. Here are what they said

World of Pradeep - an Expat living in Dubai

“Anyways thanks to Egate card I dont have to wait on long ques and I can quicky exit from the emmigration counters…”

Chris Saul’s Blog

“eGate is utterly brilliant - every Dubai resident should get one, regardless of how often they fly”

Hiroex - Japanese expat in Dubai

“有効期間は2年間で発行手数料200Dhs（約6,000円）はちょっと高いけど、ただでさえ夜中早朝発着の多いドバイ空港を待ち時間なしにスマートに通れるのならその価値もありですね”

An English Man in Dubai - as a frequent traveler, he reveals what is in his bag

“E-Gate card – the best thing I thing the Dubai authorities have ever introduced for whizzing through immigration at Dubai airport”

The tallest building in the the world, a title widely coveted, is being claimed by 3 cities, namely

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers
Chicago Sears Tower
Taipei Taipei 101

On measuring the height of a building, various definitions exist. Depending on which one you use, the answer is different

1. Height to the structural or architectural top (including spires and pinnacles, but not antennas, masts or flagpoles). Taipei 101
2. Height to the highest occupied floor. Taipei 101
3. Height to the top of the roof. Taipei 101
4. Height to the top of antenna. Sears Towers

But Taipei 101 will not hold its record for too long. In Dubai, a structure is going to surpass all previous records, and can claim to be the tallest building in the world, without any doubt. It is still under construction. When completed, it will be about 800 meters tall with 160 floors. As of now, it is already one of the 5 tallest buildings in the world, set to climb up the ladder as construction goes on. Every time I drive by the building, it is amazing to see that it grows, little by little, to the sky. At night, the building is illuminated by construction lights, like a big white torch

For more information,

Burj Dubai official website

Wikipedia entry on tallest buildings in the world

Although the fate of cities often may depend more on luck than meticulous planning, Governments often try to spearhead development by launching grand projects. Officials are perhaps inspired by the few success stories, and the glory that come with them

One rare success story is the Buj Al Arab hotel in Dubai
Before the hotel, Dubai was a small town in the Gulf. Without much oil, it was economically and politically unimportant than UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi. Completion of Buj Al Arab has marked Dubai’s transformation to a vibrant international city. Overnight, people have started flocking in. It gives hope, showing that nothing is impossible, if you have a dream. So the Dubai dream has attracted many international talents to work there. The city then enters a virtuous cycle. Everyday, new buildings are added and new grand schemes announced. It’s now one of the most dynamic cities to be in

Architectually, the hotel is a masterpiece. It combines Dubai’s tradition, sailing, fishery and pearl, with the most ultra-modern materials and design

I’ve learnt a lot from Buj Al Arab and Dubai. One lesson is that every great city needs a triggering structure. It needs to be stunning and inspiring to everyone. It needs to bring hopes to people and encourage them to dream bold. This makes me think of another masterpiece, the Eiffel Tower

For more information about the UAE’s economy, see the Economic Development section in the UAE 2006 report. Official sources, of course, will never associate a city’s success with emotional buildings

Despite all the fun we have in Dubai, there’s one thing in common that most people are annoyed by - Internet censorship

If you travel to the United Arab Emirates, you’d probably find that some of the sites you like suddenly go down. In fact, the dominant ISP, Etisalat, use proxy server blocks certain websites that they deem inappropriate to be viewed. An exact account of what sites they block is not publicly available, but hearsays suggest sites are blocked for the following reasons

1. Political
- Sites related to Israel or Jihadism
- Terrist organizations
- Sites on how to bypass censorship

2. Social
- Homosexual behavior, e.g. the Gay and Lesbian Arabic Society
- Online casinos
- Pornography
- Certain online dating websites

3. Economical
- Internet phone services such as Skype. As Etisalat is also the incumbant telecom operator in the UAE, things that can put its revenues at risk are banned

A site called hrw.org contains more information on censorship in the UAE

Whenever there’s censorship, there are ways to get around it. Numerous websites publish tricks on bypassing the Etisalat proxy server (some are still not blocked). I’m not detailing the how-tos here as it’s politically inappropriate to do so