Sharjah in the context of "Ajman"

Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai. It is on a creek on the southeastern coast of the Persian Gulf. As of 2025, its population stands at 4 million, 92% of whom are expatriates. The wider urban area includes Sharjah and has a population of 5 million people as of 2023, while the Dubai–Sharjah–Ajman metropolitan area has a population of 6 million people.

Founded in the early 18th century as a pearling and fishing settlement, Dubai became a regional trade hub in the 20th century after declaring itself a free port (1901) and extending the Creek (1961). Modest oil revenue helped accelerate Dubai's development from the 1960s to the 1990s, when the city started to diversify its economy. In 2018, oil production contributed less than 1% to the emirate's GDP.

Piracy in the Persian Gulf describes the naval warfare that was prevalent until the 19th century and occurred between seafaring Arabs in Eastern Arabia and the British Empire in the Persian Gulf. It was perceived as one of the primary threats to global maritime trade routes, particularly those with significance to British India and Iraq. Many of the most notable historical instances of these raids were conducted by the Al Qasimi tribe. This led to the British mounting the Persian Gulf campaign of 1809, a major maritime action launched by the Royal Navy to bombard Ras Al Khaimah, Lingeh and other Al Qasimi ports. Some critics of the historical narrative, such as Sharjah ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi in his book The Myth of Piracy in the Gulf, argue that the allegations of piracy were exaggerated by the East India Company to cut off untaxed trade routes between the Middle East and India.

Piratical activities were common in the Persian Gulf from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, particularly in the area known as the Pirate Coast which spanned from modern-day Qatar to Oman. Piracy was alleviated from 1820 with the signing of the General Maritime Treaty, cemented in 1853 by the Perpetual Maritime Truce, after which the Pirate Coast began to be known by the British as the Trucial Coast (present-day United Arab Emirates).

The Emirate of Sharjah (/ˈʃɑːrdʒə/; Arabic: إِمَارَة ٱلشَّارِقَة Imārat Aš-Šāriqah) is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It covers 2,590 square kilometres (1,000 sq mi) and has a population of over 1,800,000 (2022). It comprises the capital city of Sharjah, after which it is named, and other minor towns and exclaves such as Kalba, Al Dhaid, Dibba Al-Hisn and Khor Fakkan.

The emirate is an absolute monarchy. It has been ruled by Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi since 1972, except for a seven-day period during an attempted coup d'etat by his brother, Sheikh Abd al-Aziz bin Muhammad Al Qasimi.

Dubai–Sharjah–Ajman (DSA) (Arabic: منطقة دبي والشارقة وعجمان الكبرى), is the largest and most densely populated metropolitan area in the United Arab Emirates, located along the central section of the country's coast. It encompasses the contiguous urban territories of the cities of Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman, forming a singular socio-economic zone governed by three separate emirates.

With a population of 6.3 million, this region is characterized by intense interdependence, high rates of cross-emirate commuting, and shared infrastructure, forming the UAE’s principal urban corridor. The area is also part of a wider conurbation that extends into parts of Umm Al Quwain and western Ras Al Khaimah, though those areas are not included in standard definitions of the DSA core. This metropolitan area represents one of the most densely populated and economically significant regions in the Middle East.

Ras Al Khaimah (Arabic: رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة; /raʔs͜ ɪlˈxajma/, Emirati Arabic : [räːs͜ ɪlχe̞ːmɛ] ), often referred to its initials RAK, is an industrial port city and the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 people in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain and Ajman. The city is divided by a creek into two parts: old town in the west and Al Nakheel in the east. The town is the successor to the Islamic era port and trading hub of Julfar.

The General Maritime Treaty of 1820 was initially signed between the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Great Britain in January 1820, with the nearby island state of Bahrain acceding to the treaty in the following February. Its full title was the "General Treaty for the Cessation of Plunder and Piracy by Land and Sea, Dated February 5, 1820".

The treaty was signed following decades of maritime conflict in the Persian Gulf, with British, French, and Omani flagged ships involved in a series of disputes and actions that were characterized by officials of the British East India Company as acts of piracy on the part of the dominant local maritime force, the Qawasim. It led to the establishment of the British protectorate over the Trucial States, which would last until the independence of the United Arab Emirates on 2 December 1971.

Umm Al Quwain (UAQ; Arabic: أم القيوين, pronounced: /ʔumː alqejˈwejn/, Gulf Arabic: [ʔʊm͜ː 'æl ge̞ˈwe̞n]) is the capital and largest city of the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates. The city is situated on the peninsula of Khor Al Bidiyah, with its nearest major cities being Sharjah to the southwest and Ras Al Khaimah to the northeast. The city's economy is primarily based on fishing and tourism, with some industrial activities and trade.

Umm Al Quwain is connected to Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi by paved roads. Approximately 32 kilometers inland from the city is the oasis of Falaj Al Mualla, which has date palm plantations.