Recent estimates put Dubai's population at just over 1.1 million, a giant leap from 183,200 in 1975. These statistics apply to the whole of the Dubai emirate, though most of the population lives in the city of Dubai. The population has been growing by as much as 6% a year and authorities are planning for a population of two million by 2010. Roughly 220,000 people are Emiratis; the expatriate community makes up the rest of the population - one of the most multicultural in the world.

Dubai is a tolerant and relaxed society, with its cultural life firmly rooted in Islam. Day-to-day activities, relationships, diet and dress are dictated very much by religion. Gender roles are changing, with women wanting to go into the workforce before marriage, but overall traditions are still adhered to; men engage with the outside world and women rule the roost in domestic life.

While there is only a limited amount of 'bricks and mortar' representing traditional Arabic and Bedouin life in Dubai, the cultural

identity of Emiratis remains strong. The physical representations of the past still exist in the form of the old buildings in Bur Dubai along the waterfront near the souq and in Deira around Al-Ahmadiya School. But to get an idea of traditional culture, you need to visit the Dubai Museum or venture out of Dubai to some of the villages around the East Coast and to Al-Ain, where life appears not to be too far removed from the way it was before federation.

Disregard comments you may hear about the local culture in Dubai being just a 'shopping culture'. Although popular, shopping is just a pastime and a social activity. Emirati cultural identity is expressed through poetry, traditional song and dance. If you are lucky enough to be invited to a wedding, it's a great way to see these cultural traditions in action.

Dubai has been very active over the last few years in preserving and publicly displaying many of the local traditions. The Dubai Museum and the Heritage Village in Shindagha display traditional village life, as does the Heritage Village in Hatta. Expensive restoration work is being carried out on traditional turn-of-last-century houses in the Al-Ahmadiya district of Deira, in the Bastakia Quarter and the Shindagha area of Bur Dubai. The aim of such work is not just to attract and entertain tourists, it is also designed to educate young Emiratis about their culture and heritage.

One matter of great concern to the authorities is the trend for Emirati men to marry foreign women. One reason for this is the prohibitive cost of a traditional wedding, plus the dowry that the groom must provide - it's cheaper and easier to marry a foreign woman. There's also a suggestion that as Emirati women have become better educated, they are less willing to settle down in the traditional role of an Emirati wife. This issue is discussed in great depth in the Arabic press. In a culture where women who are unmarried by the age of 24 are perceived as being on the shelf, or even as a slight on the family's honour, the growing number of single women is a hot subject indeed. The rising divorce rate is another topic that attracts considerable concern.

The UAE Marriage Fund, set up in 1994 by the federal government to facilitate marriages between UAE nationals, grants up to Dh70,000 to each couple to pay for the exorbitant cost of the wedding and dowry. It also promotes mass weddings, which allow nationals to save most of the marriage grant for a down payment on a house and other living costs. These have reduced the rate of intermarriages between Emirati men and foreign women to a degree, but many Emirati women feel that there are not enough 'good men' to go around; in other words, it is hard to find a husband who will accept his wife's desire to have kids and a career.

۞ Fashion

The inaugural 2004 Dubai Fashion Week was much anticipated by Dubai fashionistas, who were out in full force. Dubai invited the best Parisian fashion houses to show their full haute couture collections. Just two weeks after launching their spring/summer ranges in Paris, Dior, Ungaro, Givenchy and Lacroix flew the whole lot over, along with supermodels, to Dubai for five days. The extravagantly theatrical shows were a resounding success with Dubai's rich but not so famous falling for the magic. A good thing, because Dubai has plans to establish a 'Fashion City' to attract the fashion houses here to do business, and a fashion institute to teach the creation of couture.

۞ Henna