Exploring Sharjah

Sharjah is one of seven emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The term 'emirate' compares roughly to the old term 'shiekhdom'. It is the sixth of the seven that I have written about. To read about the emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah, please see my posts dated February 13, 2009, Bye Bye, Dubai?, March 6, 2009, Exploring Abu Dhabi, April 3, 2009, Exploring Ajman, May 8, 2009, Exploring Fujairah, and June 12,2009 Exploring Ras Al Khaimah.


The Department of Seaports & Customs of the Government of Sharjah web site provides the following overview of Sharjah's commercial offerings:


"The Emirate of Sharjah has been associated with maritime trading in the Gulf for centuries. Today, that proud tradition is maintained through its three modern sea ports – Port Khalid and Hamriyah on the west coast on the Arabian Gulf and Khor Fakkan on the east coast on the Gulf of Oman.

The Emirate’s unique position enables it to benefit from these three maritime access points which are owned and managed by the Sharjah Government’s Department of Seaports & Customs.

The management team reports directly to His Highness the Ruler who takes an active interest in the ports’ development resulting in their modern construction, having been upgraded and improved constantly in line with increasing trade.

We handle all types of vessels with cargoes ranging from break-bulk to timber, logs, refrigerated, vehicles, Ro Ro, heavy lifts and containers for which the terminals are equipped with the latest ship-shore gantries and modern yard equipment. Two cold stores of 10,000 tons capacity are located at Port Khalid, where passenger ships call periodically and a regular passenger service operates to Iranian ports.

Our employees are especially trained and customer focused and port users receive personal and dedicated attention throughout our 24 hour operation."


The current world economic downturn made me imagine that such an energenic series of port facilities, with their associated support services, stores, maintenance, homes, et cetera would provide numerous well-paying jobs, leading to positive and prosperous career futures for Sharjah's citizens.


A Sharjah travel web site adds some history and cultural details:


"The Sharjah city is located on the west coast of United Arab Emirates. However, the Sharjah Emirate has been connected with both sides, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

The city of Sharjah is renowned for its commitment to art, culture and the city has preserved the local heritage. In 1998, the city was rewarded as the ‘Cultural Capital of the Arab World’ by the UNESCO.

The history of Sharjah dates back to 5000 years when it was one of the wealthiest towns in the gulf region. At that time, the population of the city was very low and the income sources were associated with the economic activities such as trade, farming, hunting, fishing and peal (editor's note: probably 'pearl') farming.

In the 16th century, the town became little unstable as the Portuguese conquered area of the east coast in order to control the spice trade. The fort at Khor Fakkan, Kalba and Dibba were built during their command. After that Dutch tried to dominate the area for the same reason.

The 17th century was the turning point of city as British arrived in the region and started trading with Qawasim, the forefathers of present Sharjah ruling family. The area of Gulf and Red sea was preferred by Europeans for linking principal routes of communication between the Mediterranean and India.

In the early of 18th century, ruling Qawasim turned out to be a stronger marine power in Sharjah and Ras Al Khaima. In 1804, Sultan bin Saqr bin Rashid Al Qasimi became the Sheikh of Sharjah. This forefather of present ruler governed Sharjah for over 50 years.

At the end of 18th century, the relationships between Qawasim and British deteriorated as they blamed each other for attacks and misbehavior.

In 1809, the initial land based attacks by British were stopped. In the year 1820, the first of other peace treaties was signed assuring maritime peace, security and protection of British against any attacks for 150 years. Then the coast was known as Oman Peaceful Coast and Sheikhdoms of Oman as reconciled countries. Until the formation of United Arab Emirates in 1971, these names were attached to the relevant regions."


Would you expect a nation in the Middle East to promote vehicles that run on natural gas rather than on gasoline? Probably not. However, on July 1, 2009, the following article, entitled 'Street cleaning vehicles in Sharjah now run on natural gas', appeared on the Gulfnews web site:


Sharjah: Street sweeping vehicles in Sharjah are now using compressed natural gas in order to promote a healthier environment in the emirate.

"At present, we are supplying the gas to 300 of our vehicles and 20 vehicles that belong to other companies," said Tareq Rashid Deemas, Head of the Directorate of Gas at the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa).

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is the cleanest burning fuel, requires less vehicle maintenance and supports a longer engine life.

"Through this initiative we hope that it will encourage other companies to take on the responsibility of using environmentally friendly fuel, which will in turn make Sharjah a greener emirate."

CNG is the most suitable alternative to petrol as it does not release carbon dioxide, which in turn prevents further global warming.

He pointed out that Sewa is also planning to convert 85 per cent of its fleet to natural gas vehicles. CNG vehicles produce the fewest emissions of any fuel.

"We have set up the first natural gas station in the region with the intention of eliminating car emissions in the emirate, but this can only be done with the cooperation of all companies, whether private or publicly owned," said Deemas.

Sewa launched the first CNG station in the Halwan area, near the Sharjah Co-operative Society, in 2005 and initially only vehicles of Sewa were fitted with the converters to run on gas.

Converting a petrol engine to gas takes about a day and a half, and one canister lasts for about 140 kilometres."


Frankly, I was impressed. Aren't you?

I fear that many Americans see countries like the UAE as socially very conservative and not much fun for its inhabitants. Wrong! In researching Sharjah, I learned about various festivals and entertainment that put that stereotype to rest. Here is but a sampling:

- Sharjah Water Festival: The Sharjah water festival offers several activities that include sand sculpture competitions, water skiing, fireworks display and many more activities.

- Sharjah Arts Biennial: Since 1993, the Department of Culture and Information of Sharjah organizes international Art Biennial event in the city. This event is organized to encourage contacts between artists and art institutions of Arab countries. This event gives great opportunity to Arab artists to share their ideas, art with the artists coming from all around the world. The event is held in the months of April and June.

- The international book fair: The city of Sharjah hosts annual international book fair which is a popular event among the tourists. It takes place in beautifully landscaped Expo centre of Sharjah. The Emir of Sharjah personally takes interest in annual book fair event. Hundreds of publishers from all over the world come here to join this event.

- Sharjah Spring Festival: Every year, thousands of tourists visit Sharjah Spring Festival takes place in the month of January. The event is participated by over 1700 outlets selling variety of things. The promotions in the spring festival include special discounts, offers, fun and entertainment events and activities aimed at highlighting the tourism scene of Sharjah.

Besides these events, I counted 21 different sports that have events for the public in Sharjah - everything from cricket, bowling, and hockey, to snorkeling, powerboat racing, and wind surfing. I got winded just reading about the variety of entertainment available in Sharjah.

The best thing about the preceding information is that it will hopefully put to rest many negative stereotypes about countries like the United Arab Emirates.

The many that are good eclipses the few that are bad. Let's ALL keep that in mind.