Sharjah is the third-largest (both in
population and
area)
emirate in the
United Arab Emirates. Sharjah has a roughly 20km coastline on the
Arabian Gulf, where the
capital city (of the same name) is located. The emirate extends about 80km inland, to the east, past a desert of large sand dunes, to the farming community of
Dhaid, and on to the town of
Masafi, in the foothills of the
Hajjar Mountains. Sharjah also has several enclaves on the East coast of the
UAE (on the
Gulf of Oman), where lie the port of
Khorfakkan and the towns of
Dibba and
Kalba. Being the only emirate with ports on both coasts, much shipping trade goes through the ports of Sharjah and Khorfakkan.
The ruling family of Sharjah is from the
Al-Qassimi tribe, and the current ruler (September 2001) is
Sheikh Sultan ibn Muhammad Al-Qassimi, who has held this position since the UAE was founded in
1971.
Sharjah prides itself on being a great center for the
Islamic culture, and has many schools, libraries and museums to further this end. It is also one of the most
conservative of the UAE's seven emirates.
The city of Sharjah, having a population estimated to be somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000, is bordered by
Dubai to the South and
Ajman to the north (each also being the capital of their respective emirate). The primary land access to Sharjah is from Dubai (being one of the biggest cities in the UAE).
You would normally enter Sharjah via the main Emirates trunk road (highway E11), which is a
freeway extending south through Dubai to
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. Approaching the city center, the freeway ends at the
Al-Khan roundabout. From here, you can turn left to go to the Al-Khan district (fittingly enough), and the
Corniche, where many large hotels occupy prime beachfront property.
Alternatively, you can continue on, finding yourself on
Al-Wahda Street, and passing
Khalid Lagoon on the left , which is an inlet separating Al-Khan from the city center (recent
high-rise development in this area has rendered the lagoon less visible from the road than it used to be). The next roundabout after Khalid
Lagoon is the
Mother Cat Roundabout, so-called because of a large neon "Mother Cat" sign which once held prominent position at this intersection. Sadly, this sign is now
consigned to the history books.
At the Mother Cat
Roundabout, you can turn left down
King Faisal Street, which heads toward the city center. A few miles down this street opens out into a large open area, several
hectares in size, where
Al-Arooba Street crosses. In this area, called
Al-Ittihad Square, are many parks (a desire to "
turn the desert green" combined with large revenues from
oil production combine to mean that millions of gallons of water daily are dumped onto Sharjah's hundreds of parks to keep them perpetually in bloom), as well as Sharjah's large central
mosque. On the left, right on the edge of Khalid Lagoon, is a large, and exquisitly decorated building commonly called the
Blue Souq. This name is in reference to the brilliant
azure tile
mosaics that adorn the outside of the building (Souq is also
Arabic for
market). The Blue Souq is a favourite destination for many
tourists (as well as local residents) who want to buy anything from
persian rugs to camel saddles, to
shishas to cheap electronics. For arabic
artifacts especially, the Blue Souq in Sharjah is the place to go.
If you do not want to head
downtown, you can turn right at the Mother Cat Roundabout and head into the
no-man's land that is Sharjah's vast
Industrial Areas. Or you can head straight, and continue along Al-Wahda Street, coming after a few miles to the secondary commercial district of
Al-Riqqa. In Al-Riqqa, you will come to
Cultural Square, where various schools, museums and mosques exist in close proximity to each other. From here you can head north, towards Ajman, or east, towards Dhaid, Masafi and eventually the East coast.
This road shortly becomes a freeway, which leads past
University City. This is an
immense sprawling complex on the edge of town that is home to (among others) the
Sharjah University, the Sharjah campus of the
Higher Colleges of Technology, the
Sharjah College for Police Sciences and the
American University of Sharjah.
After passing University City, you can see the three white domes of the
Sharjah International Airport on the left (Sharjah's
airport code is
SHJ), before entering the golden sand dunes of the interior
desert.