Page 82 iStudy Guide 2019/20
P. 82
82
iStudy
2019/20
LIVING THE
DREAM IN THE UAE
A small but rich nation located in the Persian Gulf
area of the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates or
UAE exists as a federation of seven separate states.
The country built its fortune first on pearls, and then
more recently on the region’s abundant reserves of
crude oil. The nation’s latest venture is tourism, with
many of the states pouring money into beautiful
parks, elaborate resorts and buildings so ambitious
that one of them, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, is the largest
structure ever made by man. So, you’ve got plenty of
reasons to visit the UAE, but what if you want to take
it a step further and actually try and live there? How
possible is it to actually do that?
The answer is very possible. The United Arab
Emirates has a huge expatriate community, with
the indigenous Emiratis making up only 13% of the
overall population. Most of the remaining population
have migrated to the region for work due to its
booming economy and job market. Traditionally,
a lot of these economic migrants came from Asia,
but there has been a growing demand for European
workers in the country as well, particularly in certain
key industries.
Moving to the Emirates could be a dream come true
– the weather is usually hot, the salaries are often
high and tax-free, and the people are very friendly,
if conservative by western standards. Fluency in the
local language – in the UAE’s case, Arabic – is always
useful, but as a former colony of the British Empire,
English is widely spoken, particularly as a language
of work, trade and business.
iStudy
2019/20
LIVING THE
DREAM IN THE UAE
A small but rich nation located in the Persian Gulf
area of the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates or
UAE exists as a federation of seven separate states.
The country built its fortune first on pearls, and then
more recently on the region’s abundant reserves of
crude oil. The nation’s latest venture is tourism, with
many of the states pouring money into beautiful
parks, elaborate resorts and buildings so ambitious
that one of them, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, is the largest
structure ever made by man. So, you’ve got plenty of
reasons to visit the UAE, but what if you want to take
it a step further and actually try and live there? How
possible is it to actually do that?
The answer is very possible. The United Arab
Emirates has a huge expatriate community, with
the indigenous Emiratis making up only 13% of the
overall population. Most of the remaining population
have migrated to the region for work due to its
booming economy and job market. Traditionally,
a lot of these economic migrants came from Asia,
but there has been a growing demand for European
workers in the country as well, particularly in certain
key industries.
Moving to the Emirates could be a dream come true
– the weather is usually hot, the salaries are often
high and tax-free, and the people are very friendly,
if conservative by western standards. Fluency in the
local language – in the UAE’s case, Arabic – is always
useful, but as a former colony of the British Empire,
English is widely spoken, particularly as a language
of work, trade and business.
