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However, while knowing Sheikhs and the ruling family are seemingly the highest layer of society, there is an unexposed, ominous side this ‘successful’ ‘family’. For example, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is thought to have at least 30 children from his six different wives, though the exact number is unknown. One of his daughters, Princess Latifa had a problem with the highly restrictive laws and customs for Emirati women and treatment of female royals and decided to flee from Dubai. In 2018, her phone got hacked by the government and her friend who had contact to this phone has not heard from her. Since this incident, the inner working behind this case were exposed in which the princess accused her father of having held her hostage where she “feared for her life”. Immigrants The UAE is mostly populated by immigrants from South Asia and Africa. Expatriates make up 80% of the UAE’s population whilst the Emiratis constitute roughly only 20% of the total population, making UAE home to one of the world’s highest percentage of expatriates. The UAE has a GDP of 410.2 billion USD but more importantly it has a GDP per capita of

The eight principles are: 1 The Union is the Foundation 2 No One is Above the Law 3 We are a Business Capital 4 Three Factors Drive Growth

5 Our Society has a Unique Personality 6 We Believe in Economic Diversification 7 A Land for Talent 8 We Care about Future Generations.

By standing with these principles, one would agree these are the core roots to why Dubai is one of the most economically advanced cities in the world with an economy rise by 2.8% per year, attracting around 16 million visitors yearly to this day. As well as this, when comparing Dubai and the UAE to what it was 20 years ago, a change in development, population, employment and development in industries like tourism, really encompasses the ingenious ideas behind Sheikhs like Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, making the UAE what was once a plain desert into what is now a flourishing city of beauty.

Dubai Tariq Ahmed

To conclude, now knowing the harsh inequality, between and within the Emirates, it is evident that the UAE, known for its economic development and advanced status, has a metaphorical layer of inequality.

43,100 USD. By looking at this data one would think that most people in this country are affluent, which is not the case. The average income of the bottom 50% of the population earns less than $8,000 a year which is just a little more than 1% of the average income of the top 1% of the population. The UAE is one of the top ten richest countries in the world, and yet a large percentage of its population lives in poverty- an estimated 19.5%. This inequality is due to the large amount of neglect towards migrant workers who often have to pay recruitment agencies to find legitimate work in the UAE in which many become indebted to these agencies, thus rendering them susceptible to economic hardship. Furthermore, the UAE’s failure to integrate its citizens into the private sector of the economy has contributed to its high levels of poverty. Only 0.34% of Emiratis work in the private sector, which is largely due to the sociocultural stigma around service jobs. The government has made several attempts to break this association and promote citizen employment in all sectors. They do so through education initiatives, but the welfare system allows many Emiratis to work very little or not at all and still maintain their livelihood.

Dubai Marina Aarian Malhotra

UAE Jenson Ives

UAE Jenson Ives

46 | Geographical Magazine • Merchant Taylors’ School

2021/22 Edition | 47