Dubai, located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) lying directly in the Arabian desert. And so it makes sense that the hot arid climate would attract sun worshippers and go hand in hand with one of the emirate's main revenues - tourism.
It is interesting to note, however, that "85% of the population [of Dubai] hail from somewhere else, demographics unheard of anywhere else in the world. And although the unusual co-existence [of an Islamic world with a non-Islamic world] is largely peaceful, friction can bubble up, like in the recent case of a British couple facing up to a month in jail for kissing in public. The couple, a British man living and working in Dubai, and a British female tourist visiting the Persian Gulf city-state, were arrested in November accused of kissing and touching each other intimately in public -- violations of law against public indecency -- and consuming alcohol." See the CNN article in its entirety here. This is another interesting case of a culture clash...and all because of a kiss. When in Rome...?
