Sharjah

Sharjah is a major port city and the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. The emirate shares legal, political, military and economic functions with the other emirates of the UAE within a federal framework. Each emirate has jurisdiction over some functions such as civil law enforcement and provision and upkeep of local facilities. Sharjah has been ruled by the Al Qasimi dynasty since the 18th century.
The city is a center for culture and industry, and alone contributes 7.4% of the GDP of the United Arab Emirates. The city covers approximately 235 km² and has a population of over 1,800,000. Sharjah has been officially named as a WHO healthy city. The 2025 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Sharjah as the 76th best city in the world to be a university student. Sharjah is regarded as the cultural capital of the UAE, and was the Islamic culture capital of 2014 and Sharjah World Book Capital for 2019 by UNESCO.
On 1 January 2022, Sharjah made history when its public sector adopted a four-day working week and a three-day weekend, becoming the first government sector in the Gulf region and the entire Middle East to fully adopt a four-day working week.

Etymology

The origin of the name of Sharjah is unknown, with most common interpretations linking the origin of the word Sharjah to the word sharq due to the fact that the city is located to the east of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and that Sharjah was the easternmost settlement at the time.
However, other interpretations have disputed the origin of the name based on location, and suggested instead that it refers to the word shurūq. Further theories have linked the name to a pre-Islamic idol called Abed Al Shareq that transformed into Sharjah. The origin of the word has also been linked to the Andalusi Arabic usage of the word, which was used to refer to a fort.

History

Sharjah was historically one of the wealthiest towns in this region with a settlement in existence for over 5000 years. In the early 18th century, the Huwayla tribe of the Qawasim clan established itself in Sharjah 1727, declaring Sharjah independent. On 8 January 1820, Sheikh Sultan I signed the General Maritime Treaty with Britain, accepting a protectorate to keep the Ottoman Turks out. Like its neighbors Ajman, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, and Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah's position on the route to India made it important enough to be recognized as a salute state.
In 1829, English author and traveler James Silk Buckingham described Sharjah as such:
With the approach of the 20th century, Sharjah extended inland to the area now known as Wasit Suburb, the area between the city and Al Dhaid being under the control of the tribes of the interior. With a population of 15,000 inhabitants, Sharjah had some four or five shops in Layyah and a bazaar of around 200 shops in main Sharjah.
In the midst of World War II, Nazi propaganda infiltrated the town. Loud propagating of pro-Hitler speeches could be heard emanating from the Sheikh of Sharjah's palace during a period in 1940, and messages sharing a similar sentiment graffitied on walls in the town center according to British intelligence reports at the time, for the messages being propagated by the Germans was one of anti-imperialism, it found a sympathetic audience among some of the emirate's populace, particularly Abdullah bin Faris, a secretary of the Sheikh who was responsible for the broadcasts. After the Sheikh was confronted by the British, he wrote a letter reaffirming his support for the British war efforts and disputed the charges laid out against bin Faris. Attached to the letter was a petition signed by 48 prominent individuals testifying to bin Faris' character, which, according to the British, had been misrepresented to the signees. The incident resolved after the Sheikh and bin Faris ceased transmitting propaganda and doubled down on their support to the British.
On 2 December 1971, Sharjah, together with Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Umm Al Qawain, and Fujairah joined in the Act of Union to form the United Arab Emirates. The seventh emirate, Ras al-Khaimah, joined the UAE on 10 February 1972 following Iran's annexation of Ras al-Khaimah's Tunbs islands.
Like the other former Trucial States, Sharjah's name is known by many stamp collectors because of the large numbers of stamps that were issued by the Sharjah Post Office shortly before the formation of the United Arab Emirates. These stamps that were printed in profusion became worthless to collectors and came to be known as Dunes. Many of the items featured on these stamps were unrelated to the emirate and therefore many catalogues do not list them.

Districts and landmarks

District بلديات	Name DMG	Arabic	Area km²	Population 2017	Density	Coordinates	remarks
Al Nahda quarter	...	حي النهدة‎	1,67	106103	63513		smallest, most dense
Al Majaz	...	ضاحية المجاز‎	3,34	116503	34837		historic Downtown
Al Gharb	...	حي الغرب‎	1,81	61564	33974		municipal headquarters
Al Qasimiah	...	حي القاسمية‎	4,88	159723	32721
Al Sharq	...	حي الشرق‎	4,83	100548	20838
Al Seneyat	...	الصناعيات‎	31,66	340376	10753
Al Jazeera suburb	...	ضاحية الجزيرة	9,23	98698	10692
Tugariet Muwaileh	...	تجارية مويلح‎	12,23	96926	7926
Al Riqah suburb	...	ضاحية الرقة‎	9,09	39414	4337
Halwan suburb	...	ضاحية حلوان‎	5,79	19389	3350
Al Hyrah Suburb	...	ضاحية الحيرة‎	5,73	18713	3268
Mughaider suburb	...	ضاحية مغيدر‎	8,35	23578	2826
Wasit suburb	...	ضاحية واسط‎	12,07	20758	1720
Muwaiih suburb	...	ضاحية مويلح‎	25,79	30074	1167
Al Sajaah	...	الصجعة‎	55,16	53079	963
Al Ruqa Al Hamra	...	الرقعة الحمراء‎	32,88	19214	584
University City	...	المدينة الجامعية‎	13,39	4241	317
Rahmaniyah suburb	...	ضاحية الرحمانية‎	39,21	9052	231
Basaten Al Zubair	...	بساتين الزبير‎	12,64	769	61
Al Budaiya suburb	...	ضاحية البديع‎	41,04	2427	59
Khalid Sea Port	...	ميناء خالد‎	2,23	120	54
Al Siyuh suburb	...	ضاحية السيوح‎	33,36	1793	54
Al Zubair	...	الزبير‎	15,7	674	43
Kaya Masaar	...	ضاحية المنازل‎	9,05	269	30
Al Jlail	...	الجليل‎	11,82	135	11
Al Shnouf	...	الشنوف‎	24,21	151	6
Suburb of Jweza	...	ضاحية جويزع‎	13,85	61	4
Mehathab	...	مهذب‎	15,68	38	2
Al Tayy suburb	...	ضاحية الطي‎	9,45	10	1
Al Sidairah	...	السديره‎	11,07	0	0
Sir Abu Nu'ayr	Abū Ṣīr Nuʿair	جزيرة صير أبو نعير‎	13,23	30	2		remote island
Abu Musa	...	جزيرة أبو موسى‎	12,88	43	3		Iran-occupied island
Sharjah City	Madīnat aš-Šāriqa	مدينة الشارقة‎	493,80	1324473	2684

Sharjah is the third largest city in the United Arab Emirates after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The palace of the ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, is located about southeast of the city.
The city of Sharjah overlooks the Persian Gulf and has a population of over 1,600,000. It includes the main administrative centres of the Government of Sharjah along with commercial, cultural and traditional projects. The city hosts several museums of archaeology, natural history, science, arts, heritage, Islamic art and culture. Distinctive landmarks include two major covered souks, reflecting Islamic design, and a number of recreational areas and public parks such as Al Montazah Fun Park and Al Buheirah Corniche. The city is also acclaimed for its numerous elegant mosques.