Fun Facts About The Country I Live In, The United Arab Emirates

RIdhima Jagtap Student Contributor, University of Iowa

Her Campus U Iowa Student Contributor, University of Iowa

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Iowa chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

It’s safe to say that I think I live in the coolest country ever. After being born and raised in the UK, my family and I moved to the UAE, United Arab Emirates, and I have a few things listed, out of many, that make my home pretty awesome. Although Iowa City is currently my home, this country is the place I go back to in the holidays and look forward to.

Formula Rossa, World’s Fastest Roller Coaster

UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi, is the home to the world’s fastest roller coaster (and me). It’s located at the indoor theme park, Ferrari World, and its speed is 149m/h. It’s safe to say that it’s one hell of a ride! Personally, I’m too chicken to step foot on that ride, but for all you adrenaline junkies, you’d love it!

Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque

This place is a beautiful place of worship. It’s called the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque, and it’s filled with expensive jewels and gorgeous architecture. Not only that, it has the world’s largest hand-woven carpet and the world’s third largest chandelier.

Fancy Police Cars

If you’re going to have a car chase, might as well do it in style, am I right? Dubai’s police force cruise in cars from Bugattis to Lamborghinis. Funny story is that people actually ask these police officers to arrest them so that they get the chance to ride in the cars.

Burj Khalifa

Can you believe that I’ve lived in this country for over five years now and still haven’t gone to the top of this building? I plan on doing that soon, though. The Burj Khalifa is located in the city of Dubai and consists of 163 floors, making it the tallest in world. A water show is also held every 30 minutes in front of the Burj Khalifa with water reaching up to 140 meters. If that isn’t impressive, I don’t know what is.

Dubai Mall

So I haven’t even seen every inch of this mall. It even has an aquarium, which is one of the largest suspended aquariums in the world! It’s absolutely massive and contains around 1200 shops, making it the world’s largest mall. That’s crazy! Dubai’s taken the meaning of ‘shop till you drop’ to the next level. But we don’t mind that do we girls?

Masdar City

Masdar City is a part of Abu Dhabi and is soon-to-be the world’s first carbon-free city. It’s powered only by renewable energy and is filled with buildings that help the environment. This whole city represents the future of the innovation and also a better world in which people make an effort to improve the environment.

The Palm Islands

The Palm is made up of islands that are put together to look like a palm tree. It’s the world’s largest man-made island, and it is gorgeous! If you ever go sky diving in Dubai, this is where you’d do it. You’ll get the perfect bird’s eye view of the islands, and it’ll be absolute paradise.

I think I’ve finished bragging now. If you ever do visit this wonderful country, let us know if you were brave enough to go on Formula Rossa or skydive above the Palm! I’m going to go call my parents now because I miss home.