Sharjah
‫ق ش‬
Sharjah (/ˈʃɑːrdʒə/; Arabic: ‫ ةَراَّلٱ‬aš-Šāriqah, Gulf Arabic: aš-Šārja[3]) is 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.
Sharjah is the capital of the eponymous emirate. The emirate shares legal, political, military and
economic functions with the other emirates of the UAE within a federal framework, although 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.[4] The city covers an approximate area of 235 km2 and has a population of over
1,800,000 (2022-2023).[1] The sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in the
emirate of Sharjah without possession of an alcohol license and alcohol is not served in hotels,
restaurants or other outlets in Sharjah, due to the Muslim majority in the area. This has helped
Sharjah increase the number of Islamic tourists who visit the country.[citation needed] Sharjah has
been officially named as a WHO healthy city.[5] The 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked
Sharjah as the 68th best city in the world to be a university student.[6] Sharjah is regarded as the
cultural capital of the UAE,[7][8] and was the Islamic culture capital of 2014[9] and Sharjah World
Book Capital for 2019 by UNESCO.[10]
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.[11]
Etymology
The origin of the name of Sharjah is unknown, with most common interpretations linking the origin
َ ‫ ْش‬lit. 'east') due to the fact that the city is located
of the word Sharjah to the word sharq (Arabic: ‫قش‬,
to the east of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and that Sharjah was the easternmost settlement at the
time.[12]
However, other interpretations have disputed the origin of the name based on location, and
‫ْر‬
suggested instead that it refers to the word shurūq (Arabic: ‫قُش‬,
lit. 'sunrise'). 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.