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According to the census conducted by Statical Center of Dubai, the
population of the emirate was 1,422,000 as of 2006, which included
1,073,000 males and 349,000 females. As of 1998, 17% of the population
of the emirate was made up of UAE nationals. Approximately 85% of the
expatriate population (and 71% of the emirate's total population) was
Asian (chiefly Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan
and Filipino). About 3% of the total population of Dubai was
categorized as "Western". In addition, 16% of the population (or
288,000 persons) lived in collective labour accomodation were not
identified by ethnicity or nationality, but were thought to be
primarily Asian. The median age in the emirate was about 27 years. The
crude birth rate, as of 2005, was 13.6%, while the crude death rate was
about 1%.
Although Dubai's official language is Arabic, English, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam and Tagalog are widely spoken.
Article 7 of the UAE's Provisional Constitution declares Islam the
official state religion of the Union. The Government funds or
subsidizes almost 95 percent of Sunni mosques and employs all Sunni
imams;
approximately 5 percent of Sunni mosques are entirely private, and
several large mosques have large private endowments. The government
distributes guidance on religious sermons to mosques and imams, whether
Sunni or Shi'a, and monitors all sermons for political content. The
Shi'a
minority is free to worship and maintain its own mosques. All Shi'a
mosques are considered private and receive no funds from the
government. Within the UAE,
Shi'a imams are government-appointed only in Dubai. Shi'a Muslims in
Dubai may pursue Shi'a family law cases through a special Shi'a council
rather than the Shari'a courts.
Dubai has large expatriate communities of Hindus, Sikhs, and
Christians.
Non-Muslim groups can own their own houses of worship, wherein they can
practice their religion freely, by requesting a land grant and
permission to build a compound. Groups that do not have their own
buildings must use the facilities of other religious organizations or
worship in private homes. While the UAE doesn't offer any federal-level
method of granting official status to religious groups, the individual
emirates may exercise autonomy in officially recognizing a particular
religious denomination. For instance, Dubai granted legal status to The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1993. Dubai is also the
only emirate that has Hindu temples and a Sikh Gurdwara.
In early 2001, ground was broken for the construction of several
additional churches on a parcel of land in Jebel Ali donated by the
government of Dubai to four Protestant congregations and a Roman
Catholic
congregation. Construction on the first Greek Orthodox Church in Dubai
(to be called St. Mary's) began at the end of 2005. The land for the
construction of the church was also donated by the government to the
Greek Orthodox community of Dubai.
Financial support to non-Muslim groups from the Dubai government is
limited to donated land for the construction of churches and other
religious facilities, including cemeteries. They are permitted to raise
money from among their congregates and to receive financial support
from abroad. Non-Muslim religious groups are permitted to openly
advertise group functions, however, proselytizing or distributing
religious literature is strictly prohibited under penalty of criminal
prosecution, imprisonment, and deportation for engaging in behavior
offensive to Islam.
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