Indian businesses and services in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

The northernmost of the seven emirates, Ras Al Khaimah stretches between the Hajar Mountains and the Gulf, and its South Asian residents work in ceramics factories, construction, healthcare, schools and the resort hotels on the coast. Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Nepali workers and families make up a large part of the population, and community life here is quieter and more neighbourly than in Dubai.

The city grew up around a creek fringed with mangroves. Al Nakheel, a busy suburb of low-rise apartment blocks beside RAK Harbour, is where many South Asian residents head for everyday needs: supermarkets, tailors, mobile phone shops, money exchanges and budget restaurants serving Indian and Pakistani food, with Indian-curriculum schools close by. Newer residential areas and the resorts at Al Hamra and on Al Marjan Island are further south along the coast.

Many families treat Dubai and Sharjah as their big shopping trip, especially for festival clothes, gold and specialist groceries, and the drive is long enough that people tend to plan a full day. The UAE's purpose-built Hindu temples, and Guru Nanak Darbar, its first official gurdwara, are in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Onam, Diwali and Eid are celebrated through community associations and school halls. Eid is a public holiday, and as elsewhere in the UAE the working week runs Monday to Friday, so Saturday is the usual day for a shopping run to Dubai.