The Middle East is where people of many different nationalities meet, live, and work side by side. The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) is one of those areas, and with its high influx of international workers is an excellent example for a melting pot of cultures. The culture of the United Arab Emirates has a diverse, cosmopolitan and multicultural society. Being a highly cosmopolitan society, the UAE has a diverse and vibrant culture.
So what is culture? Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. A culture is a way of life of a group of people.
As a microcosm of the region and as the most desirable location in the Middle East for working and living, UAE is a good example of the issues that can come up when people from various countries and cultures come and work together in the workplace.
A very important part of the culture of the countries in the Middle East is a strong belief in Islam and religion is a very strong pillar of this society. Islam, the official religion, pervades every aspect of life, and understanding it is central to understanding the culture and people and to conducting business in UAE. Emirati culture mainly revolves around the religion of Islam, traditional Arab, and Bedouin culture. However, the unique socioeconomic development in the Arabian Gulf has meant that the UAE is generally more liberal than its neighbors. While Islam is the main religion, Emiratis have been known for