Ras al-Khaimah

Ras Al Khaimah (Arabic: رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة), often referred to its initials RAK and historically known as Julfar, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The city had a population of 400,000 in 2023[3], and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain and Ajman. The city is divided by a creek into two parts: old town in the west and Al Nakheel in the east.[4] The name Ras Al Khaimah translates to "the headland of the tent".[5] There has been much misunderstanding surrounding the meaning of the name Ras Al Khaimah; some have reported that the city gained its name after a tent was erected there to facilitate navigation, others saying that the name can be attributed to Ras Al Khaimah's position at the northern point of the tent-shaped UAE, but the name Ras Al Khaimah long precedes the formation of the country. Historians now say that Ras refers to the peninsula, or headland, where the original Ras Al Khaimah neighborhood is located. Khaimah means tent but also refers to the palm frond houses that were common in the area.[6] The northern area of the city today known as Ras Al Khaimah was previously the location of the important Islamic era settlement and port of Julfar.[7] Ras Al Khaimah has been the site of continuous human habitation for 7,000 years, one of the few places in the country and the world where this is the case.[8]