Sharjah (city)

The public transport system has long relied on private bus services without reliable timetables and mainly taxis. To cope with the increasing demand, the municipality is planning a new efficient system of bus routes with tight schedules.

Sharjah Airport (SHJ), 13 km east of the city centre, is used by local low-cost airlines, among others, and the port of Bur Khalid connects the city with neighbouring countries and the other emirates. The airport, which is quiet in comparison to the nearby Dubai International Airport, is used by Lufthansa Cargo, among others, as a hub for the Near East region; passenger flights go to Western Europe only very sporadically. The airport is the main base of the state-owned low-cost airline Air Arabia, which flies to destinations throughout the Middle East, India and Southeastern Europe.

Sharjah has developed into a major educational hub in the Gulf region through the establishment of two universities. The American University Sharjah (AUS) is located to the north on a landscaped campus of approximately 6 km by 1 km to the southeast of the city center, and the University of Sharjah (UOS), founded in 1997, is located to the south. Both universities are structured along American lines, each with several colleges and institutes for bachelor's and/or master's degrees. All buildings and facilities are built in a traditional Arabic style and equipped with state-of-the-art technology. In line with the huge demand for academics in the region, the focus is currently still on teaching. In the long term, the aim is also to expand research, and there is plenty of space available on the long site. In both universities, the proportion of women students is already over 50 %.