| Summary: | Ras al‑Khaimah (Ra’s al‑Khayma) refers to both one of the seven emirates forming the United Arab Emirates and the capital city of this emirate.The present article shows to which extent this port city, despite a relatively high specificity, is akin to the coastal cities of the Gulf. Like its neighbors, it has become prosperous through pearling, before a decline from the late 1920s. Poor in hydrocarbons, the emirate has benefited from oil revenues through the federal budget and from the industrial development of its geological resources.Today, one can ask whether, with its free zones, new property laws, international resorts and real estate programs, Ras al‑Khaimah is not appearing as a future little Dubai. The hypothesis suffers serious reservations, due to the difference of chronology and spatial scale. But Ras al‑Khaimah reflects most probably an economic specialization and territorial ranking within the emerging megalopolis around Abu Dhabi.
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