Gulf Tiger

Gulf Tiger is code for Dubai, the city in the United Arab Emirates. You know...that ridiculously beautiful city on the water with the exceptionally tall buildings. The term is vastly different from Golf Tiger, with the secret penthouse in Miami, that ridiculously beautiful city on the water with the exceptionally tall buildings.

Dubai got the name Gulf Tiger for the same reason it got those really tall buildings: its fast-growing economy. “Tiger economies” is a term for fast-growing economies in Southeast Asia, which has been common since the mid-1990s (still growing and growing and growing).

Dubai, the Big Apple of the Middle East, where all the hot economic action is...which you can tell given they have the largest population in the UAE. It’s a financial and information technology hub, also serving as a tourist hot spot. It’s also just really...hot. Like, in the 100s Fahrenheit (high 40s for everyone else...in Celsius-land).

With some of the most impressive buildings in the world and a growing economy to match, the Gulf Tiger definitely has earned its namesake.

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)