Born the second son in a family that currently contains 23 children, Prince Hamdan was declared his father’s successor in 2008. Dubai is something of a geopolitical anomaly. While most people presume its either a sovereign nation or city state, its technically neither. Instead, Dubai exists as a semi-autonomous kingdom, or emirate, within a federation of such kingdoms known as the United Arab Emirates. Founded in the early ’70’s, the King of Abu Dhabi is its hereditary president, whereas the King of Dubai serves as its hereditary vice president. Dubai is both the name of the kingdom and its capital city.