The capital city is also called Ras Al Khaymah. The city has two main sections, Old Ras Al Khaimah and Nakheel, on either side of a creek. It is served by the Ras Al Khaimah International Airport in Al Jazirah Al Hamra.

Ras al-Khaimah is not a major oil producer, so it has focussed on developing its industrial sector. It opened the UAE's first cement company in the early 1970s and is now the UAE's largest producer of cement. In the 1980s, the emirate formed Ras al-Khaimah Ceramics, which has become the world's largest ceramics producer, and Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar), the Persian Gulf region's first pharmaceuticals company. It is trying to emerge as an investment destination par excellence. However it suffers from great electricity shortages, which has caused some residential buildings to be abandoned.

The annual Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, first held in 2007, has called the attention of the world's sporting media to the region. The organisers invest much in the IAAF-label race in order to attract the world's top athletes, resulting in a world record fromSamuel Wanjiru in 2007 and the second fastest run of all-time from Patrick Makau Musyoki in 2009.

Saqr Port, located in the industrial area of Khor Khuwair, is the Emirate's main port, providing bulk and container services. It has eight deep water berths, each 200 m long, is dredged to 12.2 m and has two ro-ro ramps plus specialised berths for handling bulk cement and aggregate. Other services include ship handling, crew changes and 40,000 m2 of covered storage together with a vast open storage area. It is also the closest port in the UAE to Bandar Abbas in Iran, however there is no shipping from Saqr port to Bandar Abbas.