Santa to cross Dubai, Abu Dhabi on Christmas, says Santa tracking website

In videos, Santa was seen encircling the Great Pyramids in Egypt and Taj Mahal in Agra.

An online Santa tracker run by a Canadian and American defense agency mapped the jolly old gift-giver's path around the globe Saturday, in what has become a Yuletide tradition.
Every Christmas Eve since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been tracking Saint Nicholas's annual voyage to deliver presents to good little boys and girls around the world.
According to the website, Santa is set to cross both Dubai and Abu Dhabi today.

(Photo: Route of Santa's journey in UAE)

Radar detects Santa headed towards Dubai fairly soon. Follow along at https://t.co/NgHFVneAui #NORADTracksSanta pic.twitter.com/BFBgWmFYoC
- NORAD Santa (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2016

Continuing the work here at #NORADTracksSanta and we have Santa headed towards Abu Dhabi, UAE soon! pic.twitter.com/SF4W1QwRiK
- NORAD Santa (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2016

 
Earlier it reported that Santa crossed Taj Mahal in India on Christmas eve. In a video shared by the website's twitter handle, Santa can be seen encircling Taj Mahal in Agra.
Watch:

In another video, Santa was seen admiring the Great Pyramids in Egypt.

Santa coming to Egypt momentarily--#NORADTracksSanta pic.twitter.com/fuBbE5xkTM
- NORAD Santa (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2016

 

Santa due over Kuwait City soon! #NORADTracksSanta pic.twitter.com/mZ1yhGo3Kn
- NORAD Santa (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2016

A 3-D, interactive website at www.noradsanta.org shows places Santa has passed through, allowing site users to click to learn more about different locations.
The website is available in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Chinese.
It shows Santa, wearing his traditional red cap and suit trimmed with white fur, steering a red sleigh over the Earth below, which has been labeled to show what country he is flying over at any given time.

Social media team hard at work answering your posts and adding new updates for all to see. #NORADTracksSanta pic.twitter.com/dISNWYB5lB
- NORAD Santa (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2016

A counter keeps a running tally of gifts delivered by Saint Nick so far - nearly 1.4 billion by 1530 GMT as Santa approached Geraldton, Australia, the NORAD website showed.
Santa's progress - as well as the activities of NORAD volunteers - could also be charted at the Twitter handle @NoradSanta.
"Our volunteers are having a great time and staying busy with as many as 140,000 phone calls today!" read one tweet, accompanied by a photo of dozens of people, some wearing red Santa hats, taking calls.
After leaving the North Pole early Saturday, Santa had early stops in Russia, China and Japan before heading at mind-boggling speed south toward the Philippines, Guam, Australia and then heading east toward Asia and Europe before stops later Saturday in North America.

Monitoring Santa's progress and he'll be near Islamabad, Pakistan soon. #NORADTracksSanta pic.twitter.com/dQ22XsASs7
- NORAD Santa (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2016

It looks like Santa is headed towards Colombo, Sri Lanka pretty soon... pic.twitter.com/PqxFYcD7hJ
- NORAD Santa (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2016

NORAD's Santa tracking tradition dates back to 1955, when a Colorado newspaper advertisement printed a phone number to connect children with the cheerful Christmas icon that mistakenly directed them to NORAD's hotline.
To avoid disappointing the little ones, NORAD's director of operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, ordered his staff to check the radar to see where Santa might be and update the children on his location.
When not spreading holiday cheer, the North American Aerospace Defense Command conducts aerospace and maritime control and warning operations.

• Abu Dhabi
• Dubai