The World Islands
View of The World in early 2009
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| Geography | |
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| Location | U.A.E |
| Coordinates | 25°13′00″N 55°10′00″E / 25.21667°N 55.16667°E |
| Archipelago | The World |
| Length | 9 km (5.6 mi) |
| Width | 6 km (3.7 mi) |
| Administration | |
| Additional information | |
| Official website | www.nakheel.com |
The World or The World Islands (Arabic: جزر العالم; Juzur al-Ālam) is an artificial archipelago of various small islands constructed in the rough shape of a world map, located in the waters of the Persian Gulf, 4.0 kilometres (2.5 mi) off the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The World islands are composed mainly of sand dredged from Dubai's shallow coastal waters, and are one of several artificial island developments in Dubai. The World's developer is Nakheel Properties, and the project was originally conceived by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.
Construction of the 300 islands began in 2003, only to halt due to the 2008 financial crisis. Though 60 percent of the islands had been sold off to private contractors back in 2008, development on most of these islands has failed to initiate. As of late 2013, only two of the islands had been developed. In January, 2014, Kleindienst Group announced the launch of "The Heart of Europe" project; by February, 2014, one of Kleindienst Group's brands - JK Properties' announced in their monthly newsletter that the project was "well underway". The first of these series of islands will be Europe, Sweden and Germany with development led by Kleindienst Group, the Developer for The Heart of Europe project. The floating Sea horse villas at St. Petersburg Island are scheduled to be delivered in Dec 2016 and the booking starts at 20%.
As of July 2012, the Lebanon Island was developed and was 'the only island that has so far been developed commercially, is used for private corporate events and public parties.
Islands in the project range from 14,000 to 42,000 square metres (150,000 to 450,000 sq ft) in area. Distances between islands average 100 metres (330 ft); they are constructed from 321,000,000 cubic metres (1.13×1010 cu ft) of sand and 386 million tons of rock. Designed by Creative Kingdom Dubai, the development is an area that covers 6 by 9 kilometres (3.7 by 5.6 mi) and is surrounded by an oval-shaped breakwater island. Roughly 232 km (144 mi) of shoreline was created. The World's overall development costs were estimated at $14 billion USD in 2005.
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