The World (archipelago) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The World or World Islands is an artificial

Artificial island

An artificial island or man-made island is an island or archipelago that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means...

archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

of various small island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

s constructed in the rough shape of a world map

World map

A world map is a map of the surface of the Earth, which may be made using any of a number of different map projections. A map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other three-dimensional body on a plane....

, located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) off the coast of Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

, United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

. The World islands are composed mainly of sand dredged from Dubai's shallow coastal waters, and are one of several artificial island

Artificial island

An artificial island or man-made island is an island or archipelago that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means...

developments in Dubai. The World's developer is Nakheel Properties

Nakheel Properties

Nakheel is a real estate developer in Dubai and creator of several land reclamation projects, including the Palm Islands, the Dubai Waterfront, The World and The Universe Islands. Its residential projects include The Gardens, International City, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Lake Towers. Its...

, and the project was originally conceived by Sheikh

Sheikh

Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum , also Sheikh Mohammed, , is the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates , and absolute monarch of Dubai.-Personal life and education:...

, the ruler of Dubai.

As of 2010, only a single island has any building on it, which is a show home - all the other projects having been cancelled or delayed due to the 2008 financial crisis. While the developer and Dubai government deny it, a participant in a related law suit has alleged that the islands are also sinking back into the sea.

Project

Islands in the archipelago range from 14000 to 42000 m² (150,694.7 to 452,084.2 sqft) in area. Distances between islands average 100 metres (328.1 ft); they are constructed from 321 million cubic metres of sand and 31 million tons of rock. The entire development is an area that covers 6 by and is surrounded by an oval-shaped breakwater

Breakwater (structure)

Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...

island. Roughly 232 km (144.2 mi) of shoreline was created. The World's overall development costs were estimated at $14 billion USD in 2005.

History

The project was unveiled in May 2003 by Sheikh Mohammed and dredging began four months later in September 2003. By January 2008, 60% of the islands were sold, 20 of which were bought in the first four months of 2007. On 10 January 2008 the final stone on the breakwater was laid, completing development of the archipelago.

Project difficulties

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

Online reports in September 2009 that work on The World had been suspended due to the effects of the global financial crisis.
And in February 2010 the Daily Mail

Daily Mail

The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

reported that the Islands have started sinking back into the sea. This was later denied by Nakheel and independent technical reports as wholly inaccurate. Despite the denial, The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

reported in January 2011 that an independent company, Penguin Marine, provided verification on the erosion of the islands and the silting of the passage ways between the islands. Due to finance and technical problems Penguin Marine, the company contracted to provide transportation to the archipelago, is attempting to get out of the annual fees of $1.6 million paid to Nakheel properties.

As of early 2011, only one of the islands is occupied by a building (a show home) on it, and commercial or residential properties are not currently being constructed on any of the other islands. Property prices in the emirate have fallen 58 percent from their peak in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Purchase and development plans

The World was serviced by four major transportation hubs linked by waterways. Land parcels are zoned for various uses: estate, mid density, high density, resorts and commercial. A Dubai Infinity Holdings construction planner has stated that developers have been negotiating with Nakheel about temporary siting of a cement batching plant on one of the islands to supply subdivided construction.

Utilities are routed underwater, with water plants at each of the hubs pumping fresh water to the islands. Power is supplied by the Dubai Grid and distributed through underwater cables. Waste water and refuse systems are an individual concern for each island.

Nakheel Group is itself further developing a resort named Coral Island over 20 islands that make up the North American part of The World. The low-rise development will include a marina and hotel village.
The second largest confirmed development is the purchase of 14 islands that make up Australia and New Zealand by Investment Dar of Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

. The islands are being terraformed

Terraforming

Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...

to be developed as a resort named OQYANA

OQYANA

OQYANA is a real estate company that is developing the OQYANA World First archipelago of artificial islands which form the Australasian region of The World development off the coast of Dubai....

.
Irish business consortium Larionovo had plans to develop the Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

island into an Irish-themed resort. The plans include a large internal marina, apartments and villas, a gym, hotel, and an Irish-themed pub. In July 2007 it was announced that the Ireland Island would feature a recreation of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

's Giants Causeway. However on 25 November 2008 a provisional liquidator was appointed to Larionovo.

In April 2008, Salya Corporation announced that it had acquired the islands of Finland and Brunei in The World and planned to develop them into fashion-themed resorts. Salya spent about Dh

United Arab Emirates dirham

The dirham is the currency of the United Arab Emirates. The ISO 4217 code for the United Arab Emirates dirham is AED. Unofficial abbreviations include DH or Dhs. The dirham is subdivided into 100 ....

800 million ($218 million USD) to purchase the islands and plans to spend a further Dh2.4 billion ($654 million USD) on development. Brunei Island will be turned into a Fashion TV

Fashion TV

Fashion TV is an international fashion and lifestyle broadcasting television channel. It was founded in France in 1997 by its Polish-born president Michel Adam Lisowski, Fashion TV is the only 24/7 international TV network exclusively dedicated to fashion, beauty, glamour and style and has become...

resort and Finland Island will be turned into a fashion community called FTV palace.

The islands of Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

and Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

on The World were acquired by Premier Real Estate Bureau in the Summer of 2008. The news was leaked in a Daily Mail

Daily Mail

article of January 2009, refuting claims that Great Britain was owned by Irish investor John O'Dolan, Richard Branson

Richard Branson

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....

or Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

. Safi Qurashi, the multi-millionaire entrepreneur at the head of Premier and his business partner Mustafa Nagri, paid an estimated $64 million USD for the 11 acres (44,515.5 m²) piece of land; he was later convicted for non-payment of cheques and sentenced to seven years in jail. The Irish businessman John O'Dolan, who purchased the "Ireland" island, committed suicide in February 2009, after his consortium fell into financial difficulty.

Timeline of Construction

May 2003: The World development announced by Nakheel, total completion scheduled for 2008. Initially to have 200 islands and an area of 60000000 square feet (5,574,182.4 m²).
February 2004: It was announced that The World will comprises 260 islands, and its area will be 6 km by 9 km, area of 250 - 900000 square feet (83,612.7 m²) for each island, with 50–100 meters of water between each island.
August 2004: It was announced that land reclamation will cost at AED 7.3 billion ($2 billion).
April 2005: Sand dredging 55 percent completed, 88 islands have been completed.
30 March 2006: Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....

appeared at a media conference on the Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

island. However, this was to announce direct London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

-to-Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

flights by Virgin Atlantic, and was not related to his investing in the project.
October 2006: Seven-time Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

World Champion Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...

was presented with one of the islands by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on the occasion of his final Grand Prix
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...

, in Brazil. Schumacher's manager Willi Weber
Willi Weber
Wilhelm "Willi" Friedrich Weber is the manager of numerous German racing drivers including seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, his brother Ralf Schumacher and Timo Scheider...

, suggested, "Perhaps he'll build a kart racing
Kart racing
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...

track on [the island].
December 2006: The World reclamation 90 percent completed.
October 2007: Nakheel announced the sale of Ireland, and Shanghai in October 2007.
15 November 2007: Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...

and Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...

were reported to have purchased the island Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. This has since been denied by the couple.
January 2008: The World breakwater is completed.
19 February 2008: Cinnovation Group has acquired a 37000 square metres (398,264.7 sq ft) island as part of a project valued at $200 million USD. Guest and residential villas and a hospitality complex are planned.

25 February 2008: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre will establish a 6000 square metres (64,583.5 sq ft) pearling
Pearl hunting
Pearl hunting or pearl diving refers to a largely obsolete method of retrieving pearls from pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels and, on rare occasions, other nacre-producing molluscs, such as abalone.-History:...

and marine entertainment center in association with Paspaley Pearling Corporation. It will be located on an island in the Antarctic region of The World.
28 December 2008: Turkey island was bought by Turkey's MNG Holdings in June 2008 for $19 million USD.
28 December 2008: China's Zhongzhou International will be developing a hotel resort on Shanghai island.
28 December 2008: Nakheel says 70 percent of The World has been sold.
September 2008:Dubai's Limitless announced plans in September 2008 to develop a $161 million USD wellness resort on an island in "Siberia". Pearl Dubai paid $27.2 million USD for a 1600000 square feet (148,644.9 m²) island nearby.
October 2009: An Emirates Business report on 13 October 2009 that 2 islands were sold in July and August 2009.
December 2009: Dubai based Kleindienst Group say they will start construction of the Heart of Europe in early 2010 according to a press report of 17 December 2009. Islands include Austria, Germany, Netherlands, St Petersburg, Sweden and Switzerland.
January 2010: On 28 January 2010 Emirates Business reported that Major Trade have started development of their projects on an island in the Greenland area, a villa and hotel resort.
23 February 2010: Dubai-based Kleindienst Group starts work on the Germany island of The World, according to a press release on 24 February 2010.

External links

Welcome to The World - Official website.
Independent marine biologist, Professor Valencic's views on The World
Dubai World Islands