First Island in 'The World' emerges from the Arabian Gulf

After less than six months of construction on Dubai's luxury offshore project 'The World' by Nakheel, the island representing the UAE has broken the surface of the Arabian Gulf. The island has been reclaimed to a depth of minus 14 metres below the water's surface, and will continue to develop to plus three metres above the water over the coming months as dredging work continues.

"With several million cubic metres of sand and rock having already been placed, the entire development has clearly begun to take shape", said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Nakheel. "In addition to the UAE island, work is progressing rapidly on the islands of North America, South America and the footprints of the two protective breakwaters".

"The World has captured the imagination of anyone who has come to know of this hugely ambitious project," continued Sulayem. "We have set ourselves a challenging set of deadlines, but we are well on course to meet these. The breaking of the surface is another important milestone in the development of this unique project."

The UAE island itself will cover a total land area of 17,396 square metres; have a circumference of 501 metres and a landmass of 600 thousand cubic metres.

The design of the entire project incorporates two protective breakwaters on the outer perimeters to provide shelter from long and cross-shore waves. The outer breakwater will be a submerged reef and the inner breakwater will be above water. Extensive testing of the breakwaters design has taken place in one of the world's leading hydraulics laboratories in Delft, The Netherlands.

Shelter provided by the breakwaters for the islands is also expected to attract and provide shelter for a wealth of marine life. 

Positioned to be Dubai's most exclusive property development yet, The World will consist of approximately 300 islands strategically positioned to form the shape of the world map. The exclusive investors in the islands will have the option of utilising them for private or commercial use.

"Many Middle Eastern and International investors have already expressed interest in buying the islands. The iconic nature of the project has obviously proved appealing to these investors who are proposing a vast range of development concepts for the individual islands" said Sulayem. "The ideas encompass anything from a private estate to marinas, boutique hotels, leisure facilities and more".

When complete each island will range from 250,000 to 900,000 square feet in size, with 50 to 100 metres of water between each island. To further enhance the privacy of these exclusive islands the only mode of transport to them will be via water.

The two-stage reclamation and infrastructure development worth US$2 billion will be located four kilometres offshore from Dubai, at a point halfway between The Palm, Jumeirah and Port Rashid.

According to Nakheel the land and infrastructure only will be sold to investors and then it will be their responsibility to construct the buildings, as they require on their islands.