The Palm Islands artificial archipelago in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (@ Jochem Wijnands/age fotostock)

The Palm Islands artificial archipelago in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (@ Jochem Wijnands/age fotostock)

comments,

• How hard can it really be to build your own exclusive holiday destination like this one?""You\ll need one billion cubic metres of rock and sand
• In 1971, the city featured here became part of the United Arab Emirates.""That was five years after they, quite literally, struck gold
• You\re looking at “the most audacious engineering project the world has ever seen”.""But is such extreme luxury really worth such extreme risks?
• This artificial archipelago is said to be visible from space.""Imagine the fare - looking at it this way is much cheaper