January 2006

The second tourist island reclaimed from the sea, Palm Jumeirah consists of a “trunk” and 17 “fronds” encircled by a breakwater. More than 100 million cubic metres of dredged sand and rock were used to create its 60 kilometres of beaches. Begun in June 2001 and completed end 2005, Palm Jumeirah ultimately will have dozens of hotels and thousands of residential villas and shoreline apartments, with yacht marinas and a host of other facilities. A 300-metre-long bridge links the trunk to the continent.