Dubai. The destination that’s made headlines – time and again – for pushing the boundaries of possibility. A ski slope in a desert where summer temperatures can top 120 °F? A man-made island shaped to look like the world? All of these things are proudly displayed in Dubai!
● It goes to figure that the world’s tallest building is in Dubai: the Burj Khalifa. And not just that; it dwarfs the competition! At 2,717 feet tall, it’s 644 feet above the world’s second-tallest building, the Shanghai Tower in China, at 2,073 feet. The USA’s tallest building – the One World Trade Center – comes in at 1,776 feet, and the famous Empire State Building, once the world’s tallest, clocks in at less than half that height: a mere 1,250 feet.
● Yes, there’s an indoor ski slope. Ski Dubai has 5.5 acres of ski slopes in the Grand Mall of the Emirates. While temperatures outside can hit 120 °F, the park maintains a temperature of -30-36 °F throughout the year.
● Dubai is also home to an indoor rainforest. Located at City Walk, Green Planet Dubai allows you to spend a night in a tropical jungle amid a searing, dry desert!
● The famous palm-tree-shaped artificial island, the Palm Jumeirah, is actually only one of three. Dubai has two more palm islands and an artificial archipelago designed to resemble the world. The Palm Jumeirah is the largest man-made island in the world.
Here are a few other random facts from Dubai that will blow your mind:
● 25% of the world’s supply of gold passes through Dubai. The WORLD’S supply. This means all the gold in the world that’s ever been found, including everything in Fort Knox. A quarter of it has passed – at one point – through Dubai.
● 85% of Dubai’s population is foreign. Of these, over 50% are from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
● The Burj Al-Arab Hotel – Dubai’s most luxurious hotel – uses 19,267 feet of 24-carat gold leaf in
interior decorating. That’s one-third of a football field covered in solid gold or enough gold to cover the Mona Lisa 46,265 times!
Absurd? Yes. Impossible? Seemingly. But always pushing the limits of what humanity can accomplish. That’s Dubai. Nowhere else in the world can you find a place quite like this! Enjoy.
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