The World is a group of 300 man-made islands - about 4 km off the Jumeirah coast in Dubai city - roughly representative of the shape of a continental map of the world.
The project started with 250 islands – but was subsequently increased to 300 – and this may account for sometimes inconsistent estimates being given for the size of the project – currently estimated to be an island and sea zone of about 55 square kilometers.
The master developer is Nakheel Properties, a member of the Dubai Government owned Dubai World Holdings conglomerate