Back in 2003, Dubai announced that they were going to build an artificial archipelago of 300 islands off the coast, made to look like a map of the world. Due to the global financial crisis and the collapse of the Dubai property market, work ceased in 2008.

Some of the islands have been privately developed, while some of the others might be sinking into the ocean. At the moment, there’s a $5 billion Heart of Europe development going on, aiming for an opening date of 2020, but that’s not guaranteed.

The rest of the islands lie empty.