Updated: March 19, 2024

Palm Jumeirah, artificial offshore islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the site of private residences and hotels. From the air, the archipelago resembles a stylized palm tree within a circle. Palm Jumeirah was built in the early 21st century and was largely financed from Dubai’s substantial income from petroleum.
Palm Jumeirah was intended to be the first of three similarly shaped offshore developments in Dubai. The others, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira are both much larger than Palm Jumeirah but remain uncompleted because of economic uncertainty. Also incomplete is the World, a grouping of artificial islands that are intended, upon completion, to resemble a map of the world.
Trunk, spine, fronds, and crescent are the names by which the principal sectors of Palm Jumeirah are known. The broad trunk, connected to the mainland by a bridge, serves as the entrance to the development. Another bridge connects the trunk to the spine, a narrow central axis from which 17 fronds protrude. The crescent is a breakwater that nearly surrounds the other sectors. It is divided into three sections so as to facilitate the circulation of seawater. A vehicular tunnel connects the spine to the crescent, and a transit monorail runs about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the mainland to the crescent through the spine and trunk. The crescent is 650 feet (200 meters) wide and about 10.5 miles (17 km) long altogether. At least 1,380 acres (560 hectares) of new land were created in all, within an area about 3.1 miles (5 km) in diameter.