"dubai, united arab emirates, opened the world’s tallest skyscraper in january, 2010, and superlatives have poured in ever since. if you stuck the eiffel tower on top of the empire state building, you still wouldn’t have a structure as tall as the burj khalifa. it rises 2,717 feet from the desert and provides views of the persian gulf, the sail-shaped burj al-arab hotel and the man-made palm jumeirah island. originally named burj dubai, the building was renamed in honor of sheik khalifa bin zayed al nahyan, the ruler of abu dhabi, which pumped tens of billions of dollars into dubai in 2009 as it struggled to pay enormous debts."
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