Two of the world's largest man-made islands shaped like palm trees - expected to be visible from the moon - will be created off Dubai's coast in the UAE.

Plans for the massive Palm Islands project, which will alter the geography of the emirate, were unveiled by General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defenc eat the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), held in Dubai early this month.

The gigantic islands, to be built off the Jumeirah and Jebel Ali coasts, will be shielded from the tides by their own crescent-shaped reefs. The project will result in 120 km of reclaimed land. More than 80 million cu m of sand will be shifted to produce two new communities.

The concept will give new meaning to the word 'resort' because each island will house up to 40 hotels, over 1,000 luxury villas, two marinas, a water theme park and shopping, leisure and boutique facilities.

The islands will be joined to the mainland by 300 m bridges and the main causeway will have a monorail.

Construction will start next month and a tight two-year deadline has been set for the islands initial completion. A further year will see the construction work finished on the islands' properties.

Sultan bin Sulayem, chairman of Palm Developers, chairman of Jebel Ali Free Zone and managing director of Dubai Ports Authority, said the project reflected the growing demand for more tourism capacity.

'The initiative is basically filling a need because there are not enough beaches in Dubai. Tourism means beaches and this project will create more,' he said.

'The location of the first island will be in Jebel Ali, and it will be surrounded by 11.5 km of land shaped like a crescent moon. This area will help protect the coasts of the island against erosive tides.

'Altogether, the two islands will accommodate 80 hotels which works out at approximately 4,000 rooms per island. As well as this, there will be luxury villas of all styles for sale to private buyers.

'International hotel chains will be given the chance to buy land on the islands to develop their own properties and the project will be run along the same lines as Dubai Marina and Emirates Hills,'' he added.