Own your own island

This is the question troubling every bored billionaire: you've got the penthouse, the estate, the villa, the yacht, the plane. What else is left to own? The answer: a country. And every one of these countries comes with guaranteed sun, sea and sand.

Welcome to the brave new world taking shape a few miles out in the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf. Here, one of the world's richest families is building a jigsaw of 300 private luxury islands to create a nation-by-nation, state-by- state replica of the entire planet.

The only difference is that you will have to be eye-poppingly rich to live in this world.

Spain is on the market at £20 million. So is California (£18 million), Sweden (£9 million) and even Iraq (£7 million). But Britain has just been snapped up - for around £18 million - by an anonymous 'British male celebrity singer', who is due to unveil his plans for it in the next few days.

At least Britain remains in British hands. Whereas Ireland has been snaffled for £9 million by a Dutch tycoon whose wife wants to build a huge castle there. Australia has been bought by a consortium from Kuwait.

The French face humiliation. A very wealthy, very mischievous American is thinking of buying France (£18 million) just so he can stick the Stars and Stripes on it. And if the Argentinians are still pining for the Falkland Islands, they can buy them for a mere £13 million.

It is all the idea of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and a man who likes to think big. This is his biggest, brashest and, possibly, barmiest idea to date.

In 2001, Dubai started building The Palm, Jumeirah, an awesomely ambitious seven-mile-long, palm-shaped holiday resort, on reclaimed land off the emirate's tiny 45-mile coastline. A year later, work began on an even larger project, The Palm, Jebel Ali.

These two monsters have more than doubled the country's coastline and will boast 40,000 hotel rooms and 10,000 homes. David Beckham and several England footballers have already bought holiday pads there, albeit at a healthy discount (Dubai just loves its celebrities).

With 360 days of sunshine a year and nine daily flights from London, the tiny emirate has struck a chord with sun-craving, culture-lite Brits who make up the vast majority of European visitors to this section of the United Arab Emirates.

The first Palm resort has already sold out and the second is going fast. This is why the Crown Prince has embarked on a £1.7 billion project modestly called The World.

The 300 islands vary between three and 12 acres. Some represent entire nations, others the cities and states of large countries such as Australia and Canada. Prices range from £3.6 million for the smallest and cheapest (Bahrain - 129,000 square feet) to £20 million for the largest (Spain - 484,000 square feet).

But the purchase price covers nothing more than the freehold on a patch of sand. The new owners must design and construct their own buildings and make their own water and sewage arrangements.

They must lay down their own topsoil and even import their own vegetation. Every island must also incorporate a helipad in case of emergency.

However, the upside is that owners can build pretty much whatever they want. A pyramid? Versailles? Fairytale castle? Be as tasteless, ostentatious or reclusive as you like. And, with at least 100 yards of deep blue water between each island, everyone will be neighbour-proof.

'It really is a dream home. You dream what you want and then you build it,' explains Hamza Mostafa, a sales executive with Nakheel, Dubai's property development arm.

'When we were selling the Palms, people could buy a house from a list of designs, but they couldn't have exactly what they wanted. With The World, they can.'

Unlike the two Palm developments, which are connected to the mainland by a road, The World is a true archipelago, shielded by an eight-mile, man-made breakwater.

'How you get there is your problem. Boat, helicopter, submarine - it's up to you. But you can't drive,' says Mr Mostafa, as we study the plans at his London sales office, a discreet penthouse overlooking Harrods.

Reclamation work started only ten months ago and a quarter has already been completed. Huge rock foundations are dug into the seabed, then millions of tons of locally-dredged sand are heaped on top and, finally, after about a month, an island pops out on top.

The first island completed was United Arab Emirates which has been snapped up by a local for £7.8million. The entire World should be inhabitable in less than four years' time.

All of which raises a pertinent question for our plodding Civil Service: if Dubai can turn open sea into 600 million square feet of paradise island in under five years, why does it take Britain longer to build a national stadium or a Scottish parliament on dry land?

I find the map of The World highly absorbing. The islands are an ingenious geographical jigsaw but they bear no relation to their namesakes. For example, Libya, Mauritania and Ethiopia - three of the least desirable destinations on the real planet - have already been sold.

Zimbabwe, at £12.5 million, is worth more than £11 million Italy, since its water frontage is deemed more desirable. And, while it may be the bleakest place on the real Earth, Antarctica is a prime location on the Dubai version.

There are several nameless nations that simply don't exist in the real world. Why are there several huge countries sitting in the middle of the Pacific? 'Oh, they're the Celebrity Islands,' says Mr Mostafa, without blinking.

No fewer than 12 fictitious countries have been added to The World's larger oceans. These will be offered only to world-class celebrities, starting at £6 million, and the new owners can name the islands after themselves.

Still, sailors will enjoy talking about the time they ran aground on Madonna or got caught in a storm off Elton John. I can already hear the jokes along the lines of 'Is that Africa below Britney Spears?' and so on. More amusing will be the wrath of all those celebrities who are not invited to buy an island.

Many of the islands are not being bought as private homes but as small resorts. Indeed, of the 30 or so already sold - including Lebanon, Shanghai and war-torn Chechnya - the vast majority have been bought by developers.

A group of Kuwaiti businessmen is paying more than £200 million for all the 14 islands that make up Australasia, including both bits of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

'A guy came in May and bought Adelaide. Then he said he wanted a bigger resort so I said "buy Australia'' and so he did,' says Mr Mostafa.

There are plans for an Australian Outback (complete with kangaroos) on the largest island, a Gold Coast on another and possibly even a Sydney Harbour Bridge between two of them. Another island (possibly one of the New Zealands) will house a power station, sewage plant and all the staff.

Given The World's unworldly prices, the developers have to ensure that neighbouring islands are well-matched. 'There are no planning laws, but we do have zoning,' says Mr Mostafa. 'That way, if we have a lot of resorts in one area, we will make sure that another continent is all private homes.

'Right now, I've got one guy who wants to build a Wild West island in Asia next to another who wants a small boutique hotel. Clearly, they can't be on neighbouring islands.'

Dubai is not bothered about most Western vices, save one. Gambling is banned. But anything else goes. All buyers, though, must be carefully vetted for wealth and respectability.

This World should certainly be more peaceful than its namesake. 'There is no Israel and no Palestine,' Mr Mostafa explains. 'We just thought that would be more diplomatic.' Nor is there any distinction between Ulster and the Republic. Dubai's Ireland is a united one.

How enjoyable to live in a world where you can eradicate irksome problems with the stroke of a pen. It must be every politician's dream - although I suspect that one group of politicians will be most unimpressed with Dubai's vision. I have scoured the map and, for some reason, there is absolutely no sign of Belgium.

A world without Brussels? Unthinkable.