The world's tallest skyscraper opens in a blaze of glory... and it's been renamed after Arab ruler who bailed out Dubai with $25bn

A number of the higher floors - up to the 160th - have been designated as office space, while there is a restaurant on the 122nd floor and a gym, with an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, on the 123rd floor - some 1,440 feet off the ground






The Burj was designed to show off Dubai's new wealth and industrial might


Blast off: More than 6,000 guests watched as the world's tallest skyscraper was officially opened with a spectacular fireworks display


Guests watched in awe at the opening ceremony, which took place despite the building not yet being finished inside

Spectacular: Even though many of the building's 200 storeys are unfinished, organisers are celebrating the launch with an arsenal of fireworks


Dubai opened the world's tallest skyscraper in a glitzy ceremony this evening that was meant to put a brave face on crushing debt woes.
The £1billion tower reaches 2,717 ft, 200 storeys into the sky, exceeding the next highest structure by some 1,000 ft.
Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum renamed the tower Burj Khalifa after the president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of the neighbouring emirate of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.
Abu Dhabi has facilitated $25 billion in bailout funds for Dubai in the past year, fuelling expectations that Dubai will make concessions or cede some of its commercial power to its wealthier neighbour.
Concerns about Dubai's $100-billion debt pile, which has made Dubai's stock exchange one of the world's worst performing, overshadowed both the ceremony and boasts by the builder, Emaar Propertie, that the Burj heralds a new dawn.


Half a mile high: the tower was tarted at the height of the economic boom and built by some 12,000 labourers


The shadow of Burj Khalifa is seen from floor 124 of the Burj, the supertall skyscraper during a media tour in Dubai