Islands to Be Built in India ... and Towed to Maldives

Many of the islands that comprise the Maldives could soon be submerged—so replacements are under way. A Dutch firm is designing artificial islands to join some 1,192 islands that sit an average of five feet above sea level, making the Maldives the world's lowest country. Now, the pricey plans are out, and they show a country handmade for luxury, one whose new islands will be built in India or the Middle East and towed south, the Daily Mail reports. One island will be a $500 million floating golf course, complete with an underwater clubhouse.

In addition to a planned hotel and "workers islands," the artificial chain will feature 43 private islands and rental submarines that can enter your living room from underneath, designers say. Islands will be attached to the sea floor with cables or mooring piles, and kept relatively modest in size so as not to cast huge, disruptive shadows on the seabed. All this, and it will reportedly be carbon neutral. "We told the president of the Maldives, 'We can transform you from climate refugees to climate innovators,'" the CEO of design firm Dutch Docklands says. Click through for stunning pictures. (More Maldives stories.)