As of this week the world's tallest skyscraper is now located in Dubai.

The Burj Khalifa tower (originally called Burj Dubai) is 2,717 feet tall - more than 1,000 feet higher Taiwan's Tapai 101, the previous record holder.

It is unknown exactly how many floors the structure contains. Mohammed Alabbar, chairman of the tower's developer Emaar Properties, estimated the number of inhabitable floors to be 165.

The $1.5 billion "vertical city" of luxury apartments, offices and one hotel is considered the crowning achievement of Dubai's construction boom that lasted almost a decade.

It also boasts "refuge floors" positioned at 25 to 30 story intervals. The floors are more resistant to fire than the other floors and have separate air supplies in the event of an emergency.

"A plane won't be able to slice through the Burj like it did through the steel columns of the World Trade Center," said Greg Sang, Emaar's director of projects.

Before New York's World Trade Center was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, both towers topped 1,360 feet.