The Mall of Dubai is like no mall you've ever been to (17 IMAGES)

The Dubai Mall is the world's largest shopping mall  based on total area and fourteenth largest by gross leasable area.  Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E), it is part of the 20-billion-dollar Downtown Dubai  complex, and includes 1,200 shops. Twice delayed, Dubai Mall opened on 4 November 2008, with about 635 retailers, marking the world's largest-ever mall opening in retail history. In 2012, Dubai Mall continued to hold title of world's most-visited shopping and leisure destination, and attracted more than 65 million visitors, an increase of more than 20 percent compared to the 54 million recorded in 2011. It attracted more visitors than New York City with over 52 million tourists in 2012, and Los Angeles with 41 million.The numbers also surpass visitor arrivals to all landmark leisure destinations and theme parks in the world including Times Square (39.2 million), Central Park (38 million), and Niagara Falls (22.5 million).