Abu Dhabi claims world's tallest flagpole

Abu Dhabi could be the setting for a new World Record.

The United Arab Emirates is making yet another bid for a Guinness World Record - for the tallest flagpole in the world.

The bid is the latest in a long line of records claimed by the country, including the largest bowl of spaghetti and the tallest hotel.

The current tallest flagpole record, set in Canada, would be smashed by the Emirates' bid.

We used the biggest crane in the Middle East (1200 tonnes) to erect the pole.

David J. Chambers Trident Support Corporation

Its 122 metre (400 ft) flagpole will mark the country's 30th National Day celebrations in the capital, Abu Dhabi, in December.

Tall Order

A spokesperson for Guinness World Records told BBC News Online that the current record for the tallest unsupported flagpole stands at 86 metres (282 ft) in Vancouver, Canada - 36 metres shorter than the Emirates' offering.

But simply being tall is not enough.

Flagpoles fit into three categories - supported, unsupported and attached to a building.

According to Guinness World Records, if the height of the Emirates' flagpole is made official, it will replace Canada's as the tallest unsupported flagpole in the world.

Other World Records claimed by the Emirates

Tallest hotel

Richest horse- race

Biggest mattress

Biggest baby cot

Longest parade of taxis

Biggest crown

Largest greeting card

Largest bowl of spaghetti

The tallest supported flagpole stands at 160m (525 ft) in North Korea, and the tallest flagpole on a building stands at 183 metres (600ft) on a building towering over Sydney, in Australia.

International project

A report on Gulf News Online said engineers from America, the United Kingdom and the UAE spent two years designing the latest record-breaking pole, which was eventually built in Texas and then shipped to Abu Dhabi in June this year

David J. Chambers, director of the US firm which built the pole, told Gulf News Online: "The design, aerodynamics, and the selection of metal used in building the flagpole are all based on engineers' calculations."

He said the 95-tonne steel structure for Abu Dhabi has been designed to stand free of any kind of internal or external support, and withstand all weather conditions.

The flagpole will be completed when a 20x40 metre UAE flag is attached to it on 2 December, and Chambers says a submission to Guinness World Records has already been made.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.