Tallest buildings (11 photos)

The tallest building in the world was the Burj Dubai, whose grand opening took place on January 4, 2010. Previously, the title of the tallest building in the world belonged to the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei. Let's look at ten other tallest buildings in the world.

1. Burj Khalifa, also known as Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world, towers over Dubai, UAE. The occupancy rate of the 160-story, 828-meter building is the highest in the world, and the building itself received the title of the tallest in the world, ahead of the television tower in North Dakota. (Charles Crowell-Bloomberg)

2. The Shanghai World Financial Center, the tallest building in China, stands among other high-rise buildings near the Huangpu River in Pudong County, China. The 492-meter, 101-story building was opened to the public on August 28, 2008. (Eugene Hoshiko-AP)

3. This June 28, 2006 drawing shows the design of the 541-meter building originally called the Freedom Tower in New York City. On March 26, 2009, the mayor's office of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the building's official name would be 1 World Trade Center Tower. When completed, it will be the tallest building in the United States. (AP)

4. Nanjing Financial Center, also called Zifeng Tower, opened on December 19, 2009. The 457-meter building is the seventh tallest building in the world. (Aly Song-Reuters)

5. The 452-meter Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are the tallest twin towers in the world, ranking fifth on the list of tallest buildings. (Kamran Adle-The Aga Khan Award for Architecture)

6. The International Financial Center in Hong Kong is 415 meters high. (Ed Jones-AFP/Getty Images)

7. The designer's sketches show the 609-meter Fordham Spire skyscraper, which will be built in Chicago by architect Santiago Calatrava. If the building is built, it will be the tallest in the United States. (Getty Images)

8. International Commerce Center - a 483-meter skyscraper under construction in Hong Kong. Once completed, it will be the fourth tallest building in the world. (Bobby Yip-Reuters)

9. The famous Empire State Building in Queens, New York, glows with yellow and purple lights in honor of Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain on June 4, 2002. The 102-story, 443-meter building is the tallest in New York and one of the tallest in the United States. (Doug Kanter-AFP)

10. The tallest building in the United States remains the 441-meter Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower in Chicago. The building was the tallest in the world when completed in 1973. (Tannen Maury-Bloomberg News)

11. The 509-meter Taipei 101 building in foggy weather on January 4, 2010 on the opening day of the Burj Dubai, which “took away” the title of the tallest building in the world from Taipei 101. (Pichi Chuang-Reuters)