The UAE’s 2015 Guinness World Records - in pictures

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  November 24: The pupils of GEMS Education used National Day as an excuse to form the “world’s largest human sentence”. In all, 6,958 pupils from 35 schools across the country gathered on the sports field of GEMS Modern Academy in Dubai to spell out “Happy National Day”. Courtesy Gems Education

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  November 15:“We are so proud to have broken the Guinness World Records for the ‘World’s Largest Can Pyramid’,” said Amr Farghal, regional vice-president and general manager, Kellogg MedMEA. The record was broken after staff spent 13 hours assembling 31,000 cans of Pringles (Original, Hot & Spicy and Sour Cream & Onion) at the Géant Hypermarket, Ibn Battuta Mall. The resulting tower was three metres high 21 metres wide. Courtesy Guinness World Records.

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  November 24: Jealous Gallery in Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, earned a title for the largest perfume bottle, measuring 2.32 -metres high by 1.04 metres wide. The bottle, which has the capacity to hold 5,000 litres, and can spray up to an astonishing distance of 5m, was named 1971, after the year of the UAE’s unification, and in celebration of the 44th National Day. Courtesy Guinness World Records

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  November 3: MasterCard and 21 of its bank partners marked Flag Day by setting a record creating the largest mosaic made entirely from bank cards – using 30,000 of them. The mosaic, which depicted the UAE flag, stretched over 141 square metres. Courtesy MasterCard

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  July 24: A fleet of 121 multicoloured Land Cruisers formed the universal peace sign in the Dubai desert – stretching 80 metres in diameter. The stunt, which broke a record for the largest synchronised car “dance”, was later included in a short film for Pepsi starring Hollywood actors David Oyelowo and Freida Pinto. Courtesy of pepsiarabia

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  April 12: The French “Spiderman” Alain Robert made his 65-minute, unaided ascent of Dubai’s twisted Cayan Tower, a record breaker: it was the 121st building he climbed solo, earning the title of most buildings climbed externally by a person. Robert, who suffers from vertigo, uses anything and everything to reach his lofty goals: pipes, window frames, cables and the gaps between brickwork. Courtesy Guinness World Records

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  March 28: The 20th anniversary of the Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai lit up the sky and broke records: boasting the largest pyrotechnic image, measuring 65,526 square metres and depicting the flag of the United Arab Emirates. The display was achieved by the American company Fireworks by Grucci. Sarah Dea / The National

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  March 2: The UAE striker Ali Mabkhout was officially recognised as having earned a world record for the fastest-ever goal scored in the AFC Asian Cup. The Al Jazira forward struck 14 seconds into the game against Bahrain. The UAE won the match 2-1 before eventual semi-final defeat by hosts – and eventual champions – Australia. Saeed Khan / AFP

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  February 25: They flew under the radar, escaping much media coverage, but Paris Gallery nabbed a record by creating the largest lenticular hologram, which measured almost 160 square metres (38.9m wide and 4.11m high), and was presented at Ghurair Centre in Dubai. Courtesy Guinness World Records

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  January 5: At 5.522 kilometres, weighing 256 kilograms, the 22-carat Dubai Celebration Chain earned the title of the longest handmade gold chain. More than 100 people worked 10 hours a day, for 45 days, to make the chain’s four million segments. It was later divvied up in bracelet-sized pieces of eight grams, and sold at Dh15 per gram, at local jewellers. Clint McLean for The National

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  January 21: The 55-storey Maze Tower, built by Al Rostamani Group, just off Sheikh Zayed Road in the heart of the Dubai International Financial Centre, unveiled a record-breaking facade of balconies that make up the world’s largest vertical maze. Wam

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  January 9 and 10: Dubai’s fittest man must have been very tired after this: in early January, when most people are still contemplating their New Year’s exercise resolutions, Lee Ryan did 10,110 burpees in 24 hours. He also broke a record for most burpees in one minute (46). His attempt raised money for the World Child Cancer charity. Razan Alzayani / The National

In a country known for reaching higher and going farther, it’s not surprising that so far the UAE earned more than 30 Guinness World Records in 2015, compared to 51 last year and 47 in 2013. Although final tallies are still under way, some of the record-makers include a French ‘Spiderman’ climbing a tower, a whole lot of bank cards, and some very, very long things. Ann Marie McQueen puts together some of our favourites.