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In early centuries, artificial islands were built to create home sites easier to defend against wild animals or hostile tribes. There is evidence that Greek, Roman, and Scottish civilizations built hundreds of small islands for a variety of purposes. Excavations reveal that many islands were built by piling mud on layers of reed mats.
In recent times, new islands have been built to provide sites for airports and other urban infrastructure. For example, in Japan, boatloads of dirt and rock were hauled from a nearby mountain and dumped into a huge box in Osaka Bay to create an island site for the new Kansai international airport. Hong Kong spent nearly $15 billion to enlarge an existing island for its...
