For over half a decade, Business.com reigned as the world’s most expensive domain name after its 1999 sale for $7.5 million. That was shortly after the site was founded by former Walt Disney Internet Group chairman Jake Winebaum and Earthlink founder Sky Dayton. The domain retained its record until 2006, when Match.com founder Gary Kremen decided to get out of the adult entertainment industry and sold Sex.com for $14 million (or $12 million, depending on who you ask) in 2006.

While the current market for internet domains is nowhere as solid as it was during the dot-com peak, the market remains strong and is experiencing solid growth. Each year tens of millions of dollars are exchanged during the resale of domains.

The record for most expensive domain name ever sold changed hands again in late 2009, when internet marketing firm QuinStreet purchased Insure.com for $16 million. Other top dollar domain sales of 2009 include Toys.com, purchased by Toys ‘R Us for $5.1 million in March of 2009, and Candy.com, sold for $3 million in June of 2009.

Enough with the preamble, though—check out the world’s top ten most expensive domain names:

1. Insure.com, sold to QuinStreet for $16 million in 2009.
2. Sex.com, sold for $12-$14 million in 2006.
3. Fund.com, sold for $9.99 million in 2008.
4. Porn.com, sold for $9.5 million in 2007.
5. Business.com, sold for $7.5 million in 1999.
6. Diamond.com, sold to Ice.com for $7.5 million in 2006.
7. Beer.com, sold for $7 million in 2004.
8. Israel.com, sold for $5.88 million in 2004.
9. Casino.com, sold for $5.5 million in 2003.
10. Toys.com, sold to Toys ‘R Us for $5.1 million in 2009.

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Luxury gadgets, clothing and food are all well and good, but let’s face it—history is written by the land barons. Real estate put the feud in feudalism, made legends of early explorers and put Donald Trump on primetime television. So where is the most valuable land in the world?

The world’s most expensive real estate market, according to a recent survey by the Global Property Guide, is Monte Carlo. Named “Mount Charles” after Prince Charles III of Monaco, Monte Carlo is a northern district in the city-state of Monaco and is home to the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the renowned Hôtel de Paris and the greater portion of the Curcuit de Monaco, where Formula One drivers race in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Real estate in this land of luxury cost an average of $47,578 per square meter, according to the Global Property Guide’s 2009 report.

Monte Carlo was followed by Moscow, Russia at less than half that price—$20,853 per square meter—and London, England at $20,756 per square meter. New York City placed 6th on the list at $14,898 per square meter.

Global Property Guide’s full top ten list is as follows:

1. Monte Carlo, Monaco – $47,578
2. Moscow, Russia – $20,853
3. London, England – $20,756
4. Tokyo, Japan – $17,998
5. Hong Kong – $16,125
6. New York, USA – $14,898
7. Paris, France – $12,122
8. Singapore – $9,701
9. Rome, Italy – $9,166
10. Mumbai, India – $9,163

Things have been a little quiet on the Dubai front lately, but that doesn’t mean they’ve given up on expensive creations. The recently completed Dubai Fountain, for instance, is the most expensive fountain in the world.

The construction of the fountain by WET Design, the same company that designed the only slightly less impressive Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas, was announced in June, 2008, and the announcement was followed by a contest to name the fountain. The fifteen entrants who suggested “Dubai Fountain” split a prize of 100,000 dirham (US $27,226).

The Fountain itself is set in Burj Dubai Lake in the Downtown Burj Dubai development project which also includes the supertall skyscraper Burj Dubai and the Dubai Mall. Dubai Fountain is over 900 feet long and can spray jets up to 500 feet high. The fountain can spray as much as 22,000 gallons of water in the air at any given time, which can be visually enhanced by 6,600 WET superlights and 25 color projectors. The fountain can be set to music, including the Swahili song Baba Yetu from the popular video game Civilization IV and top Arab dance song Shik Shak Shok.

The Dubai Fountain cost $217 million to build.

Russian billionaire Telman Ismailov opened a hotel this month that is being widely proclaimed as the most expensive hotel in Europe. As it’s situated along the Mediterranean Sea in transcontinental state of Turkey, there seems to be some confusion surrounding the hotel’s continental status.

That didn’t stop a gaggle of A-list celebrities—including Sharon Stone, Mariah Carey and Richard Gere—from attending Mardan Palace in Antalya’s grand opening. The £1billion-plus (over US $1.6 billion) hotel was inaugurated with a bang as Tom Jones opened for Carey, Paris Hilton made an obligatory appearance and one prominent actress stumbled over the name of neighboring country Azerbaijan.

Housed in this veritable temple of decadence, you’ll find a spa with real snow in one of its rooms, gold-plated mirrors on the floors of the bathrooms, 23,000 square meters of Italian marble, remote controlled toilets and the centerpiece—a pool and sunken aquarium that must be crossed by gondola.

As to the question of geography, the coastal province of Antalya is actually located on the Asian side of the Turkish Straits, the conventional border between Europe and Asia.

Suites at this most luxurious hotel can cost over $18,000 per night—certainly enough to keep the riff-raff out.

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