Wonder of the World
The wonders of the world
8 places, each with its own page: where it is, how it came to be and what makes it special.
- Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China is a giant stone wall that snakes across mountains for thousands of kilometres.
- Petra Petra is an ancient city in Jordan's desert, carved straight into pink and red cliffs of rock.
- Christ the Redeemer Christ the Redeemer is a giant statue of Jesus with arms stretched wide, standing on a mountain above Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a stone city built high in the Andes Mountains of Peru by the Inca people.
- Chichen Itza Chichen Itza is a huge ancient stone city built by the Maya people in Mexico's Yucatan jungle.
- Colosseum The Colosseum is a giant stone arena in Rome, Italy, built almost 2,000 years ago for gladiator fights and other shows.
- Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal is a huge white marble tomb in Agra, India, built by an emperor for his wife.
- Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of Egypt's pyramids, built as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu over 4,500 years ago.
Which seven, and who decided
The seven wonders on this list are the New Seven Wonders, chosen in 2007 by a worldwide public vote in which around a hundred million people took part. It was not run by any government or by the United Nations, and archaeologists argued about it at the time, but it is the list most people mean today when they say "the seven wonders".
There is an eighth page here. The Great Pyramid of Giza was not on the ballot at all: it is the only one of the seven ancient wonders still standing, so it was given honorary status instead of being voted on. Leaving it out would have been tidier and less true, so it is here with that explained on its own page.
Every one of them stands on the globe
These pages are not only a list: every entry here has a place on the spinning globe, at its real coordinates. From far away the planet is a plain blue ball — detail only arrives as you zoom in, and then each of these is standing exactly where it belongs.
It works the other way round too: whatever you click on the globe opens its page, and every page links back to that exact spot on the globe. You can wander from a map into a text and back again without ever using the search box.