The Seven Wonders of the World

The world we live in is a fascinating place. There are both manmade and natural structures that are truly incredible. These structures have been listed as “wonders” for many years. The list has even been changed from time to time in order to somehow accommodate them all. For instance, the original Seven Wonders of the World consisted of the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt, Colossus of Rhodes, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Statue of Zeus, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. But several individuals, groups, and media houses, such as USA Today, Good Morning America, and CNN have since then come up with their own list.

The New Seven Wonders of the World

The list of the Seven Wonders of the World has been changed recently. The New7Wonders Foundation of Switzerland carried out a worldwide poll to come up with the final list from an initial selection of 200 monuments–21 of these entries made it to the finals.

The poll created quite a controversy, but thousands from all over the world participated in it and the results are:

1. Chichen Itza, Mexico
2. Machu Picchu, Peru
3. The Great Wall, China
4. Statue of the Christ Redeemer, Brazil
5. The Colosseum, Rome
6. The Ancient City of Petra, Jordan
7. The Taj Mahal, India

The Pyramid of Giza made it to the list as an honorary candidate and it is the only surviving member of the original list of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Other Seven Wonders of the World

There have been many other lists of wonders of the world. For example, CNN compiled a list of the seven wonders of the natural world was brought out by CNN:

1. Great Barrier Reef
2. Grand Canyon
3. Mount Everest
4. The Rio de Janeiro Harbor
5. Parícutin Volcano
6. Aurora
7. Victoria Falls

CEDAM International, a group of non-profit divers, came up with this list for the underwater world.

1. The Barrier Reef of Belize
2. Palau
3. The Great Barrier Reef
4. Galápagos Islands
5. Deep-Sea Vents
6. Northern Red Sea
7. Lake Baikal

Another list was compiled by the American Society of Civil Engineers: The Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

1. CN Tower
2. Channel Tunnel
3. The Golden Gate Bridge
4. The Empire State Building of NYC
5. Delta Works of Netherlands
6. Itaipu Dam between Paraguay and Brazil
7. Panama Canal

The list of the Seven Wonders of the World is an eve-changing one. With a lot of public interest, the current list published by the New7Wonders Foundation is certainly not going to the final one.