A landmark is a place so striking, so old, or so important that people travel from all over the world to see it. From the 4,500-year-old Pyramids of Giza to the 828-metre Burj Khalifa, landmarks are the buildings and natural wonders that tell us the human story of every continent. Some were built by ancient kings, some by modern engineers, and a few were carved by nothing but wind, water and time.
- UNESCO World Heritage Sitesapprox. 1,200across more than 160 countries
- Tallest BuildingBurj Khalifa828 m, Dubai, UAE
- Oldest Surviving Ancient WonderGreat Pyramidapprox. 4,500 years old, Egypt
- Most-Visited LandmarkGrand Bazaarapprox. 91 million visitors a year, Istanbul
- Biggest Natural LandmarkGreat Barrier Reef344,000 km², Australia
- Longest Wall Ever BuiltGreat Wall of Chinaover 21,000 km of walls
How tall are the famous landmarks?
All heights in metres, top to spire or pyramid tip:
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is more than twice as tall as the Empire State Building, and almost nine times the height of the Statue of Liberty. The Great Pyramid was the tallest human-made structure on Earth for nearly 4,000 years until the Eiffel Tower was built in 1889.
What is a landmark?
A landmark is a feature that helps you recognise a place. Originally the word meant a real mark on the land (a strange rock, a single big tree) that travellers used to find their way. Today we use it for any famous building or natural feature that has come to stand for the city, country, or region around it. The Eiffel Tower stands for Paris. The Statue of Liberty stands for New York. The Great Pyramid stands for ancient Egypt.
Natural landmarks and human-made landmarks
Landmarks come in two big families. Natural landmarks are made by Earth itself, often over millions of years: the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, Salar de Uyuni, the Amazon Basin, Mount Everest, Iguazu Falls. Human-made landmarks are built by people, sometimes by hundreds of thousands of workers over decades: the Pyramids, the Great Wall, the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu.
The Seven Wonders of the World
The ancient Greeks made a list of seven landmarks every traveller had to see. That list is now over 2,000 years old, and only one of those seven is still around. In 2007, a worldwide vote picked seven New Wonders to replace them: the Great Wall of China, Petra (Jordan), Christ the Redeemer (Brazil), Machu Picchu (Peru), Chichen Itza (Mexico), the Colosseum (Italy), and the Taj Mahal (India).
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
UNESCO is a part of the United Nations that protects the most important places on Earth. Sites on its World Heritage List are considered so valuable to the whole human family that every country agrees to help protect them. The list now contains around 1,200 sites in more than 160 countries, from the Acropolis in Athens to Yellowstone National Park.
How landmarks become famous
Some landmarks are famous because they are the biggest or tallest of their kind (Burj Khalifa, Great Wall). Some are famous because they took an incredible effort to build (the Pyramids, Machu Picchu). Some are famous because they stand for an idea, like the Statue of Liberty for freedom or the Berlin Wall for the end of the Cold War. And some are famous simply because they are beautiful: think of the Taj Mahal at sunrise.
Deeper dive: types of human-made landmarks
Most human-made landmarks fall into one of these groups.
- Religious landmarks: temples, cathedrals, mosques and shrines. The Taj Mahal, Notre Dame, St Peter's Basilica, Angkor Wat.
- Royal landmarks: palaces and fortresses built by kings, queens and emperors. Versailles, Buckingham Palace, the Forbidden City, the Tower of London.
- Tombs and memorials: built to remember someone famous or to bury them. The Great Pyramid, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Lincoln Memorial.
- Civic landmarks: bridges, towers and clocks at the heart of a city. The Empire State Building, Big Ben, Golden Gate Bridge, Sydney Harbour Bridge.
- Walls and fortifications: built to keep enemies out. The Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall, the walls of Constantinople.
- Modern wonders: built in the last 150 years to push the limits of what is possible. The Eiffel Tower, the Burj Khalifa, the Hoover Dam.
Pick a landmark below to read its full fact file. Each one comes with where it is, how it was built or formed, why it matters, and what to look for if you ever get the chance to visit.