New 7 Wonders of the World Facts for Kids

This page is about the New 7 Wonders Foundation list. For other uses, see Wonders of the World.

From left to right, top to bottom: Chichen Itza, Christ the Redeemer, the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Petra, the Taj Mahal, and the Colosseum

The New 7 Wonders of the World was a fun project that started in 2001. Its goal was to pick seven amazing new "Wonders of the World" from a list of 200 famous places. People voted for their favorites online for free, and some also voted by phone.

A man named Bernard Weber from Switzerland led this big vote. The New 7 Wonders Foundation, based in Switzerland, organized everything. The winners were announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon, Portugal. Many people voted, making it one of the biggest polls ever!

Some countries were very excited and encouraged their people to vote for their national landmarks. However, the United Nations' cultural organization, UNESCO, said they were not part of this contest. They explained that their own list of World Heritage Sites is based on scientific and educational reasons, not just a popularity vote.

The seven winners were chosen from 21 places that were picked by a special group in 2006. The New 7 Wonders Foundation used private donations and money from selling TV rights to run the project.

The foundation also ran two other similar projects later: the New 7 Wonders of Nature (for natural places) and New7Wonders Cities (for cities).

The Winners
How Countries Reacted
Other Finalists
See also

The Winners

Location of the New 7 Wonders winners

The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt was given a special "honorary status." This is because it's the only one left from the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Wonder	Location	Year
Giza Pyramids (honorary status)	Giza Necropolis, Egypt	2560 BC
Great Wall of China	China	700 BC
Petra	Ma'an, Jordan	312 BC
Colosseum	Rome, Italy	AD 80
Chichén Itzá	Yucatán, Mexico	AD 600
Machu Picchu	Cuzco Region, Peru	AD 1450
Taj Mahal	Agra, India	AD 1643
Christ the Redeemer	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	AD 1931

How Countries Reacted

United Nations' View

In 2007, the New 7 Wonders Foundation tried to work with the United Nations. However, UNESCO, which is the UN's group for education and culture, said they had nothing to do with the contest.

There is no comparison between Mr. Weber's campaign and the scientific and educational work resulting from the inscription of sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The list of the 8 New Wonders of the World will be the result of a private undertaking, reflecting only the opinions of those with access to the Internet and not the entire world. This initiative cannot, in any significant and sustainable manner, contribute to the preservation of sites elected by this public.

—UNESCO

UNESCO explained that their own list of World Heritage Sites is very different. Their list is based on careful study and helps protect important places. The New 7 Wonders list, they said, was just a private vote by people online.

Brazil's Campaign

In Brazil, there was a huge campaign called Vote no Cristo (Vote for the Christ). Companies, especially phone companies, helped by letting people vote for free. Big sponsors spent a lot of money to get the Christ the Redeemer statue voted into the top seven.

People in Rio de Janeiro even got text messages asking them to vote. TV ads showed famous people next to the statue. It was a very big effort!

Peru's Excitement

Peru's government also ran a big campaign to get people to vote for Machu Picchu. The news and media talked about it a lot. When Machu Picchu was announced as a winner, people all over Peru celebrated!

Chile's Moai Statues

The person representing the Moai statues from Easter Island in Chile said they finished eighth. He mentioned that the organizer, Bernard Weber, sent him a letter saying the Moais were "morally" one of the New 7 Wonders.

India's Support

In India, there was a big push to get votes for the Taj Mahal. News channels, radio stations, and many famous people asked everyone to vote for it.

Jordan's Queen

Queen Rania herself joined the campaign to support Petra, which is a national treasure in Jordan.

Mexico's Vote

News programs in Mexico also encouraged people to vote for Chichén Itzá.

Other Finalists

Here are the other 13 amazing places that were finalists in the contest:

Wonder	Location	Year
Stonehenge	Amesbury, United Kingdom	2400 BC
Acropolis of Athens	Athens, Greece	447 BC
Hagia Sophia	İstanbul, Turkey	537
Angkor Wat	Angkor, Cambodia	1113
Moai Statues	Easter Island, Chile	1250
Timbuktu	Timbuktu, Mali	1327
Alhambra	Granada, Spain	1333
Kremlin and Red Square	Moscow, Russia	1561
Kiyomizu-dera	Kyoto, Japan	1633
Neuschwanstein	Füssen, Germany	1869
Statue of Liberty	New York City, United States	1886
Eiffel Tower	Paris, France	1887
Sydney Opera House	Sydney, Australia	1973