Submitted by Pendekar Timur: The Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal and three architectural marvels from Latin America were among the new seven wonders of the world chosen in a global poll released on Saturday. Jordan's Petra was the seventh winner. Peru's Machu Picchu, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid also made the cut.About 100 million votes were cast by the Internet and cellphone text messages, said New7Wonders, the nonprofit organization that conducted the poll.The seven beat out 14 other nominated landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, Easter Island in the Pacific, the Statue of Liberty, the Acropolis, Russia's Kremlin and Australia's Sydney Opera House.The pyramids of Giza, the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world, were assured of retaining their status in addition to the new seven after indignant Egyptian officials said it was a disgrace they had to compete.The campaign to name new wonders was launched in 1999 by the Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber. Almost 200 nominations came in, and the list was narrowed to the 21 most-voted by the start of 2006. Organizers admit there was no foolproof way to prevent people from voting more than once for their favorite.

A Peruvian in national costume held up Macchu Picchu's award to the sky and bowed to the crowd with his hands clasped, eliciting one of the biggest cheers from the audience of 50,000 people at a soccer stadium in Portugal's capital, Lisbon.Many jeered when the Statue of Liberty was announced as one of the candidates. Portugal was widely opposed to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.Another Swiss adventurer, Bertrand Piccard, pilot of the first hot-air balloon to fly nonstop around the world, announced one of the winners — then launched into an appeal for people to combat climate change and stand up for human rights before being ushered off the stage.The Colosseum, the Great Wall, Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal and Petra had been among the leading candidates since January, while the Statue of Christ Redeemer received a surge in votes more recently.The Statue of Liberty and Australia's Sydney Opera House were near the bottom of the list from the start.

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Thankfully. I love my country but I have to say that's one hideous building.

I'm really surprised that the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty didn't make it.

As a proud Aussie myself if the Sydney Opera House and or even the Statue of Liberty were both nominated...It would have been historic injustice and an insult to mans ancient accomplishments.

I'm not even sure the Statue of Christ Redeemer should have won. (What happened to the 2nd commandment?)


JMO.


edit: 2nd not 4th * *

From what I read in The Australian, out of ... 24 was it?

The Sydney Opera House and the Statue of Liberty were in the bottom as well.

I am actually very happy with the results; I think that they reflect the world very well.

Great, tourist are already flocking to Central and S. America. Start pack'in

I've always wanted to visit Machu Picchu. GREAT, now it will be teaming with tourists...ugh.

I'm somewhat pleased with the choices. I would of threw up on my laptop on spot and convulsed profusedly if the Statue of Liberty had made it. I just feel like the winning choices surpass the Statue of Liberty by a mile plus. I thought Easter Island should have been on that list but then again, seven is seven...not eight. Man, now when I want to see some of these wonders, there's going to be little kids running around the place unsupervised and crowded teens making out somewhere or tagging along unwillingly with their parents while I'm trying to enjoy the view/magic/history of the area. The downside to this type of exposure is opening the floodgates for tourists rather than travelers. Though they already do kind of flock to most of these sites anyways, hopefully it won't wear down some of the sites or lose some of the magic like Machu Picchu (from what I read). I guess from a positive standpoint, its good for that area's economy and as long as tourists take back something educational with them (knowledge, awareness, etc...) then that should be a "kind of" fair trade.

It's a great idea to marvel in the architecture of the ancient, and near century world, however, there are disadvantages. Some of these are structures that have withstood the decay of time due to the fact tourism has been kept to a minimum. Look at the pyramids of Egypt, they have survived thousands of years however now, they are falling apart due to our own pollution and tourism. The tourism in my opinion needs to be regulated and watched closely. In time these structures will no longer be standing just because people want to gander at them. It's really not a fair trade off to lose a piece of the worlds history.

]ust for the record, here are my votes (in no particular order - except that the ones marked with an asterisk didn't make it):

- Petra
- the Great Wall of China
- Macchu Picchu
- church of the Holy Wisdom (AKA Aya Sofia, AKA Hagia Sophia)*
- Easter Islands sculptures *
- Timbuktu *
- Alhambra *


I would have voted for other monuments, too.
And, in fact, I think it could and should have been possible to vote for all of them, assigning each one a number of points.

As it is, many monuments that are nothing short of "miraculous" aren't even on the list - and not all of the present "new seven wonders" deserve to have overtaken the church of Hagia Sophia, for example. It just shows how ill-informed (and poorly educated?) the prevailing majority of voters seem to have been.

Then again... What else is new?



P.S. I am not an Australian, but I don't think the Sydney opera house is hideous at all. It is gorgeous - a true marvel. Which is why I wish I could have voted for it, too.

Why does there haft to be seven?
Why not 10, 15 or 21?
There are so many wonderful places on our planet
I dont see why we haft to limit them.
I think it should be
THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD

I thought the Hagia Sophia should have been one of them, too. I also voted for the Kremlin.

I'm not quite sure why the statue of Christ the Redeemer was chosen. That would have been right at the bottom for me, next to the Statue of Liberty. I just don't think it's that impressive, especially with some of the other options. I think I'm happy with all of them except that one.

Why people continue making stupid questions?
Its seven because was always 7 since 2200years ago,why you didn't ask that to the guy who chosen the first 7 ancient wonders??

Endymion, so people can make stupid comments !


2200 years ago some guy decided it should be 7 well I guess I could
mabye hold a seance and see if I can contact him to find out why!

Some people !

You know how to be ironic like me
If you find the guy kill him because if he had chosen 8 the statue of liberty of all the lovely and pacific americans could entered today on the list lol.