We all know about the Seven Wonders of the World, an ancient list once compiled to celebrate the incredible achievements of human civilization. More recently, a modern-day Swiss company called the New7Wonders compiled a new list of World Wonders. But did you know the same company also put together a list of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World, as voted for by 500 million members of the public in 2011? The public chose these seven locations for their breathtaking beauty, natural diversity, ecological importance, location, and historical legacy. (Bearing in mind this is one of several lists of natural wonders that exist in the world.) Read on to learn about these must-see natural hot spots for the most intrepid explorers.
1. Iguazu Falls, Argentina and Brazil
Iguazu Falls are a series of waterfalls on the Iguazu River. They border the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná, near the city of Curitiba. Incredibly, Iguazu is the largest waterfall system in the world, at 82 meters high and an incredible 2,700 meters wide. This natural phenomenon is a true sight to behold, and UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1984. The surrounding landscape is equally impressive, forming two areas of Natural Park on either side of the river.
2. Table Mountain, South Africa
The aptly named Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain that overlooks Cape Town in South Africa. Such is its national importance, the mountain appears in the Cape Town flag, and other government insignia. The mountain’s distinctive, level tip covers an area of around 3km. From here, dramatic cliffs drop down its sides. In colder times of year, the mountain’s flat top collects orographic clouds. Locals sometimes refer to them as a “tablecloth.” Legend has it the white puffs are the result of a smoking competition between the Devil and a local pirate called Van Hunks.
3. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Ha Long Bay in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam has long been a tourist attraction due to its fascinating prehistoric biosystem. Amazingly, the bay contains a vast array of around 1,960–2,000 islets, or mini-islands. They have been steadily growing out of limestone over the past 500 million years. Historians even think prehistoric human beings once lived here, many thousands of years ago. Today, the site is also home to 14 endemic floral species and 60 endemic faunal species, making it a special, self-contained site where nature has been taking its course for millennia.
4. Amazon River and Rainforest
Almost everyone must have heard of the Amazon jungle. So, it’s little wonder that the Amazon Rainforest and River were voted high on the list of seven natural wonders of the world. This vast stretch of land spans 6.7 million square kilometers and covers 9 different nations: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, making it the largest forest in the world. The Amazon River running through it contains the largest discharge of water in the world. The Amazon plays such a vital role in the preservation of the planet, that ecologists call it “the lungs of the world.”
5. Jeju Island, South Korea
Jeju Island in South Korea is a volcanic island made entirely from volcanic eruptions around 2 million years ago, during the Cenozoic era. This means its craggy surface is predominantly made up of basalt and lava. Its surface area covers 1,846 square kilometers, making it the largest island in South Korea. Popular attractions on the island are Hallasan Mountain, a dormant volcano rising 1,950 m above sea level, and Manjanggul Lava Tube, an 8 km long lava tube that brave visitors can walk part of the way along.
6. Komodo Island, Indonesia
Komodo Island is one of a great many islands making up the Republic of Indonesia. The island is renowned for being the home of the Komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizard, who takes his name from the island. At 390 square kilometers, this relatively small island has around two thousand inhabitants who share their habitat with the dangerous reptiles.
7. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, Philippines
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, also known as the PP Underground River, runs through a protected area of the Philippines called Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. The river runs through a domed cave where many marine creatures and bats live. Brave explorers can only travel so far inside the underground cavern due to the risk of severe oxygen deprivation. It is this terrifying, yet magical quality that makes PPU Underground River a star player in the seven wonders of the natural world.
Embracing and Preserving the Earth’s Natural Masterpieces
From the heights of Iguazu Falls to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, these natural wonders of the world are certainly beauties to behold. They are made even more culturally significant and special because they were voted on by the public, meaning they represent the natural sights people around the world truly believe are wonders. Beyond beauty, these natural sights are important for maintaining biodiversity, ecological balance, and overall environmental health. It is crucial to take measures to protect these sights, and other parts of the world’s breathtaking natural environments, to ensure sustainability and longevity.
Natural World Wonders: Other Finalists
The final list of seven natural wonders was chosen from a list of 28 finalists. Curious about the 21 spectacular natural wonders that didn’t quite make the cut?
Angel Falls, Venezuela
Angel Falls is the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of 979 metres and a plunge of 807 metres. The waterfall drops over the edge of the Auyantepui mountain in the Canaima National Park. The height figure 979 metres mostly consists of the main plunge but also includes about 400 metres of sloped cascade and rapids below the drop and a 30-metre high plunge downstream of the talus rapids.
Bay of Fundy, Canada
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It is known for having the highest tidal range in the world.
Black Forest, Germany
The Black Forest is the highest part of the South German Scarplands, and much of it is densely wooded. It is composed of rocks of the crystalline basement and Bunter Sandstone, and its natural boundary with the surrounding landscapes is formed by the emergence of Muschelkalk, which is absent from the Black Forest bedrock. From north to south, the Black Forest extends for over 150 kilometres, attaining a width of up to 50 kilometres in the south, and up to 30 kilometres in the north.
Bu Tinah, United Arab Emirates
Bu Tinah is a tiny archipelago amid extensive coral formations and seagrass beds in the United Arab Emirates. Rich in biodiversity, the island lies within the Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve with a territory of more than 4,000 km2. The biosphere reserve is the region’s first and largest UNESCO-designated marine biosphere reserve. Bu Tinah is actually a cluster of islands and shoals, joined or almost so at low water, with nowhere greater than two or three metres above sea level. This makes the area a unique living laboratory, with key significance for climate change research.
Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
The Cliffs of Moher are located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region in County Clare, Ireland. They rise 120 metres above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag’s Head and reach their maximum height of 214 metres just north of O’Brien’s Tower, eight kilometres to the north. A round stone tower near the midpoint of the cliffs was built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O’Brien. From the cliffs and from atop the tower, visitors can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain ranges to the north in County Galway, and Loop Head to the south.
Dead Sea, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine
The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. Its surface and shores are 429 metres below sea level, Earth’s lowest elevation on land. The Dead Sea is 304 m deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With 34.2% salinity, it is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean, and one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water. This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name.
El Yunque, Puetro Rico
El Yunque National Forest, formerly known as the Luquillo National Forest and the Caribbean National Forest, is a forest located in northeastern Puerto Rico. It is the only tropical rainforest in the United States National Forest System.
Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed on either side of the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, 906 km west of continental Ecuador. The islands are famed for their vast number of endemic species and were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
Gobustan National Park, Azerbaijan
Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape is a hill and mountain site occupying the southeast end of the Greater Caucasus mountain ridge in Azerbaijan. The territory of Gobustan is cut up with numerous, sometimes rather deep ravines, which contain ancient carvings, relics, mud volcanoes, and gas-stones.
Grand Canyon, United States
Grand Canyon National Park contains a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the state of Arizona in the United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and attains a depth of over a mile. Nearly two billion years of Earth’s geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves.
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world’s biggest single structure made by living organisms.
Jeita Grotto, Lebanon
The Jeita Grotto is a system of two separate, but interconnected, karstic limestone caves spanning an overall length of nearly 9 kilometres. The caves are situated in the Nahr al-Kalb valley, north of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Though inhabited in prehistoric times, the lower cave was not rediscovered until 1836 by Reverend William Thomson; it can only be visited by boat since it channels an underground river that provides fresh drinking water to more than a million Lebanese.
Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, and rises approximately 4,900 m from its base to 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) above sea level. The first recorded ascent to the summit of the mountain was by Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller in 1889. The mountain is part of the Kilimanjaro National Park and is a major climbing destination. The mountain has been the subject of many scientific studies because of its shrinking glaciers.
Maldives
The Maldives is a South Asian island country located in the Indian Ocean. It lies southwest of India and Sri Lanka. The chain of 26 atolls spans roughly 90,000 square kilometers, making the Maldives one of the world’s most geographically dispersed countries. It is located atop a vast submarine mountain range with an average ground-level elevation of just 1.5 meters above sea level.
The Matterhorn, Switzerland and Italy
The Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a huge and near-symmetrical pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Furggen, Leone, and Zmutt ridges. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt in the canton of Valais to the north-east and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south.
Maurisian Lake District, Poland
Masuria is a region in northern Poland famous for its 2,000 lakes. These lakes were ground out of the land by glaciers during the Pleistocene ice age around 14,000-15,000 years ago, when ice covered northeastern Europe. By 10,000 BCE, this ice started to melt. Great geological changes took place, and even in the last 500 years, the maps showing the lagoons and peninsulas on the Baltic Sea have greatly altered in appearance.
Milford Sound, New Zealand
Milford Sound is a fiord in the southwest of New Zealand’s South Island. It has been judged the world’s top travel destination in an international survey and is acclaimed as New Zealand’s most famous tourist destination. Rudyard Kipling had previously called it the eighth Wonder of the World.
Mount Vesuvius, Italy
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, consisting of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera caused by the collapse of an earlier and originally much higher structure. Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in 79 CE that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and several other settlements. Vesuvius has erupted many times since and is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years.
Sundarbans, Bangladesh
The Sundarbans is a natural region in southern Bangladesh that is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world. The Sundarbans covers approximately 10,000 square kilometres, densely covered by mangrove forests, and is the largest reserve for the Bengal tiger.
Uluru, Australia
Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory in central Australia. Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara Anangu, the Aboriginal people of the area. The area around the formation is home to an abundance of springs, waterholes, rock caves, and ancient paintings.
Yushan, Chinese Taipei
Yushan is the highest mountain in Chinese Taipei and the fourth-highest mountain on an island. In the winter, Yushan is often capped with thick snow, which makes the entire peak shine like stainless jade. The highest point of Yushan Range, Yushan, is 3,952 metres above sea level, and is the highest point in the western Pacific region outside of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Yushan was once in the ocean and raised to its current height because the Eurasian Plate slid over the neighboring Philippine Sea Plate.
