New 7 Wonders of the World
New 7 Wonders of the World (2000–2007) was an initiative started in 2000 as a Millennium project to choose Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments. The popularity poll was led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber and organized by the New 7 Wonders Foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland, with winners announced on 7 July 2007 in Lisbon.
The New 7 Wonders Foundation claimed that more than 100 million votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone. The voting via Internet was limited to one vote for seven monuments per person/identity, via telephone multiple voting was possible, so the poll was considered not scientific. According to John Zogby, founder and current President/CEO of the Utica, New York-based polling organization Zogby International, New7Wonders Foundation drove "the largest poll on record". After supporting the New 7 Wonders
Foundation at the beginning of the campaign, by providing advice on nominee selection, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) by its by laws having to record all and give equal status to the world heritage sites distanced itself from the undertaking in 2001 and again in 2007.
The New 7 Wonders Foundation, established in 2001, relied on private donations and the sale of broadcast rights and received no public funding or taxpayers' money. After the final announcement, New 7 Wonders said it didn't earn anything from the exercise and barely recovered its investment. The foundation has run two subsequent programs: New 7 Wonders of Nature, the subject of voting until 2011, and New 7 Wonders Cities, which wound up in 2014.
Winners
Wonder | Location | Image | Year |
---|---|---|---|
Great Pyramid of Giza (honorary status) | Giza Necropolis, Egypt | 2560 BC | |
Great Wall of China 万里长城 Wànlǐ Chángchéng | China | 700 BC | |
Petra البتراء Al-Batrāʾ | Jordan | 312 BC | |
The Colosseum Amphitheatrum Flavium | Rome, Italy | 80 AD | |
Chichén Itzá Chi'ch'èen Ìitsha' | Yucatán, Mexico | 600 AD | |
Machu Picchu Machu Pikchu | Cuzco Region, Peru | 1450 AD | |
Taj Mahal ताज महल | Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India | 1643 AD | |
Christ the Redeemer Cristo Redentor | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 1931 AD |
The Great Pyramid of Giza, largest and oldest of the three pyramids at the Giza Necropolis in Egypt and the only surviving (and oldest) of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was granted honorary status.