1. Belgium
   Switzerland
2. France
   Netherlands

When Gustave Eiffel engineered the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, he faced tremendous criticism from 19th-century intellectuals who deemed the project useless. In 1887, Eiffel responded that the towering structure would aid the work of physicists, astronomers and meteorologists.

1. Argentina
   China
2. Senegal
   Spain

The Great Wall of China is an amalgamation of border walls constructed by small kingdoms conquered by Qin Shihuang, first emperor of China. The wall was a place where over 50 ethnic groups converged to trade.

1. United States
   Sweden
2. France
   Israel

Gustave Eiffel, creator of the Eiffel tower in Paris, France, is responsible for engineering the suspension model that made the copper molding of New York City's Statue of Liberty possible. Americans paid for the statue's pedestal, and France paid for everything else.

1. Haiti
   Egypt
2. Kazakhstan
   North Korea

The Great Sphinx of Egypt and the two temples by which it crouches were built 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. Some Egyptologists believe that the Old Kingdom Pharaoh Chephren is responsible for building the half-man, half-animal Sphinx as well as the second pyramid.

1. Honduras
   South Africa
2. China
   Finland

China's Forbidden City occupies 864,000 square yards and is one of the world's biggest palaces with 8,662 rooms. China's most-visited monument established a list in 2015 that includes the names of thousands of tourists forbidden to ever return due to "uncivilized behavior."

1. New Zealand
   England
2. Colombia
   Norway

Built between 1886 and 1894, the Tower Bridge of London, England is both a bascule and suspension bridge. The Tower Bridge straddles the River Thames and borrows its name from the nearby Tower of London.

1. Peru
   Pakistan
2. Ukraine
   United States

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California is a suspension bridge that bestrides the mouth of the San Francisco Bay that leads into the Pacific Ocean. The 4,200-foot-long bridge was completed in 1937 and has been named one of the world's modern wonders.

1. Mongolia
   Bolivia
2. India
   Iran

The Taj Mahal draws nearly 3 million visitors yearly. The Indian landmark was constructed between 1632 and 1654 at the command of Emperor Shah Jahan who designated it as the burial ground for his late wife Mumtaz Mahal.

1. Kenya
   United States
2. Romania
   Vietnam

For the first time in 94 years, the New Year's Eve celebration at Time's Square in New York projected sound to pair with the lowering of the ball in 1998. The event organizers used digital wireless technology to execute the audio feat.

1. Estonia
   Hong Kong
2. Scotland
   Kuwait

Edinburgh has been the capital of Scotland since the 15th century. Nestled in the Old Town district, Edinburgh Castle is home to the crown jewels, Honors of Scotland. The Edinburgh Tattoo draws large numbers of tourists to the region.

1. Peru
   Greece
2. Mali
   Latvia

The monuments at Acropolis, Greece date back 2,500 years and symbolize the height of Athens' regional influence. Many of the landmark's sculptures are preserved in the British Museum.

1. Netherlands
   Greece
2. Germany
   Italy

The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 to prevent people from escaping from communist East Germany to West Germany. The wall and the political doctrine that it symbolized were razed in 1989 at the end of the Cold War.

1. Iceland
   India
2. Nepal
   Armenia

Mount Everest of southern Asia rests on the border between Nepal and China (Autonomous Tibet). In 2016, U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Charlie Linville became the first combat-wounded amputee veteran to climb Mount Everest.

1. Tonga
   Yemen
2. Japan
   Vietnam

The 49-foot Nara Daibutsu, more popularly known as Great Buddha of Nara, is one of the world's largest bronze statues ever built. The Daibutsu-den Hall that houses the landmark is home to Japan's largest Buddhist temple, the Todai-ji.

1. Canada
   Saudi Arabia
2. Egypt
   Russia

Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin, or Pokrovsky Sobor in Russian, is the official name of Russia's St. Basil's Cathedral. An improbable myth suggests that Ivan the Terrible blinded the cathedral's architect so that he would never build another structure so beautiful.

1. France
   Japan
2. Australia
   Norway

Danish architect Jorn Utzon designed the Sydney Opera House of Sydney, Australia. One of Utzon's sketches from 1962 indicates that "Chinese houses and temples" inspired him to build the opera house.

1. Zimbabwe
   Albania
2. Netherlands
   Australia

The 18th-century windmills at Kinderdijk in South Holland pump water from the lower regions of the Netherlands. The mills function by paddle wheels that extract water from the low-lying lands and pour it over barriers.

1. Malta
   Canada
2. Nepal
   Paraguay

Toronto's CN Tower reaches 1,815 feet and 5 inches into the sky; its initials stand for "Canadian National." Approximately 1.5 million people visit the landmark each year. The tower opened its doors to the public on June 26, 1976.

1. Italy
   England
2. Sweden
   Austria

Positioned across from the Houses of Parliament and on the banks of the Thames River, the London Eye ascends 450 feet above central London. Visitors who ride high on the Eye get a glimpse of rural green pastures that lie just past the bustling city.

1. Tanzania
   Denmark
2. Mexico
   Portugal

Prior to the twentieth century,, the common crop known as eleusine coracana, or finger millet, used to grow in abundance in the Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanganyika region. The mountain's Chagga people brewed the millet to produce an alcoholic brew called mbege.

1. Germany
   Finland
2. United States
   Iceland

In 2010, the Empire State Building launched a $2 million multimedia sustainability exhibit in the visitor's center on the second floor. The exhibit was introduced to showcase a retrofit program that was announced in April 2009.

1. Italy
   Honduras
2. Ghana
   Cyprus

On April 12, 2017, a man went skinny-dipping in Rome's Trevi Fountain. The lewd act carried a stiff fine of 500 euros. That same month, two tourists incurred a fine totaling 900 euros for dipping their feet in the fountain's waters.

1. Uganda
   Switzerland
2. Samoa
   Thailand

The Matterhorn mountains span the border between Switzerland and Italy. A relatively short distance away is Klein Matterhorn, or Little Matterhorn, which is a popular destination for skiers prepared to take on altitudes of 9,545 to 12,840 feet.

1. Australia
   Greenland
2. England
   Brazil

Researchers have determined that there were approximately 90 original slabs that formed the mysterious circle at Stonehenge in South England. The stones were meticulously arranged to align with the rising and setting of the sun during winter and summer solstices.

1. Australia
   Canada
2. Chile
   Malaysia

Uluru is the sacred aboriginal name that the Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatara people have used for centuries to refer to Australia's Ayers Rock. In 1873, William Gosse, a surveyor, named the landmark Ayers Rock after Sir Henry Ayers, who was Chief Secretary of South Australia at the time.

1. France
   Lithuania
2. Nigeria
   Poland

King Louis XV built the palace at Versailles for his son's wedding. The majestic building was used as an opera house before it was converted to a home for royals. Leaders of the revolutionary French movement stormed the palace on October 6, 1789.

1. Philippines
   United States
2. Uruguay
   Zambia

One of America's oldest suspension bridges is New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, which was completed in 1883. The bridge joins the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn and straddles the East River.

1. Bhutan
   Italy
2. Zimbabwe
   Ireland

St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy is the city's most popular tourist attraction. In 1995, authorities of the landmark instituted a restriction on visitors and enforced a silence-only rule. Visitors were loaned headphones and a radio that streamed information about the basilica.

1. Vanuatu
   United Arab Emirates
2. Fiji
   Italy

Pompeii is an ancient Roman landmark near Mount Vesuvius. In A.D. 62, the town was hit with a destructive earthquake. Then, 16 years later Mount Vesuvius erupted, killing thousands of Pompeii's residents.

1. Belgium
   Georgia
2. Hungary
   Kosovo

The name of the early seventeenth-century Mannekin-Pis statue of central Brussels refers to a man, although the statue resembles a young boy. A fifteenth-century motif of the image discovered in the town of Geraardsbergen depicts an adult-like figure.

1. Canada
   Japan
2. Italy
   Greece

Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish man who attempted to assassinate John Paul II in 1981, placed white flowers on the saint's tomb at St. Peter's Basilica in 2014. John Paul II was shot and wounded as a result of the attack, but he forgave Agca in 1983 and helped petition for his prison release in 2000.

1. Bolivia
   Greece
2. Austria
   Kenya

Festung Hohensalzburg is a palatial fortress established during the reign of Archbishop Gebhard von Helfenstein, and it sits at the summit of Festungsberg hill. The fortress is over 900 years old.

1. Singapore
   France
2. Finland
   Germany

Germany's Cologne Cathedral suffered 18 aerial hits from the Allies during World War II. The Gothic church has the tallest twin spires (515 feet) of any church of its kind. Square footage of the cathedral's stained glass windows totals 107,609.

1. United States
   Canada
2. England
   Iraq

One of America's tallest buildings, Chicago's Sear's Tower was renamed Willis Tower in 2009. The massive, 103-storied structure was renamed after Willis Group Holdings, an insurance broker based in London, agreed to lease 140,000 square feet in the tower.

1. Singapore
   Denmark
2. Norway
   Brazil

In the first incident of dismemberment vandalism of the famed landmark in 33 years, a hooded man sawed off the head of Denmark's Little Mermaid statue in 1998. The mystery man deposited the statue's head at a television station soon after.

1. Japan
   France
2. Belgium
   Costa Rica

Notre-Dame de Paris is a Gothic cathedral, whose most goth feature lies at the top of the north bell tower. Tourists enjoy an intimate view of the cathedral's gargoyle structures at the rampart that connects the south and north bell towers.

1. Spain
   Portugal
2. England
   Untied States

Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi i Cornet designed Sagrada Familia, a minor basilica located in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona residents regard him as a saint and have appealed to Rome for his official sainthood status.

1. Argentina
   Qatar
2. France
   Rwanda

Constructed in 2004, the Millau Viaduct in South France has one of the world's highest road decks. The bridge spans 890 feet over the Tarn River and stretches from Causse Larzac plateau to Causse Rouge plateau.

1. China
   Japan
2. Indonesia
   Panama

The Tokyo Tower of Japan rises 333 meters above the city of Tokyo. Approximately 3.2 million tourists visit the tower each year. The two main sources of revenue for the tower are tourism and antenna leasing.

1. Greece
   Russia
2. Turkey
   Italy

Pope Francis conducted a Good Friday service for thousands of people, including nuns and tourists, in April 2017 at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. The procession lasted for 90 minutes.