When you visit some countries, you will also want to enjoy the beautiful sight of the wonder sites they have. Of course, some countries possess some very monumental architectures that are awe-inspiring due to their natural or artificial ingenuity and originality—and, of course, their beautiful landscapes.
Below is a top-10 list of the greatest wonders in the world and the countries where they will be found.
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The Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
The Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of Queensland, is the biggest reef system in the world and is well-known for its crystal-clear water and visible coral formations from space. The Agincourt Reef lagoon is one of the best places on Earth to discover marine life and the beauty of nature, with its fragile ecosystem that is unmatched by any other place. It is also great for swimming and snorkeling. The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest coral reef system in the world, spanning over 2,300 kilometres over an area of over 344,400 square kilometres and made up of over 2,900 distinct reefs and 900 islands.
Mount Everest (Nepal)
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One of the tallest and most famous mountains in the world, Mount Everest is situated on the boundary between Nepal and Tibet. The tectonic movements of the Indian and Asian plates are thought to have built the mountain range around 60 million years ago. This movement is responsible for the rocky summit’s annual growth of 0.25 inches. Several geographical reports have even confirmed Everest to be the tallest mountain in the world.
Taj Mahal (India)
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With the help of 20,000 labourers, the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan constructed the Taj Mahal in remembrance of his adored wife, Mumtaj Mahal. The beautifully balanced structure which is one of the wonders of the world is situated on the Yamuna River’s banks among well-manicured gardens. Its marble facade is brilliant white throughout the day, reflecting rose and golden hues at sunrise and sunset. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum made of ivory and white marble located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, on the Yamuna River’s right bank. In addition, Shah Jahan’s own tomb is located within this historic monument. The focal point of the 17-hectare (42-acre) compound is the tomb.
The Zambezi River’s Victoria Falls, which naturally divide Zambia and Zimbabwe, offer a breathtaking spectacle of breathtaking beauty and grandeur. The Kololo tribe that lived there referred to it as “Mosi-oa-Tunya,” or “The Smoke that Thunders,” because of the tremendous noise and spray that the rushing water produced. When considering both its width and height, Victoria Falls is presently regarded as the world’s largest water curtain.
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Agra Fort (India)
You will be drawn to the Agra Fort’s exquisite sculptures and the pristine marbles that were employed in its construction. Agra Fort is a medieval fort located in India’s Agra city. Before Agra was replaced with Delhi as the capital in 1638, this served as the rulers of the Mughal Dynasty’s primary home. It is located roughly 2.5 kilometres northwest of the Taj Mahal, its more well-known sister monument. It would be more accurate to refer to the fort as a walled city.
The most impressive and comprehensive ancient Greek colossal complex that is still standing today is the Acropolis in Athens. It is located on an average-height hill (156 meters) that rises within the Athens basin. Its overall measurements are roughly 170 by 350 meters. From 1834 onwards, the monuments have been gradually uncovered and returned to their original locations. Within the context of the Periclean building program, the principal visible monuments of the archaeological site were constructed in the second half of the 5th century B.C., during the Classical period.
Timbuktu (Mali)
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A thriving trade route for ivory, gold, salt, and slaves passed through the enigmatic city of Timbuktu, which is a great wonder situated in Mali, West Africa, which is located close to the Niger River and the Sahara Desert. As the intellectual and spiritual centre of Islam, the Great Mosque, also known as the Djinguereber Mosque, is a significant venue for assembly and prayer today.
Effiel Tower (France)
Eiffel Tower, also known as la Tour Eiffel, is one of the wonders of the world, and represents the romanticism and inventiveness of the City of Light. It was intended to honour the anniversary of the French Revolution and showcase France’s contemporary economic might on the international scene as the focal point of the 1889 World’s Fair. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel constructed the Eiffel Tower in honour of the French Revolution’s 100th anniversary. The original drawing of the Eiffel Tower was created by two less well-known individuals, despite Gustave Eiffel being given credit for its creation. These individuals were Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin. The two persons in question were the lead engineers at Eiffel’s engineering company.
With a history spanning nearly 5,000 years, the Egyptian pyramid is the sole surviving ancient wonder on the initial list. Enter one of the Royal Burial Chambers to view Cheops’s funerary boat. When you enter, you will marvel at the enormous statue known as the Great Sphinx of Giza, which was carved out of a single piece of stone. Of the three pyramids at Giza, the Great Pyramid is the biggest.
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Great Wall of China (China)
One of the wonders of the world is the Great Wall of China, which is the longest man-made barrier in the world, spanning 20,000 km from the Yellow Sea in the east to the Gobi Desert in the west. It is up to 14 meters high and seven meters broad. Due to the enormous size of the old barrier, Qin Shihuang was able to keep out northern invaders by connecting walls from lesser kingdoms and building new portions with a workforce of up to a million people.
The United States government has suspended the issuance of work visas for Nigerian and other foreign truck drivers, citing job security concerns and safety risks for American citizens.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision on Thursday, saying it takes immediate effect.
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According to him, the rising number of foreign truck drivers on U.S. highways is both threatening lives and reducing opportunities for American truckers.
“Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.
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“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio said.
The move comes under President Donald Trump’s renewed clampdown on immigration since returning to office in January 2025.
As part of new measures, travellers from countries with high visa overstay rates or weak travel databases will be required to pay a bond of $5,000 to $15,000 before obtaining certain categories of visas.
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria also directed all visa applicants to disclose their social media handles from the past five years, warning that failure to comply could result in denial of applications and possible ineligibility for future visas.
A US federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration and Florida state government from bringing any new migrants to the detention centre known as “Alligator Alcatraz” and ordered much of the site to be dismantled, effectively shuttering the facility.
Florida’s government swiftly announced it would appeal the decision.
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The detention centre was hastily assembled in just eight days in June with bunk beds, wire cages and large white tents at an abandoned airfield in Florida’s Everglades wetlands, home to a large population of alligators.
President Donald Trump, who has vowed to deport millions of undocumented migrants, visited the centre last month, boasting about the harsh conditions and joking that the reptilian predators will serve as guards.
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The White House has nicknamed the facility “Alligator Alcatraz,” a reference to the former island prison in San Francisco Bay that Trump has said he wants to reopen.
The centre was planned to hold 3,000 migrants, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
But it has come under fire from both environmentalists and critics of Trump’s crackdown on migration, who consider the facility to be inhumane.
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The new ruling on Thursday by District Judge Kathleen Williams comes after a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.
The environmental groups argue that the detention centre threatens the sensitive Everglades ecosystem and was hastily built without conducting the legally required environmental impact studies.
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– Sixty-day deadline –
Earlier this month, Williams had ordered further construction at the centre to be temporarily halted.
Now she has ordered the Trump administration and the state of Florida — which is governed by Republican Ron DeSantis — to remove all temporary fencing installed at the centre within 60 days, as well as all lighting, generators and waste and sewage treatment systems.
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The order also prohibits “bringing any additional persons onto the… site who were not already being detained at the site.”
Several detainees have spoken with AFP about the conditions at the centre, including a lack of medical care, mistreatment and the alleged violation of their legal rights.
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“They don’t even treat animals like this. This is like torture,” said Luis Gonzalez, a 25-year-old Cuban who called AFP from inside the centre.
He recently shared a cell with about 30 people, a space enclosed by chain-linked fencing that he compared to a chicken coop.
The Trump administration has said it wants to make this a model for other detention centres across the country.
A Japanese city will urge all smartphone users to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school under a proposed ordinance that includes no penalties.
The limit, which will be recommended for all residents in central Japan’s Toyoake City, will not be binding, and there will be no penalties incurred for higher usage, according to the draft ordinance.
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The proposal aims “to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues… including sleep problems,”Mayor Masafumi Koki said in a statement on Friday.
The draft urges elementary school students to avoid smartphones after 9:00 pm, and junior high students and older are advised not to use them after 10:00 pm.
The move prompted an online backlash, with many calling the plan unrealistic.
“I understand their intention, but the two-hour limit is impossible,” one user wrote on social media platform X.
“In two hours, I cannot even read a book or watch a movie (on my smartphone),” wrote another.
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Others said smartphone use should be a decision for families to make for themselves.
The angry response prompted the mayor to clarify that the two-hour limit was not mandatory, emphasising that the guidelines “acknowledge smartphones are useful and indispensable in daily life”.
The ordinance will be considered next week, and if passed, it will come into effect in October.
In 2020, the western Kagawa region issued a first-of-its-kind ordinance calling for children to be limited to an hour a day of gaming during the week, and 90 minutes during school holidays.
It also suggested children aged 12 to 15 should not be allowed to use smartphones later than 9:00 pm, with the limit rising to 10:00 pm for children between 15 and 18.
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Japanese youth spend slightly over five hours on average a day online on weekdays, according to a survey published in March by the Children and Families Agency.