Joining Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon, and Victoria Falls UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) has named eight new cultural and natural wonders of the world. They have been added to the already prominent list, which currently has 878 sites from 145 different countries including 679 cultural, 174 natural, and 25 mixed landmarks.
Behold the wonderment of the new eight additions:
- Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Nova Scotia, Canada): These cliffs are considered a superb site to understand the Coal Age (300 million years ago). These rocks have seen the first reptiles in earth’s history.
- Mount Sanqingshan National Park (China): Selected for its natural beauty, the park features unusual granite rock formations and suspended walking trails.
- Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems (French South Pacific possessions) — diverse coral reef ecosystems and fish life.
- Surtsey (Iceland): A newly formed island which arrived between 1963 and 1967 from a volcanic eruption, and has since given a window into how plants and animals colonized various land masses.
Want butterflies? I got you butterflies! To see the rest of the list, read more.
- Saryarka – Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan):This is a pristine, vast stretch of territory that furnishes the feeding grounds to nearly 16 million birds. Hey, isn't this Borat's country?
- Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (Mexico): The biosphere protects eight areas of habitat for wintering monarch butterflies. As many as a billion of these beautiful creatures winter here every year.
- Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona (Switzerland): This site was selected for its geological interest which has a dramatic display of mountain creation.
- Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): Home to 825 plant species. Thirty-seven percent are indigenous to this area only.
This is a bizarre little tidbit — in 2006 USA Today named a list of a New Seven Wonders as chosen by viewers of Good Morning America — the Internet made that list. I bet that was tricky to get a pretty picture of. Have you visited any of the world's wonders?
Vertbaudet
Jean Marie
Speedo
I'd love to see the butterfly reserve.
1Me too! I know they're just dressed up moths, but I don't know of a more beautiful little creature.
2I've always wanted to see Victoria Falls. What a sight that must be. That's a world wonder, right?
3we have a butterfly reserve here in my town, its beautiful.
4I'd love to see the butterflies too! Citizen you could look at it that way (and yes, I know that's technically correct) but you could also just say that moths are butterflies on casual Friday
Harmony - I want to see Victoria Falls too! My father in law went a few years ago after he had been on safari in Africa. The ironic part was that at the same time he was visiting the falls my husband and I were finding out that the child I was carrying was a girl, a girl we had already decided to name Victoria
Father in law said the falls were spectacular!
5oh cool caterpillar! Last spring the Bellagio's conservatory display was all about gardens, insects etc. and in the center they had a huge greenhouse type structure that had so many varieties of butterflies. They were so gorgeous - many I had never seen before including the Atlas Moth - we thought it was fake at first because it's so huge but then it moved lol.
6Moths are butterflies on casual Friday. I love it Kimpossible!
Though I hope that
explanation doesn't extend to the squirrels-are-fluffy-rats comparison, because that's just yucky. 
7LOL noooo it only applies to Butterflies/moths!!
8What movie (western, I think) has the guys waking up in a field of flowers. One guy starts to talk, but the other shooshes him. Then the field erupts into monarch butterflies. I would like to see that.
9Kimpossible that's a lovely story.
10I think Newark, NJ should be one. It's sort of a wonder that anyone lives there.
11This morning of geographical elitism was brought to you by Mercator Maps. "Maps when you need them!"
there is a monarch butterfly "event" every fall in my hometown. for some reason they all take a break in this grove of trees on their way down to mexico for the winter. it's incredible to see trees covered with them.
12Hey they left UnDave off the list. What's up with that?
13YY I bet that is beautiful!
14i am probley just a big dork but i am really interested in the :Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): Home to 825 plant species. Thirty-seven percent are indigenous to this area only.
15I think this is cool..kinda like madagascar i think thats how you spell it lol... the plants and animals on there 85% are indigenous too.
lol you're not a dork. I love that kind of thing too! I'd love to see all on the list really, just the butterflies and Victoria Falls stand out the most for me. I'm just a big nature freak though, so maybe I'm just a big dork like you lol
16Hypno - You think I should be a wonder of the world? Thanks, I hope.
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