New 7 wonders of the world are named

LISBON, Portugal — Monuments in three Latin American countries were named among the new seven wonders of the world.

Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer, Peru's Machu Picchu, and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid were chosen along with the Great Wall of China, Jordan's Petra, the Colosseum in Rome and India's Taj Mahal.

The Great Pyramids of Giza, the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world, kept their status in addition to the new seven.

The sites were selected according to a tally of around 100 million votes cast by people around the world over the Internet and by cell phone text messages, the nonprofit organization that conducted the poll said.

Landmarks that were nominated for the contest but that did not receive enough votes to place them among the final seven were the Acropolis, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the stone statues on Chile's Easter Island, Australia's Sydney Opera House, Cambodia's Angkor, Spain's Alhambra, Turkey's Hagia Sophia, Japan's Kiyomizu Temple, Russia's Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral, Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle, Britain's Stonehenge and Mali's Timbuktu.

The new list of architectural marvels was announced during a show that included appearances by American actress Hilary Swank, Indian actress Bipasha Basu and British actor Ben Kingsley, as well as performances by Jennifer Lopez and Jose Carreras.

The campaign to pick the seven new wonders was begun in 1999 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber. His Switzerland-based foundation, called New7Wonders, received almost 200 nominations from around the world. The list of candidates was narrowed down to 21 by early last year. Voting took place over the past six years but gathered pace only in recent months.

The organizers conceded there was no foolproof way to prevent people from voting more than once for their favorite. They claimed votes came in from every country in the world.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, keeps updating its own list of World Heritage Sites, which now totals 851 places.

However, Paris-based UNESCO distanced itself from the seven wonders ballot, saying it reflected only the opinion of those who voted.

Weber aims to encourage cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments, and to inspire people to value their heritage.