Finalists for New Seven Natural Wonders - Amazon to Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls - one of the finalists

From hundreds of sites around the world, there are 28 finalists. This is the first half of the list and a brief description of each (in alphabetical order) from Amazon to Iguazu Falls.

Read about the New 7 Wonders  project and the announcement

Read about the second half of the finalists, Jeita Grotto to Yushan in Chinese Taipei

The Amazon Rainforest
Stretching across 9 countries in South America, the Amazon contains over half of the planet's remaining rainforest, and shelters a rich diversity of flora and fauna.

Angel Falls in Venezuela
The highest waterfall in the world, it is also known as Salto Ángel. It was named after known to the American aviator, James Crawford Angel, who “discovered” it in the mid-1930s.

Bay of Fundy, Canada
Known for having the highest tides on the planet, the water literally empties out of the bay, leaving the ocean floor exposed for walking tourists. It is also a critical international feeding ground for migratory birds, a vibrant habitat for rare and endangered Right whales, one of the world’s most significant plant and animal fossil discovery regions.

Black Forest, Germany
Popular with tourists the Schwarzwald  is criss-crossed by about 14,000 mile of trails

Bu Tinah Shoals in the United Arab Emirates
A tiny archipelago, it boasts extensive coral formations and seagrass beds.

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
Among the most impressive places to see in Ireland, the cliffs consist mainly of beds of shale and sandstone, and  300 million year old river channels cutting through the base of the cliffs.

Dead Sea, Israel, Jordan, and Palestine
The Dead Sea is a salt lake between the West Bank/Palestine/Israel to the west and Jordan to the east. Its shores are the lowest point on Earth that are on dry land, and the water is over 8 times saltier than the ocean.

El Yunque, Puerto Rico
El Yunque is the only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest System and shelters 150 fern species, 240 tree species (88 of these are endemic or rare and 23 are exclusively found in this forest).

Galapagos Island, Ecuador
The Galapagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator. Part of Ecuador's national park system, they are famous for their vast number of unique species.

Grand Canyon, United States
Created by the Colorado River over a period of 6 million years, it is 277 river miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and a mile deep. The oldest human artifacts found are nearly 12,000 years old and date to the Paleo-Indian period. There has been continuous use and occupation of the park since that time. The park has recorded over 4,800 archeological resources with an intensive survey of nearly 3% of the park area. (Source: http://www.nps.gov/grca/historyculture/index.htm)

Great Barrier Reef, Australia and Papua, New Guinea
The Great Barrier Reef is the planet’s largest coral reef system, with some 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 km over an area of approximately 344,400 square km. It is the biggest single structure made by living creatures and can be seen from outer space.

Halong Bay, Vietnam
The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves, other support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. There are even lakes inside the limestone islands.

Iguazu Falls, Argentina and Brazil
Iguazu Falls, in Iguazu River, are one of the world's largest waterfalls covering nearly 2 miles forming a semi-circular shape.

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