Afghanistan
Kabul is a city of gardens and old walls surrounded by mountains.
Its position near routes through the Hindu Kush has made Kabul a political and trading center for centuries.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Iranica: Kabul historical geography, Encyclopaedia Iranica: Kabul monuments
Afghanistan
The Minaret of Jam stands by a river in a remote mountain valley in Afghanistan.
The Minaret of Jam is one of the tallest old brick towers in the world.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam
Algeria
Algiers is Algeria’s capital, pictured with the hilltop Basilica of Notre-Dame d’Afrique.
The basilica stands on a promontory above Bologhine and looks toward the Mediterranean Sea.
Sources: Algerian Cultural Heritage Map: Basilica of Notre-Dame d’Afrique
Algeria
Timgad is the ruin of an ancient Roman town in northeastern Algeria.
Timgad's straight streets show how Roman builders planned a town near the mountains of North Africa.
Sources: UNESCO: Timgad
Argentina
Buenos Aires is Argentina’s capital and largest city, beside a very wide river.
The pink Casa Rosada is where Argentina's national government works.
Sources: Casa Rosada — History of the Argentine Government House
Argentina
Los Glaciares National Park, whose name means The Glaciers, is in Argentine Patagonia.
Glaciers have carved mountains and valleys, showing how ice can shape the land.
Perito Moreno Glacier is a broad river of ice flowing into Lake Argentino.
Sources: Official reference — Los Glaciares National Park, UNESCO — Los Glaciares National Park
Armenia
Yerevan is a pink-stone capital with Mount Ararat on the horizon.
An ancient fortress grew into a living capital with a modern public square.
Sources: Yerevan Municipality — General Information, Yerevan Municipality — Republic Square
Australia
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system.
Living corals build reefs that shelter many kinds of sea life.
Sources: UNESCO — Great Barrier Reef
Australia
Melbourne is an Australian city with the famous Flinders Street Station.
Flinders Street Station is both a busy gateway and a favorite meeting place.
Sources: City of Melbourne — Flinders Street railway station
Australia
Perth is Western Australia’s capital beside the Swan River.
The Bell Tower is a tall glass spire between two copper sails, with bells inside.
Sources: City of Perth — Council history
Australia
Sydney is a harbor city with a sail-shaped opera house and a great bridge.
The Sydney Opera House is one of the best-known buildings of modern times.
Sources: UNESCO — Sydney Opera House
Australia
Uluṟu is a huge sandstone rock and a sacred living place for Aṉangu people.
Uluṟu's stories, landforms and care are inseparable parts of the place.
Sources: Parks Australia — History of Uluṟu–Kata Tjuṯa, Parks Australia — Uluṟu–Kata Tjuṯa National Park
Austria
Vienna is Austria’s capital, with a cathedral whose roof has colorful patterns.
St. Stephen's Cathedral has stood at the heart of city life for centuries.
Sources: Vienna Tourist Board — St. Stephen’s Cathedral, UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre of Vienna
Azerbaijan
Baku is Azerbaijan’s capital, on the shore of the Caspian Sea.
An old walled neighborhood stands beside bold modern towers.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Walled City of Baku, Icherisheher State Reserve — UNESCO World Heritage
Bahrain
Manama is Bahrain’s capital, home to the sail-shaped Bahrain World Trade Center.
Wind turbines between the towers use the sea breeze to make electricity.
Sources: Bahrain World Trade Center — Architecture, Bahrain World Trade Center — Sustainability
Bangladesh
Dhaka is Bangladesh’s capital and the center of its government, culture and river trade.
The city grew beside the Buriganga River and became famous for fine muslin cloth.
Ahsan Manzil, often called the Pink Palace, stands beside the Buriganga River.
Sources: Banglapedia — Dhaka City
Belgium
Brussels is Belgium’s capital and home to the main offices of the European Union.
Grand buildings around the Grand-Place show the city's long history of trade and government.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — La Grand-Place, Brussels
Bhutan
Tiger’s Nest is a monastery perched high on a cliff in Bhutan.
People travel to this cliffside monastery to pray at one of Bhutan's most sacred places.
Tiger’s Nest is a cliffside Buddhist monastery above the Paro Valley in Bhutan.
Sources: Official reference — Tiger’s Nest Monastery (Paro Taktsang)
Bolivia
La Paz is where Bolivia’s government is based, high in the Andes mountains.
The city fills a deep valley, and many streets climb steeply up its sides.
The stone Basilica of San Francisco, with its richly carved front, stands in La Paz’s old center.
Sources: La Paz Turismo — Centro
Bolivia
Salar de Uyuni is a huge, flat, white plain of salt on Bolivia’s high plateau.
No other salt flat in the world is as large as Salar de Uyuni.
Sources: Bolivia Travel — Salar de Uyuni y Laguna de Colores
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mostar is a Bosnian city with a tall stone bridge arching over a river.
The rebuilt bridge links two sides of the city and has become an international symbol of reconciliation and shared heritage.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar, UNESCO — The Story of Mostar Bridge
Botswana
The Okavango Delta is a huge wetland in the dry country of Botswana.
Seasonal floods support rich wildlife in the middle of the Kalahari Basin.
Sources: UNESCO: Okavango Delta
Brazil
Brasília is Brazil’s capital, a modern city planned all at once.
Bold shapes make government buildings look like giant sculptures.
Sources: UNESCO — Brasília
Brazil
Iguazú Falls is a giant curve of waterfalls between Argentina and Brazil.
Water tumbles through the forest in hundreds of separate falls.
Sources: UNESCO — Iguazu National Park, UNESCO — Iguaçu National Park
Brazil
Rio de Janeiro is a city of mountains, beaches, and a huge statue of Jesus.
Rio de Janeiro's mountains, forests, city and water form one of the world’s best-known urban landscapes.
Brazil
Salvador is a coastal city in northeastern Brazil, full of brightly colored buildings.
African, European, and Indigenous traditions helped shape the city's streets and buildings.
Brazil
São Paulo is Brazil’s largest city and one of the biggest in the world.
São Paulo Cathedral marks the historic heart of a huge, busy city.
Bulgaria
Sofia is Bulgaria’s capital, home to the golden domes of a great cathedral.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral brings Orthodox worship and Bulgarian art together.
Sources: Visit Sofia — St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, National Gallery: Museum of Christian Art
Cambodia
Angkor Wat is a vast stone temple with towers shaped like flower buds.
Carved stone and flower-bud towers make this temple a national symbol.
Sources: UNESCO — Angkor, APSARA National Authority: Angkor Wat
Cambodia
Phnom Penh is Cambodia’s capital, with bright palace roofs by the river.
Palace roofs rise near the meeting of the Mekong, Tonlé Sap, and Bassac rivers.
Cameroon
Mount Cameroon is a tall active volcano rising near the sea.
Mount Cameroon is the highest mountain in West Africa.
Canada
Banff is a national park in the Rocky Mountains of western Canada.
Banff protects glaciers, mountains, forests, and bright blue lakes for wildlife and visitors.
Lake Louise is a turquoise lake surrounded by high peaks in Banff National Park.
Sources: Official reference — Banff National Park, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism: Lake Louise
Canada
Montreal is Quebec’s biggest city, built around a hill called Mount Royal.
Saint Joseph's Oratory is a great shrine where many people come to pray.
Sources: Saint Joseph’s Oratory: history
Canada
Niagara Falls is a group of mighty waterfalls between Canada and the United States.
Moving water cuts into rock along the river between two Great Lakes.
Horseshoe Falls is the curved Canadian waterfall at Niagara Falls.
Canada
Quebec City is a French-speaking Canadian city on cliffs above the St. Lawrence River.
Château Frontenac, a hotel built for railway travelers, became a familiar symbol of Old Québec.
Sources: Parks Canada: Château Frontenac national historic site
Canada
Toronto is a city beside a huge lake with a very tall tower.
The CN Tower carries signals and gives visitors a high view over the city.
Sources: Royal Canadian Mint: CN Tower
Canada
Vancouver is a big city in British Columbia, in western Canada.
The white sails of Canada Place sit beside the harbor, below Harbour Centre’s tower with its round lookout on top.
Sources: City of Vancouver — Southeast False Creek, Destination Vancouver — Vancouver Lookout
Chile
Rapa Nui, also called Easter Island, is famous for its giant stone statues.
The Rapa Nui people carved the statues and built platforms for important ceremonies.
Sources: UNESCO — Rapa Nui National Park, Chile’s National Cultural Heritage Service — Rapa Nui National Park
Chile
Santiago is Chile’s capital, with a great cathedral and the Andes nearby.
The cathedral stands beside the city's oldest public square.
Sources: Chilean National Monuments Council — Catedral de Santiago
Chile
Torres del Paine National Park is a wild mountain park in Chilean Patagonia.
Sharp peaks rise above glaciers, lakes, and wide grasslands.
Torres del Paine is a group of sharp granite towers in Chilean Patagonia.
Sources: Official reference — Torres del Paine National Park, UNESCO — Torres del Paine Biosphere Reserve
China
Beijing is China’s capital, a huge city in the north of the country.
Grand palaces and temples in Beijing show the power of the emperors who ruled China.
The Forbidden City is a vast palace where emperors once lived in Beijing.
Sources: Beijing Municipal Government — Facts, UNESCO — Imperial Palaces
China
Chengdu is a big city in southwestern China, with old temple halls among modern streets.
Local cooking brings many tastes together in dishes people enjoy far beyond the city.
Sources: UNESCO — Chengdu
China
Chongqing is a major city in southwestern China, built on steep hills.
Buildings climb the hillsides above the rivers, so the city rises in layers.
Hongyadong is an unusual group of traditional-style buildings on Chongqing’s steep hillside.
Sources: Government of China — Chongqing development and governance, World Bank — Chongqing 2035 overview, iChongqing — Attractions: Hongya Cave
China
The Great Wall of China is a huge network of old walls and towers.
Over many centuries, different rulers built and rebuilt walls to defend northern China.
Mutianyu is a mountain section of the Great Wall near Beijing.
Sources: Mutianyu Great Wall — About Us
China
Harbin is a northern Chinese city with a red-brick domed cathedral.
Saint Sophia tells part of the story of Russian communities in this northern Chinese city.
Sources: Chinese Orthodox Church — Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin
China
Hong Kong is a crowded city of tall towers on the south coast of China.
Hong Kong is one of the world’s great centers for banking and trade.
Two IFC is the very tall tower in the middle. The angular Bank of China Tower stands at the left.
China
Macau is a small city on the south coast of China.
Old streets and monuments show how sea trade brought cultures together.
Sources: UNESCO — Historic Centre of Macao
China
Potala Palace is a huge palace on a hill above Lhasa, in Tibet.
Potala Palace is a sacred place in Tibetan Buddhism, visited by pilgrims.
Sources: UNESCO — Potala Palace
China
Shanghai is one of China’s biggest cities and a major world port.
Shanghai is known for bold buildings, like the Oriental Pearl Tower with its pink spheres.
The Oriental Pearl Tower, with its pink spheres, stands among the tall towers of Pudong, across the river from the Bund.
Sources: Shanghai Municipal Tourism — Bund
China
Shilin Stone Forest is a field of tall stone pillars in Yunnan, in southwestern China.
Water slowly wore away the rock, leaving pillars that stand together like trees in a forest.
Sources: UNESCO — Shilin Global Geopark, UNESCO — South China Karst
China
Wuhan is the largest city in central China.
Yellow Crane Tower looks out across the Yangtze River and the city.
China
Xi’an is an ancient Chinese city with old walls and pagodas.
Xi’an served as China’s capital for many centuries, under several ruling families.
Sources: Xi’an Municipal Government, State Council — Xi’an and the Silk Road
Colombia
Bogotá is Colombia’s capital and its largest city.
Bogotá's old center shows how government and religious life grew side by side.
Colombia
Cartagena is a Caribbean port city wrapped in old stone walls.
Cartagena was a busy trading port that needed strong protection from attack.
Sources: UNESCO — Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena
Croatia
Dubrovnik is a Croatian seaside city wrapped in massive stone walls.
Once a powerful maritime republic, Dubrovnik preserves an exceptional group of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque monuments.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Old City of Dubrovnik
Cuba
Havana is Cuba’s coastal capital, full of colorful streets and grand buildings.
Havana grew as a busy port, with forts built to guard its harbor.
El Capitolio is Havana's grand domed building, first built for Cuba's lawmakers.
Sources: UNESCO — Old Havana and its Fortification System, El Capitolio: Patrimony of the Cuban nation, Capitolio, Wikidata – El Capitolio
Czechia
Prague is Czechia’s capital, a river city full of old towers and spires.
Buildings from many centuries still stand together, showing how the city grew.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre of Prague
Denmark
Copenhagen is Denmark’s capital, with green copper spires and domes above its old center.
A settlement from Viking times grew into Denmark's capital.
Sources: Copenhagen Museum — The permanent exhibition, City of Copenhagen — Copenhagen facts
Dominican Republic
Santo Domingo is a Caribbean capital with an old city of stone buildings.
The Alcázar de Colón is a stone palace built more than 500 years ago for a son of Christopher Columbus.
Sources: Colonial City of Santo Domingo, GeoNames – Santo Domingo, Panteón de la Patria official website
DR Congo
Kinshasa is the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the Congo River.
The Limete Tower is a very tall concrete tower with long, curved fins.
Sources: UNESCO: Kinshasa
Ecuador
Quito is Ecuador’s capital, high in the Andes.
Richly decorated old churches and plazas fill Quito's historic center.
Sources: UNESCO — City of Quito
Egypt
Abu Simbel has two ancient temples carved into a rocky cliff.
A rescue by many countries moved the temples to protect them from rising water.
Sources: UNESCO: Nubian Monuments
Egypt
Cairo is Egypt’s capital, a huge city beside the Nile River.
Old mosques, fountains, and gates stand among streets where people still live and work.
Sources: UNESCO: Historic Cairo
Egypt
The Giza pyramids are giant stone tombs built for ancient kings.
The pyramids show the planning and building skills of ancient Egypt.
Sources: UNESCO: Memphis and its Necropolis
Egypt
Karnak is a huge ancient temple with rows of stone columns.
Karnak's temples help tell the story of Thebes, an important capital of ancient Egypt.
Eritrea
Asmara Cathedral is a red-brick church with a very tall bell tower.
Asmara Cathedral is one of the best-known landmarks of Asmara, Eritrea's capital.
Estonia
Tallinn is Estonia’s capital, with stone walls, towers and steep old roofs.
Old trading streets still show the shape of the medieval town.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn
Ethiopia
Addis Ababa is Ethiopia’s capital and its largest city, high in the mountains.
Holy Trinity Cathedral, with its big green dome, is one of Ethiopia’s most important churches.
Sources: African Union Headquarters
Ethiopia
The Church of Saint George in Lalibela, Ethiopia, was carved down into one huge rock.
Lalibela's rock churches make the town one of the most sacred places for Ethiopian Christians.
Sources: UNESCO: Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela
Finland
Helsinki is Finland’s seaside capital, known for its big white cathedral.
The cathedral and Senate Square helped give Finland's new capital its shape.
Sources: City of Helsinki — Founding Helsinki, Helsinki Cathedral — History
France
Lyon is a big French city where two rivers, the Rhône and the Saône, meet.
The Fourvière Basilica is a place of pilgrimage and a familiar city landmark.
France
Marseille is France’s oldest city and a big port on the Mediterranean Sea.
Notre-Dame de la Garde has long watched over sailors, fishers, and the city.
France
Mont Saint-Michel is a walled village and abbey on a tiny tidal island.
For centuries, pilgrims have crossed the bay to visit the abbey.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
France
Paris is France’s capital, where the Eiffel Tower rises above the city.
The Eiffel Tower showed off bold engineering at a world's fair. Later, the tower became a symbol of Paris.
Sources: Eiffel Tower — Key figures
Georgia
Tbilisi, the capital of the country of Georgia, has old churches and wooden balconies on its hills.
Warm springs helped give this city its name, while steep hills shaped its streets.
Sources: Georgia Travel — Tbilisi, Georgia Travel — Narikala Fortress and St. Nicholas Church
Germany
Berlin is Germany’s capital, home to the great stone Brandenburg Gate.
The gate stood beside the Berlin Wall. When the Wall fell, the gate became a symbol of peace and unity.
Sources: Berlin.de — Brandenburg Gate
Germany
Cologne, beside the Rhine, has a cathedral with two very tall, matching spires.
Building began in 1248, then stopped for about 300 years. Builders finished it in 1880, following the medieval plans.
Germany
Munich is the capital of Bavaria, in southern Germany.
The Frauenkirche's paired towers are a familiar sign of Munich.
Sources: City of Munich — Frauenkirche
Germany
Neuschwanstein is a white castle on a rocky hill in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps.
King Ludwig II imagined a castle from old legends, then fitted it with modern technology.
Sources: Bavarian Palace Administration — Neuschwanstein Castle
Ghana
Accra is Ghana’s capital, a busy city in West Africa.
Independence Square is a gathering place that celebrates Ghana's freedom.
Black Star Gate stands at Independence Square in Accra.
Sources: Accra Metropolitan Assembly — History, Accra Metropolitan Assembly — City of Accra report, Visit Ghana: Black Star Square
Greece
Athens is Greece’s capital, a modern city full of ancient ruins.
Ancient Athens helped shape ideas about democracy, philosophy, and art.
The Acropolis of Athens is a rocky hill topped by the Parthenon and other ancient temples.
Sources: Municipality of Athens — The City of Athens, UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Acropolis, Athens
Greece
Santorini is a group of Greek islands famous for white houses and blue-domed churches.
Villages cling to the edge of a huge flooded volcanic crater.
Sources: Visit Greece — Cyclades, Municipality of Thira — About Santorini
Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala is an old city of low buildings, churches, and volcano views.
The old street plan survived even after a powerful earthquake damaged the city.
Sources: UNESCO — Antigua Guatemala
Guatemala
Tikal is an ancient Maya city whose steep temples rise above the forest.
Temples and public spaces show where a large Maya city once stood.
Sources: UNESCO — Tikal National Park
Guyana
Kaieteur Falls is a mighty waterfall that drops into Guyana’s rainforest.
The Potaro River drops in one long, unbroken plunge, with great force.
Sources: Guyana Protected Areas Commission — Kaieteur National Park
Haiti
Citadelle Laferrière is a huge stone fortress high on a mountain in Haiti.
Haiti built this fortress after winning independence to help defend the new country.
Sources: National History Park – Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers, Inventaire des ressources touristiques – Nord d’Haïti
Honduras
Copán is the ruin of an ancient Maya city in western Honduras.
Carved stones and temple ruins tell stories about an ancient Maya city.
Hungary
Budapest is Hungary’s capital, divided by the Danube River into Buda and Pest.
The Parliament Building is a grand home for Hungary's lawmakers.
Sources: Hungarian National Assembly — The House of Parliament
Iceland
Gullfoss is a powerful waterfall on the Hvítá River in Iceland.
The water plunges into a deep, rocky canyon, sending up clouds of spray.
Sources: Environment Agency of Iceland — Gullfoss nature and geology
Iceland
Reykjavik is Iceland’s capital, a small city beside the sea.
The shape of Hallgrímskirkja echoes Iceland's rocks, mountains, and glaciers.
Sources: Hallgrímskirkja — The building and history, Visit Reykjavík — Media Center
India
Bengaluru is a garden-filled Indian city known for science and technology.
The Vidhana Soudha, where the state government meets, stands among gardens and modern office towers.
Sources: Incredible India — Bengaluru
India
Delhi is a great Indian city filled with monuments from many centuries.
Rulers built new capitals here, leaving forts, tombs, mosques, and palaces from different times.
Sources: Incredible India — official tourism portal, UNESCO — Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi
India
Hyderabad is a big city in southern India, famous for the Charminar monument.
The Charminar stands where large arches open toward the streets around it.
Sources: Government of Telangana — Charminar, Incredible India — Hyderabad
India
Kolkata is a large city on the Hooghly River in eastern India.
Writers, filmmakers, and artists helped make Kolkata a lively place for ideas.
The Victoria Memorial is a great white marble hall with a large central dome.
Sources: Incredible India — Kolkata
India
Mumbai is a busy harbor city with grand stone buildings.
The Gateway of India by the harbor and the grand Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station are famous city landmarks.
Sources: Incredible India — official tourism portal, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus)
India
The Taj Mahal is a shining white-marble tomb beside a river.
Emperor Shah Jahan built this tomb in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Sources: UNESCO — Taj Mahal
Indonesia
Borobudur is a giant stone temple shaped like a stepped hill.
Carved stories and terraces lead visitors upward through this Buddhist temple.
Sources: UNESCO — Borobudur Temple Compounds
Indonesia
Jakarta is Indonesia’s largest city, on the northwest coast of Java.
The flame-topped National Monument stands above a city of trade, government, and culture.
Sources: Indonesia Travel — National Monument
Indonesia
Tanah Lot is a sea temple standing on a rocky island.
Worship and ocean scenery meet at this Balinese temple.
Sources: Indonesia Travel — Tanah Lot
Iran
Isfahan is a historic city in central Iran that was once the capital of Persia.
Blue-tiled mosques and a palace surround a great public square.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Meidan Emam, Esfahan, Encyclopaedia Iranica — Isfahan
Iran
Persepolis was a grand stone city built for ancient Persian kings.
Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of a great Persian empire.
Iran
Tehran is Iran’s capital and its largest city.
Azadi Tower brings together ideas from different periods of Persian building design.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Iranica — Tehran, Visit Iran — Azadi Tower
Iraq
Babylon was an ancient city with bright blue gates and mighty walls.
Babylon's walls, gates, and palaces show how grand an ancient capital could be.
Iraq
Baghdad is Iraq’s capital and its largest city, with domed mosques beside the Tigris River.
Traders and scholars helped make Baghdad a famous center of learning.
Sources: United Nations in Iraq — Iraq land-cover technical report, UNESCO — History of Civilizations of Central Asia
Ireland
The Cliffs of Moher are towering sea cliffs that drop straight into the waves.
The cliff walls show old layers of rock shaped by the sea.
Sources: Cliffs of Moher — About the cliffs
Ireland
Dublin is Ireland’s capital and its largest city, with an old cathedral and castle near the Irish Sea.
Writers from Dublin shared Irish stories with readers around the world.
Sources: UNESCO — Dublin City of Literature
Israel
Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world.
Places sacred to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim people stand close together inside the Old City.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls
Italy
Florence is an Italian city with a giant red cathedral dome.
Artists and builders here helped change European art during the Renaissance.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre of Florence
Italy
Milan is a big city in northern Italy with a huge cathedral covered in spires.
Generations of builders and artists worked for centuries to finish Milan Cathedral.
Sources: Duomo di Milano — The Cathedral, Duomo di Milano — The Madonnina
Italy
Mount Vesuvius is an active volcano beside the Bay of Naples.
This volcano's eruptions have shaped nearby land and communities.
Italy
Rome is Italy’s capital, built along the Tiber River.
Ancient monuments stand within a living city that helped shape laws, buildings, and art.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre of Rome
Italy
Venice is a city in a lagoon, where people travel by boat along canals.
A city built on water grew into a powerful trading port.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Venice and its Lagoon
Ivory Coast
Abidjan is Côte d’Ivoire’s largest city, spread around a lagoon.
St. Paul’s Cathedral has a giant leaning cross for a tower, joined to its roof by long cables.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Abidjan
Jamaica
Kingston is Jamaica’s capital and largest city, on the island’s south coast.
Powerful speaker systems and records made in Kingston helped Jamaican music reach the world.
A statue of the musician Bob Marley with his guitar stands in front of his old home, now the Bob Marley Museum.
Sources: Kingston Creative City of Music – UNESCO, Caribbean Cultural Resources – UNESCO, GeoNames – Kingston
Japan
Hiroshima is a Japanese city with a park that helps people remember war and hope for peace.
The preserved dome helps people remember the atomic bombing of 1945 and think about a future without nuclear weapons.
Sources: UNESCO — Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Japan
Kyoto is a historic Japanese city full of temples and pagodas.
Kyoto keeps many traditional crafts, festivals, and buildings alive.
Japan
Mount Fuji is a great volcano in Japan, with a snowy top above a broad cone.
People have climbed Fuji as a sacred mountain. Artists made its shape famous around the world.
Sources: UNESCO — Fujisan
Japan
Tokyo is Japan’s capital and one of the biggest cities in the world.
Tokyo Tower helped send television and radio signals across the city after the Second World War.
Sources: Tokyo Tower — Tower Gallery, Tokyo Tower: Company timeline
Jordan
Petra is an ancient city carved into red sandstone cliffs.
Traders met in a desert city whose builders found clever ways to collect water.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Petra
Kazakhstan
Almaty is Kazakhstan’s largest city, at the foot of high mountains.
Almaty's wooden Ascension Cathedral survived a powerful earthquake with little damage.
Sources: Sacred Kazakhstan — Ascension Cathedral, Government of Kazakhstan — Tourism
Kazakhstan
Astana is Kazakhstan’s capital, known for bold golden and blue buildings.
Baiterek Tower turns an old legend into a landmark above the modern capital.
Sources: Visit Astana — Baiterek Monument, Visit Astana — City Sights
Kenya
Mount Kenya is Kenya’s highest mountain, rising close to the equator.
Forests cover the lower slopes, while glaciers lie among the high peaks.
Sources: UNESCO: Mount Kenya National Park
Kenya
Nairobi is Kenya’s capital and its largest city.
Wild animals roam a national park within sight of the city's tall buildings.
Kuwait
Kuwait City has three famous towers with blue-green spheres.
The Kuwait Towers have become a symbol of modern Kuwait.
Kyrgyzstan
Issyk-Kul is a huge blue lake ringed by snowy mountains.
The lake and its mountain habitats support wildlife and the communities along its shores.
Laos
Luang Prabang is an old temple town between two rivers.
Traditional Lao homes and temples stand beside buildings from French colonial times.
The roofs of Wat Xieng Thong sweep low toward the ground in the old Luang Prabang style.
Sources: UNESCO — Town of Luang Prabang
Latvia
Riga is Latvia’s capital, with church towers rising over the old city.
Trade brought wealth to a city now known for richly decorated buildings.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre of Riga
Lebanon
Beirut is a Mediterranean capital with old neighborhoods and modern towers.
Writers, publishers, and readers have made Beirut a meeting place for books and ideas.
The Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque has blue domes and four tall minarets.
Sources: UNESCO Creative Cities Network — Beirut, UNESCO — Beirut Reveals Its Treasures
Libya
Leptis Magna is the stone ruin of an ancient city beside the sea.
Stone streets and a theater with curved rows of seats help you imagine a busy city from Roman times.
Lithuania
Vilnius is Lithuania’s capital, with a cathedral and a free-standing bell tower at its heart.
Old streets bring together buildings from different periods of the city's history.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Vilnius Historic Centre
Madagascar
The Avenue of the Baobabs is a dirt road lined with giant, thick-trunked trees.
The unusual trees make this one of the easiest landscapes in Madagascar to recognize.
Sources: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Giant baobab, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Madagascar's native plants
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur is Malaysia’s capital, home to two matching silver towers.
An old tin-mining town grew into a city of historic streets and modern towers.
Sources: Malaysia Truly Asia — Petronas Twin Towers, Petronas Twin Towers — Design and Structure, Tourism Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur
Mali
The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud-brick building in the world.
The whole community helps care for this enormous mud-built mosque.
Sources: UNESCO: Old Towns of Djenné
Mali
Timbuktu is an old city at the edge of the Sahara Desert in Mali.
Traders crossed the Sahara to reach a city famous for books and learning.
The Djinguereber Mosque has a tall, pyramid-shaped earthen tower with wooden beams sticking out.
Sources: UNESCO: Timbuktu
Mexico
Chichén Itzá is the ruin of a great Maya city on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
The stepped pyramid of El Castillo is one of the best-known Maya buildings.
Sources: UNESCO — Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History — Chichén Itzá
Mexico
Guadalajara is a big city in western Mexico, with a cathedral topped by two pointed towers.
Guadalajara Cathedral is a familiar symbol of the city.
Sources: Government of Guadalajara — Catedral Metropolitana de Guadalajara
Mexico
Mexico City is Mexico’s capital and one of the largest cities in the world.
Ancient Aztec ruins stand near a great cathedral and grand public buildings.
Sources: UNESCO — Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco
Mexico
Monterrey is a northern Mexican city surrounded by tall mountains.
A big old church with orange domes and tall bell towers stands in the historic center.
Sources: Visita Nuevo León — Monterrey
Mexico
Teotihuacan is an ancient city with enormous pyramids and a long stone avenue.
Teotihuacan's huge pyramids and ceremonial streets inspired other cultures long after the city grew quiet.
Sources: UNESCO — Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan, INAH — Pyramid of the Sun
Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar is Mongolia’s capital and its largest city.
A Buddhist temple and a statue of Damdin Sükhbaatar on horseback honor the city’s faith and history. Sükhbaatar was a hero of Mongolia’s 1921 revolution.
Sources: UNESCO — Ulaanbaatar Creative City
Montenegro
Kotor is a walled town squeezed between steep mountains and a winding bay.
Kotor's old walls climb high up the mountain behind the town.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor
Morocco
Casablanca is a busy city beside the Atlantic Ocean.
Casablanca's port and buildings connect Morocco with the wider world.
Sources: Moroccan National Tourist Office
Morocco
Fez is an old Moroccan city with a maze of narrow streets.
The blue-tiled Bab Bou Jeloud gate leads into the old city’s winding lanes.
Sources: UNESCO: Medina of Fez
Morocco
Marrakesh is an old Moroccan city surrounded by red walls.
Busy markets and public squares bring people together among old monuments.
Sources: UNESCO: Medina of Marrakesh
Myanmar
Bagan is a wide plain filled with thousands of brick temples.
Thousands of Buddhist monuments stand across the plain, and people still worship here.
Sources: UNESCO — Bagan
Myanmar
Mandalay is a cultural city known for tiered royal buildings.
Myanmar's last royal capital remains a place for Buddhist learning, crafts, and performances.
Sources: UNESCO Tentative List — Ancient cities of Upper Myanmar
Myanmar
Yangon is Myanmar’s largest city, crowned by a golden pagoda.
The golden Shwedagon Pagoda is one of Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist places.
Namibia
Deadvlei is a white clay pan with dark dead trees and giant red dunes.
Deadvlei sits among some of the tallest sand dunes in the world, in Namibia's desert.
Sources: Namibia Tourism Board: Sossusvlei
Nepal
Kathmandu is Nepal’s capital and its largest city, in a wide mountain valley.
Craftspeople built richly decorated temples and palace squares for Hindu and Buddhist communities.
Sources: UNESCO — Kathmandu Valley
Nepal
Mount Everest is the highest mountain above sea level.
Glaciers shape the mountain landscape where Sherpa communities live.
Sources: UNESCO — Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal Department of Survey — Height of Mount Sagarmatha
Netherlands
Amsterdam is the Netherlands’ capital, a city of canals and narrow old houses.
The Rijksmuseum brings together Dutch art and history.
Sources: Rijksmuseum — History
New Zealand
Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city, on the North Island.
The Sky Tower stands above a city of volcanic hills.
Sources: AucklandNZ — Sky Tower
New Zealand
Wellington is New Zealand’s capital, at the southern tip of the North Island.
The round Beehive building is where the Prime Minister and Cabinet work.
Sources: New Zealand Parliament — The Beehive
Nicaragua
Granada is a colorful old city beside Nicaragua’s largest lake.
The yellow Cathedral of Granada, with its red domes, stands near the main square.
Sources: Visit Nicaragua: Granada
Nigeria
Lagos is Nigeria’s biggest city, on the Atlantic coast of West Africa.
The Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge hangs from cables on one tall tower and crosses a creek.
North Korea
Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of North Korea.
As the seat of North Korea’s government, the city is laid out with wide avenues, large public squares and monuments.
Sources: United Nations — DPR Korea Country Profile, UNESCO IHP River Catalogue — Taedong River
Norway
Bergen is a Norwegian port with rows of colorful wooden buildings.
Wooden buildings at Bryggen show where merchants once traded with northern Europe.
Norway
Oslo is Norway’s capital and its largest city.
Oslo City Hall is where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded every December.
Oslo City Hall is a red-brick building with two square towers; the tower at the right has a big clock.
Sources: City of Oslo — About Oslo, City of Oslo — European Green Capital 2019
Oman
Muscat is Oman’s capital, set between rocky mountains and the sea.
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque brings worship, learning, and carefully made Islamic art together.
Sources: Experience Oman — Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Diwan of Royal Court — Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque
Pakistan
K2 is a steep, snowy mountain on the border of Pakistan and China.
The world's second-highest mountain is a difficult challenge for climbers.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica — K2
Pakistan
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city, on the coast of the Arabian Sea.
Ships connect this busy city with trade routes across the Indian Ocean.
Mazar-e-Quaid is the white marble tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
Sources: Government of Pakistan — Quaid-i-Azam Mazar Management Board
Pakistan
Lahore is a historic Pakistani city with a huge red mosque.
Rulers filled the city with gardens, forts, mosques, and decorated gateways.
Palestine
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem stands over the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
Christians come here on pilgrimage to a church that has stood for many centuries.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route
Panama
The Panama Canal is a waterway across Panama that joins the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Ships can cross between oceans without sailing all the way around South America.
Sources: Panama Canal Authority — History of the Panama Canal, Panama Canal Authority — Design of the Locks
Peru
Lima is Peru’s capital, on the dry Pacific coast.
The main square brings the city's cathedral and grand public buildings together.
Sources: UNESCO — Historic Centre of Lima
Peru
Machu Picchu is an Inca stone city high on a mountain ridge.
Machu Picchu shows the great skill of Inca builders.
Philippines
The Chocolate Hills are more than a thousand round, grassy hills on the Philippine island of Bohol.
Rain and streams slowly wore away the rock, leaving rounded hills scattered across the land.
Sources: UNESCO Tentative List — Chocolate Hills Natural Monument
Philippines
Manila is the Philippine capital, with an old walled district and cathedral.
The old walled neighborhood grew beside a harbor busy with trade.
Sources: National Historical Commission of the Philippines — Manila Cathedral, Philippines Department of Tourism — Manila
Poland
Krakow is a historic city in southern Poland and was once the country's capital.
The castle and cathedral on Wawel Hill are a lasting symbol of Poland's history.
Sources: Wawel Royal Castle — Information about the Museum, UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre of Krakow
Poland
Warsaw is Poland’s capital and its largest city, on the Vistula River.
The Old Town was destroyed in wartime. Afterward, the people of Warsaw rebuilt it rather than giving up on it.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre of Warsaw
Portugal
Lisbon is Portugal’s capital, with an old stone tower beside a wide river.
Belém Tower helped guard ships approaching Lisbon.
Sources: Visit Lisboa — Belém Tower
Portugal
Porto is a Portuguese city whose colorful old houses climb above the Douro River.
Steep streets lead down to a river that brought trade into the city.
Sources: UNESCO — Historic centre of Porto
Qatar
Doha is Qatar’s capital, with a modern skyline curving around a bay.
Most of Qatar’s people live in and around Doha, the country’s center for business.
Doha Tower is the tall blue tower in the middle, covered in a criss-cross pattern.
Sources: Visit Qatar — Doha, Visit Qatar — Doha Corniche, Visit Qatar — National Museum of Qatar
Romania
Bran Castle is a steep-roofed stone fortress beside a mountain pass.
A castle built for defense and trade later became a royal home linked with Dracula stories.
Sources: Bran Castle — History
Romania
Bucharest is Romania’s capital, home to the enormous Palace of Parliament.
The palace is a striking but controversial reminder of the vast rebuilding imposed on central Bucharest during the communist era.
Russia
Lake Baikal is a long, crescent-shaped freshwater lake in southeastern Siberia.
The world's deepest lake holds clues to a very long history of nature.
Russia
Moscow is Russia’s capital, with colorful domes and the red walls of the Kremlin.
The Kremlin and Red Square have been gathering places for rulers, worshipers, and city life.
Sources: Moscow Kremlin Museums — Architectural Ensemble, Moscow Kremlin and Red Square — UNESCO heritage site
Russia
Saint Petersburg is Russia’s second-largest city, on the Baltic Sea.
Peter the Great planned a city of grand buildings and waterways.
St. Isaac’s Cathedral has a huge golden dome above rows of tall stone columns.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg
Russia
Vladivostok is Russia’s largest city on the Pacific coast.
Steep slopes and large bridges shape this city beside the sea.
Sources: Visit Primorye — About Vladivostok, Visit Primorye — Golden Bridge
Rwanda
Volcanoes National Park protects misty mountain forests in Rwanda.
The park is famous as a home of endangered mountain gorillas.
San Marino
San Marino’s three stone towers stand on three separate peaks along a steep mountain ridge.
The hilltop towers stand for the freedom this tiny republic has long defended.
Sources: Visit San Marino — First Tower Guaita, Visit San Marino — Third Tower Montale
Saudi Arabia
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the Prophet’s Mosque, is a vast mosque in Medina with many minarets.
The Prophet Muhammad and his companions built the first mosque here. Al-Masjid an-Nabawi remains one of Islam's most sacred places.
Sources: Saudipedia — The Prophet’s Mosque
Saudi Arabia
The Kaaba is the cube-shaped sanctuary at the center of Mecca’s Grand Mosque.
Muslims around the world face toward the Kaaba when they pray.
Sources: Saudipedia — Grand Mosque
Saudi Arabia
Riyadh is Saudi Arabia’s capital, rising from a desert plateau.
The Kingdom Centre tower has a large opening near its top. Old mud-brick fort walls stand in front.
Sources: Saudipedia — Why Is Riyadh the Capital of Saudi Arabia?, Visit Saudi — Riyadh
Senegal
Dakar is a capital city on a peninsula beside the Atlantic Ocean.
Markets, music, museums, and monuments bring Senegal's history into city life.
The African Renaissance Monument stands on a hill overlooking Dakar.
Sources: UNESCO Learning Cities — Dakar, Senegalese Tourism Promotion Agency — Dakar, Senegal Tourism: African Renaissance Monument
Serbia
Belgrade is Serbia’s capital and its largest city.
Many peoples added walls and buildings to Belgrade's hilltop fortress over the centuries.
Sources: National Tourism Organisation of Serbia — Belgrade Fortress, City of Belgrade — Sights
Singapore
Singapore is an island country that is also a single city.
A busy trading harbor grew into a city with gardens and striking waterfront buildings.
Sources: Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority — Marina Bay
Slovenia
Lake Bled is a bright blue lake among the Julian Alps of Slovenia.
A tiny island in the lake holds a church that visitors reach by boat.
Sources: Slovenian Tourist Board — Bled
South Africa
Cape Town is a South African city beside the sea, near the southern tip of Africa.
In the Bo-Kaap neighborhood, houses are painted bright pink, blue, yellow, and green.
South Africa
Johannesburg is a huge South African city, far inland on a high plateau.
Gold made Johannesburg so important that people call it the City of Gold.
South Africa
Table Mountain has a wide, flat top above Cape Town.
Plants and animals live on this mountain above a busy city.
Sources: South African Tourism: Table Mountain, SANParks — Table Mountain National Park
South Korea
Busan is South Korea’s second-largest city and its biggest port.
Gamcheon Culture Village is known for its colorful houses arranged along a hillside.
South Korea
Seoul is South Korea’s capital and its largest city.
Royal palaces stand among the buildings of a modern capital.
Spain
The Alhambra is a palace and fortress on a hill above Granada.
Carved decoration, gardens, and flowing water fill this old royal palace.
Spain
Barcelona is a seaside city with the tall and twisty Sagrada Família church.
Gaudí used shapes from nature to imagine a church unlike any other.
Spain
Madrid is Spain’s capital, with a grand palace and fountain at Cibeles Square.
Cibeles Palace is now the home of Madrid's city government.
Sources: Madrid Tourism — Cibeles Palace
Spain
Seville is a sunny Spanish city with a huge cathedral and tall Giralda tower.
Old buildings show how Islamic and Christian traditions shaped the city.
Sri Lanka
Colombo is a busy port on Sri Lanka's west coast.
The red-and-white striped Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque and the white-columned Old Parliament building show some of the cultures that shaped the city.
Sudan
Meroe is an ancient city with rows of steep little pyramids.
Meroe was a capital of Kush, an ancient African kingdom.
Sources: UNESCO: Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe
Suriname
Paramaribo is Suriname’s capital, known for its old wooden buildings.
Builders used local wood and skilled work to create a city with Dutch-style streets.
Sweden
Stockholm is Sweden’s capital and its largest city.
Islands and bridges connect a city where a lake meets the Baltic Sea.
Riddarholmen Church has a tall, lacy iron spire on top of its red-brick tower.
Sources: Visit Sweden — Stockholm, Stockholmskällan — Stockholm becomes a city
Switzerland
The Matterhorn is a tall, rocky peak in the Alps, on the border of Switzerland and Italy.
The Matterhorn's sharp outline makes it a famous mountain and a challenge for climbers.
Switzerland
Zurich is a Swiss city where old church towers rise beside the Limmat River.
Old churches beside the river tell stories of city life and religious change.
Sources: Zurich Tourism — A Brief History of Zurich, Zurich Tourism — Zurich’s Old Town
Syria
Damascus is an ancient capital filled with courtyards, gardens, and domes.
People have lived here for thousands of years, adding new buildings beside old ones.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Ancient City of Damascus
Syria
Palmyra is a ruined ancient city at an oasis in the desert.
Passing caravans made Palmyra rich enough to build great temples.
Taiwan
Taipei is a city with a very tall, stepped tower called Taipei 101.
Engineers designed Taipei 101 to handle strong winds high above the city.
Sources: Taipei 101 — Observatory Features
Tanzania
Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest mountain, in Tanzania.
Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in the world that stands alone, not part of a range.
Sources: UNESCO: Kilimanjaro National Park
Thailand
Bangkok is Thailand’s capital, sparkling with colorful palace and temple roofs.
The river and a network of canals helped shape the city.
Thailand
Chiang Mai is a northern Thai city of old walls and golden temples.
Chiang Mai was once a royal capital and is now known for crafts and festivals.
Sources: Tourism Authority of Thailand — Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai Province: City history, Tourism Authority of Thailand: Chiang Mai moat
Tunisia
El Jem, a town in Tunisia, has a giant arena from Roman times.
The arena at El Jem is one of the best-preserved Roman arenas in the world.
Sources: UNESCO: Amphitheatre of El Jem
Tunisia
Tunis is Tunisia’s capital, beside a lake near the Mediterranean Sea.
Markets, homes, and mosques fill the medina, the city's old neighborhood.
Sources: UNESCO: Medina of Tunis
Turkey
Cappadocia is a region in central Turkey with a strange, rocky landscape.
People carved homes, churches, and shelters into soft rock.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Göreme National Park and Cappadocia
Turkey
Istanbul is Turkey’s largest city, where domed mosques with slender minarets rise above the water.
For centuries, traders, travelers, and rulers have made Istanbul a meeting place of cultures.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Areas of Istanbul
Turkey
Pamukkale is a white hillside of warm pools and mineral terraces.
Visitors have come to Pamukkale's warm springs since ancient times. Back then, a spa city grew beside the springs.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Hierapolis-Pamukkale
Uganda
Kampala is Uganda’s capital and its largest city.
People from across Uganda meet and live in the city's many neighborhoods.
Kampala's Bahá’í House of Worship rises beneath a green dome on Kikaaya Hill.
Sources: Kampala Capital City Authority — City strategic plan, Bahá’í World News Service: Kampala House of Worship
Ukraine
Kyiv is Ukraine’s capital, home to the golden domes of an old monastery.
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra has welcomed people for prayer, learning, and pilgrimage for centuries.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, home to a huge white mosque.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque brings together work by artists and craftspeople from many cultures.
Sources: Abu Dhabi Residents Office — Where Is Abu Dhabi?, Experience Abu Dhabi — Facts About Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
United Arab Emirates
Dubai is a Gulf city with an old creek and very tall towers.
The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel are Dubai’s best-known landmarks.
Sources: Dubai Protocol — About Dubai, Visit Dubai — Burj Khalifa
United Kingdom
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, part of the United Kingdom.
Edinburgh Castle has been a royal home, a fortress, and a military base.
Sources: Edinburgh Castle — History
United Kingdom
London is a big city where a famous clock tower stands beside a river.
The Palace of Westminster is where the United Kingdom’s Parliament meets to debate laws.
Sources: UK Parliament — Towers of Parliament
United Kingdom
The Rock of Gibraltar is a giant ridge of rock beside the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Rock is a lookout and a home for wildlife near where Europe and Africa meet.
Sources: Visit Gibraltar — Study Booklet, Visit Gibraltar — Syllabus
United Kingdom
Stonehenge is a huge circle of stones built thousands of years ago.
The stones give clues about people who lived here long before written history.
United States
Acadia National Park has forests, rocky mountains, and an ocean shore.
Glaciers rounded the rock, leaving a landscape of granite and ocean views.
Cadillac Mountain has bare granite ledges and a broad rocky summit.
Sources: National Park Service — Cadillac Mountain, National Park Service — Acadia Park Fact Sheet
United States
Atlanta is the capital of the U.S. state of Georgia and its largest city.
Georgia's State Capitol is both a city landmark and a place where state government works.
United States
Boston is a historic city on the coast of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States.
The Massachusetts State House is the center of the state's government and a familiar city landmark.
The Massachusetts State House is the gold-domed building where the state government works.
Sources: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth — The Massachusetts State House, Massachusetts Legislature — Visit the State House
United States
Chicago is a big American city famous for its very tall buildings.
Buildings such as Willis Tower helped engineers find new ways to build upward.
Willis Tower is the tallest building, at the left: a black tower of stepped blocks with two antennas.
United States
Dallas is one of the biggest cities in Texas.
Reunion Tower is a familiar part of the Dallas skyline.
Reunion Tower is the tower at the left, topped by a round, sparkling ball.
Sources: Reunion Tower: about
United States
Detroit is a city with tall towers covered in beautiful decorations.
The city's growing car industry helped make richly decorated towers possible.
The Guardian Building is the orange-brick tower at the right. The Fisher Building, with its tall pointed roof, is at the left.
Sources: Historic Detroit: Fisher Building, Historic Detroit: Guardian Building
United States
El Morro is a strong stone fort guarding the entrance to San Juan Bay.
Spain built El Morro to defend San Juan, then changed it as weapons improved.
El Morro is a stone fortress at the entrance to San Juan Bay.
Sources: El Morro – San Juan National Historic Site, Wikidata – Castillo San Felipe del Morro
United States
The Grand Canyon is a huge valley with colorful layers of rock.
The canyon's exposed rock layers help scientists study a very long history of Earth.
Sources: National Park Service: Grand Canyon geologic formations
United States
Great Smoky Mountains National Park has green mountains, deep forests and many kinds of animals.
Forests shelter many kinds of wildlife and hold stories of Appalachian communities.
Forested ridges fill this view of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Sources: Official reference — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, National Park Service: wildlife in the Smokies
United States
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park protects active volcanoes and forests on the island of Hawaiʻi.
Volcanoes build new land in a place sacred to Native Hawaiians.
Kīlauea is an active volcano on the southeastern side of the island of Hawaiʻi.
Sources: Official reference — Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, U.S. Geological Survey: Kīlauea, National Park Service: Kīlauea
United States
Honolulu is Hawaiʻi’s capital and largest city, with the Aloha Tower, at the left, beside its harbor.
ʻIolani Palace, the building at the right, tells the story of Hawaiʻi’s kings and queens.
Sources: ʻIolani Palace: history
United States
Houston is the biggest city in Texas.
Tall glass towers rise from the flat land of downtown Houston.
United States
Las Vegas is a desert city full of bright lights and unusual buildings.
The STRAT Tower looks out over the desert city and the valley around it.
The STRAT Tower is the thin tower that rises high above the hotels in the middle of the drawing.
United States
Los Angeles is the biggest city in California.
Movie studios help connect this spread-out city with audiences around the world.
The shining, curved steel walls of the Walt Disney Concert Hall stand in front at the left. City Hall, with its pointed top, stands at the right.
Sources: Discover Los Angeles: facts about LA, The Music Center: Walt Disney Concert Hall
United States
Miami is a warm city beside the ocean with a tall, fancy tower.
Freedom Tower is a symbol for the many people from Cuba who made Miami their home.
Sources: Miami Dade College: Freedom Tower
United States
Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota.
Minneapolis grew beside St. Anthony Falls, the only major waterfall on the Mississippi River.
Sources: Minnesota Historical Society: Minneapolis flour milling boom
United States
Mount Rainier National Park surrounds a huge, snowy volcano in Washington State.
Glaciers and meltwater shape the valleys around Mount Rainier.
Mount Rainier is a glacier-covered volcano in Washington’s Cascade Range.
Sources: Official reference — Mount Rainier National Park, National Park Service: Mount Rainier park brochure
United States
Four giant faces are carved into the rock at Mount Rushmore.
The monument tells a story about U.S. history; the Black Hills are also important Indigenous homelands.
Sources: National Park Service: Mount Rushmore student guide, National Park Service: Mount Rushmore cultural landscape
United States
New Orleans is a city with music, old buildings, and a church with three towers.
St. Louis Cathedral, with its three pointed towers, has been a gathering place in the French Quarter for centuries.
Sources: St. Louis Cathedral: our history
United States
New York City is the biggest city in the United States.
New York City's skyline shows how a busy city can grow upward.
The Empire State Building is the tall stepped tower with a pointed spire in the middle of the drawing.
Sources: Empire State Building: history
United States
Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in the United States.
Debates inside Independence Hall helped shape the United States.
United States
San Francisco is a city with steep hills beside the sea.
Steep hills, cable cars, old wooden houses and the Golden Gate Bridge make San Francisco easy to recognize.
The pointed white Transamerica Pyramid rises among the downtown towers. Coit Tower stands on its hill at the right, and a red tower of the Golden Gate Bridge stands at the left.
Sources: San Francisco Travel: cable cars, Golden Gate: bridge facts, Britannica: Transamerica Pyramid
United States
Seattle is a Pacific Northwest city with a tall tower that looks like a flying saucer.
The Space Needle was built to celebrate a future of space travel.
Sources: Space Needle: about
United States
St. Louis has a giant arch beside the Mississippi River.
The Arch marks the city's role as the United States grew toward the west.
United States
Washington, D.C., is the city where the United States government works.
Monuments and public buildings tell stories about the country's leaders and history.
The White House is the U.S. president’s home and workplace in Washington, D.C.
Sources: Destination DC — The History of Washington, DC, The White House: the building
United States
Yellowstone has wild animals and hot water that shoots up from the ground.
The world's first national park shows heat and water at work beneath the ground.
Old Faithful sends a tall column of hot water and steam into the air.
Sources: National Park Service — Park Facts, National Park Service — Old Faithful Geyser
United States
Yosemite is a park with giant granite cliffs, waterfalls and forests.
Ice and erosion shaped the cliffs, while forests shelter wildlife.
Half Dome is a huge rounded rock formation in Yosemite National Park.
Sources: Official reference — Yosemite National Park, National Park Service: formation of Half Dome, National Park Service: Yosemite granite
Uruguay
Montevideo is Uruguay’s capital, on the wide Río de la Plata.
Palacio Salvo's unusual tower is a familiar part of the skyline.
Uzbekistan
Registan is a grand square framed by three blue-tiled schools.
The Registan was the heart of Samarkand, a great city on the Silk Road.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Samarkand, Crossroad of Cultures, Uzbekistan Travel — Registan Square
Uzbekistan
Tashkent is Uzbekistan’s capital, where blue-domed buildings stand beside a modern city.
Traders from many lands met in Tashkent, so goods and ideas passed through the city.
Sources: Visit Tashkent — About the City, Uzbekistan Travel — Tashkent
Vatican City
St. Peter’s Basilica is a huge church with a great dome and an oval square.
Pilgrims come to a great church built over the traditional tomb of Saint Peter.
Venezuela
Angel Falls is a very tall waterfall pouring from a flat-topped mountain.
A long, narrow ribbon of water drops into the wild landscape of Canaima National Park.
Sources: UNESCO — Canaima National Park
Venezuela
Caracas is Venezuela’s capital, set in a valley near the Caribbean Sea.
The white National Pantheon was once a church. Today it holds the tomb of Simón Bolívar, Venezuela’s national hero.
Vietnam
Ha Long Bay is filled with steep limestone islands rising from the sea.
Water slowly wore the rock of Ha Long Bay into steep, strange shapes.
Vietnam
Hanoi is Vietnam’s capital, beside the Red River.
Old streets and lakes sit beside monuments from the city's long history.
Khue Van Cac, the Constellation of Literature pavilion, is a gateway at Hanoi’s Temple of Literature, an old school for scholars.
Sources: UNESCO — Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, Vietnam National Assembly — The Special National Monument Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam’s largest city, beside the Saigon River.
Trade, food, and the arts fill a city with old landmarks and modern buildings.
Sources: Vietnam National Authority of Tourism — Ho Chi Minh City
Yemen
Sana’a is a mountain city of tall patterned earth-and-brick houses.
Tall houses and narrow streets are still part of everyday life in this ancient city.
Yemen
Socotra is a remote island in the Arabian Sea that belongs to Yemen.
Socotra and nearby islands have long been cut off from the mainland. As a result, unusual plants and animals developed there.
Dragon blood trees have umbrella-shaped tops and grow naturally on Socotra.
Sources: Official reference — Socotra, UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Socotra Archipelago nomination, UNESCO World Heritage Convention — Yemen
Zambia
Victoria Falls is a huge, thundering curtain of water on the Zambezi River.
Great width, spray and a gorge make Victoria Falls one of Africa's most famous natural landmarks.
Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is the ruin of a stone city in southern Africa, built without mortar.
Great Zimbabwe was the capital of a powerful trading kingdom.