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| Great Wall of China | |
|---|---|
萬里長城 / 万里长城 | |
 The Ming dynasty Great Wall at Jinshanling | |
 Map of all the wall constructions | |
| General information | |
| Type | Fortification |
| Country | China |
| Coordinates | 40°41′N 117°14′E / 40.68°N 117.23°E |
| Official name | The Great Wall |
| Location | Asia-Pacific |
| Criteria | Cultural: i, ii, iii, iv, vi |
| Reference | 438 |
| Inscription | 1987 (11th Session) |
| Area | 2,151.55 ha |
| Buffer zone | 4,800.8 ha |
| Technical details | |
| Size | 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi)[1][2][3] |
| Great Wall of China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 長城 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 长城 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "The Long Wall" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 萬里長城 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 万里长城 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "The 10,000-li Long Wall" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Great Wall of China (traditional Chinese: 萬里長城; simplified Chinese: 万里长城; pinyin: Wànlǐ Chángchéng, literally "ten thousand li long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. The first walls date to the 7th century BC; these were joined together in the Qin dynasty.[4][5] Successive dynasties expanded the wall system; the best-known sections were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
To aid in defense, the Great Wall utilized watchtowers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and its status as a transportation corridor. Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls (allowing control of immigration and emigration, and the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road), and the regulation of trade.[6]
The collective fortifications constituting the Great Wall stretch from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, and from the present-day Sino–Russian border in the north to Tao River in the south: an arc that roughly delineates the edge of the Mongolian steppe, spanning 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi) in total.[7][3] It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was voted one of the New7Wonders of the World in 2007.[8][9] Today, the defensive system of the Great Wall is recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history.[10]
- ^ "China's Great Wall Found To Measure More Than 20,000 Kilometers". Bloomberg. June 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- ^ "China's Great Wall is 'longer than previously thought'". BBC News. June 6, 2012. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
nchawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ The New York Times with introduction by Sam Tanenhaus (2011). The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind. St. Martin's Press of Macmillan Publishers. p. 1131. ISBN 978-0-312-64302-7.
Beginning as separate sections of fortification around the 7th century B.C.E and unified during the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century B.C.E, this wall, built of earth and rubble with a facing of brick or stone, runs from east to west across China for over 4,000 miles.
- ^ "Great Wall of China". Encyclopædia Britannica. October 21, 2023.
Large parts of the fortification system date from the 7th through the 4th century BC. In the 3rd century BC Shihuangdi (Qin Shi Huang), the first emperor of a united China (under the Qin dynasty), connected a number of existing defensive walls into a single system. Traditionally, the eastern terminus of the wall was considered to be Shanhai Pass (Shanhaiguan) on the coast of the Bohai (Gulf of Zhili), and the wall's length – without its branches and other secondary sections – was thought to extend for some 6,690 km (4,160 mi).
- ^ Shelach-Lavi, Gideon; Wachtel, Ido; Golan, Dan; Batzorig, Otgonjargal; Amartuvshin, Chunag; Ellenblum, Ronnie; Honeychurch, William (June 2020). "Medieval long-wall construction on the Mongolian Steppe during the eleventh to thirteenth centuries AD". Antiquity. 94 (375): 724–741. doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.51. ISSN 0003-598X.
- ^ "Great Wall of China even longer than previously thought". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. June 6, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "The Great Wall". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
- ^ "Great Wall of China". New7Wonders of the World. August 8, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
- ^ "Great Wall of China". History. April 20, 2009.