Jeita Grotto Fails to Become One of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World
Lebanon’s Jeita Grotto failed to garner enough votes to become one of the world's new seven wonders of nature, according to preliminary results announced Friday.
The Lebanese landmark, however, was among the 14 finalists.
The seven crowned the world's natural wonders are the Amazon rainforest, Vietnam's Halong Bay, Argentina's Iguazu Falls, South Korea's Jeju Island, Indonesia's Komodo, the Philippines' Puerto Princesa Underground River and South Africa's Table Mountain, said the organizer of the global poll, the New7Wonders foundation, citing provisional results.
Final results will be announced early 2012, said the Swiss foundation, noting however that there may yet be changes between the provisional winners and the final list.
Sites which have also failed to make the cut include Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, the Dead Sea and the U.S. Grand Canyon.
The poll has attracted great interest in Lebanon and around the world, mobilizing celebrities including Argentinian football star Lionel Messi calling on fans to pick his home country's Iguazu Falls.
The results come after a long consultation process lasting from December 2007 to July 2009, when world citizens were asked to put forward sites which they deemed were natural wonders.
More than a million votes were cast to trim the list of more than 440 contenders in over 220 countries down to a shortlist of 77.
The group was then further cut to the 28 finalists by a panel of experts.
Anyone in the world was then able to vote for the final seven via telephone, text messages or Internet social networks.
Founded in 2001 by filmmaker Bernard Weber in Zurich, the foundation New7Wonders is based on the same principle on which the seven ancient wonders of the world were established. That list of seven wonders was attributed to Philon of Byzantium in ancient Greece.
New7Wonders said its aim is to create a global memory by garnering participation worldwide.
But even as the natural wonders poll came to a close, the New7Wonders foundation has set its eyes on a new survey -- the top seven cities of the world. Participating cities will be announced on January 1, 2012.
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