100 Places of Emotion that Represent 'Our' Planet

How did we choose these 100 places to represent the complexity of social life on our planet?

There are two lists of places here: our curated list of '100 Places of Emotion that Represent Our Planet' (see below for the full list); and other places that have been added by participants around the world. You can view these sets separately on the global map by ticking and unticking the two boxes on the left-hand side: 'Curated 100 places' and 'User added places'.

The places chosen for inclusion in our set of '100 Places of Emotion that Represent Our Planet' were selected based on the following criteria:

Emphasizing iconic places of condensed and multiple meanings, and just not the obvious tourist sites;
Seeking a spread across continents, across regions as defined by the UN Geo-Scheme, and across nation-states (see below);
Giving priority to places in nation-states that are geographically larger and more populous;
Giving priority to places that are sites of intense visitation or loom larger in the global imaginary;
Choosing sites that carry meanings in tension or contradiction;
Covering different domains of social life by choosing a range of places of variously ecological, economic, political and cultural significance (using the Circles of Social Life framework);
Seeking a spread from the natural (enduring) world and from across ancient to contemporary history;
Seeking a representative group of sites from the UNESCO World Heritage list of sites.

It should be noted that in using the word 'our' in relation to the planet, we are not signifying anything more that this list is a list of socially representative places: ecologically, economically, politically and culturally.

On this basis the geographical spread for the 100 places is as follows across over 50 countries:

Regions UN Geo-scheme	Totals	Continent	Totals for Continents	Population in Millions for Continents
Africa, Eastern	3	Africa	15	1,225
Africa, Middle	2
Africa, Northern	3
Africa, Southern	3
Africa, Western	4
America, Caribbean	2	Americas	18	1,001
America, Central	4
America, Northern	6
America, Southern	6
Asia, Eastern	11	Asia	37	4,462
Asia, Central	3
Asia, Southern	8
Asia, South-Eastern	6
Asia, Western	9
Europe, Eastern	5	Europe	24	741
Europe, Northern	5
Europe, Southern	7
Europe, Western	7
Oceania, Melanesian	1	Oceania	5	40
Oceania, Australasia	4
Antarctica	1	Antarctica	1	> 0.004

How are the places that we chose spread across the planet, and what domains of social life do they represent?

NB. The list below is ordered alphabetically by nation-state; nation-state is given by contemporary equivalence; region is based on UN geo-designation; and domain and subdomain of social life is based on the Circles taxonomy.

Name	Nation-state	Place	Region	Key Domain of Social Life (using the Circles framework)
1. McMurdo Station	NA	Ross Island, (New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency)	Antarctica	Culture: Enquiry and Learning
2. Plaza de Mayo	Argentina	Buenos Aires	South America	Politics: Dialogue and Reconciliation
3. Soy Plantation, Ituzaingó Anexo	Argentina	Córdoba	South America	Ecology: Embodiment and Sustenance
4. Lady Musgrave Island	Australia	Great Barrier Reef	Oceania, Australasia	Ecology: Flora and Fauna
5. Uluru	Australia	Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park	Oceania, Australasia	Culture: Memory and Projection
6. Sydney Opera House	Australia	Sydney	Oceania, Australasia	Culture: Creativity and Recreation
7. Sigmund Freud Museum	Austria	Vienna	Western Europe	Culture: Wellbeing and Health
8. Espace Léopold (European parliament)	Belgium	Brussels	Western Europe	Politics: Representation and Negotiation
9. Museu do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow)	Brazil	Rio de Janeiro	South America	Culture: Memory and Projection
10 Estádio do Maracanã	Brazil	Rio de Janeiro	South America	Culture: Creativity and Recreation
11. Angkor Wat	Cambodia	Siem Reap	South-Eastern Asia	Culture: Identity and Engagement
12. Athabasca oil sands	Canada	Alberta	Northern America	Ecology: Materials and Energy
13. La Biosphère de Montréal	Canada	Montreal	Northern America	Ecology: Water and Air
14. Cayman Islands Monetary Authority	Cayman Islands	Grand Cayman	Caribbean America	Economics: Exchange and Transfer
15. Estádio Victor Jara	Chile	Santiago	Southern America	Culture: Memory and Projection
16. Tiananmen Square	China	Beijing	Eastern Asia	Politics: Representation and Negotiation
17. Canton Tower	China	Guangzhou	Eastern Asia	Economics: Technology and Infrastructure
18. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum	China	Nanjing	Eastern Asia	Politics: Law and Justice
19. Foxxcon’s Science and Technology Park	China	Shenzhen	Eastern Asia	Economics: Technology and Infrastructure
20. Great Wall of China	China	Mongolian Steppe	Eastern Asia	Politics: Security and Accord
21. Hacienda Nápoles (Pablo Escobar’s mansion)	Colombia	Puerto Triunfo	Southern America	Politics: Ethics and Accountability
22. Memorial Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara	Cuba	Santa Clara	Caribbean America	Politics: Communication and Critique
23. Chutes Wagenia (Boyoma Falls)	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Lualaba River	Middle Africa	Ecology: Water and Air
24. Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World City)	Ecuador	Quito	Southern America	Culture: Belief and Meaning
25. Great Pyramid of Giza	Egypt	El Giza	Northern Africa	Culture: Gender and Generations
26. Aswan Dam	Egypt	Nile River	Northern Africa	Economics: Technology and Infrastructure
27. National Museum of Ethiopia	Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	Eastern Africa	Culture: Memory and Projection
28. Onkalo käytti ydinpolttoaineen loppusijoitustilaa (Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository)	Finland	Euraioki	Northern Europe	Ecology: Materials and Energy
29. Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave	France	Gorges de l'Ardèche	Western Europe	Culture: Memory and Projection
30. Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower)	France	Paris	Western Europe	Economics: Technology and Infrastructure
31. Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall)	Germany	Berlin	Western Europe	Politics: Security and Accord
32. European Central Bank	Germany	Frankfurt	Western Europe	Economics: Accounting and Regulation
33. Acropolis	Greece	Athens	Southern Europe	Culture: Memory and Projection
34. Exarcheia anarchist quarters	Greece	Athens	Southern Europe	Politics: Communication and Critique
35. Althingi parliament	Iceland	Reykjavík	Northern Europe	Politics: Organization and Governance
36. Dharavi district	India	Mumbai	Southern Asia	Economics: Labour and Welfare
37. Ganga River (confluence of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers)	India	Devpraya	Southern Asia	Culture: Identity and Engagement
38. Taj Mahal	India	Agra	Southern Asia	Culture: Memory and Projection
39. Tulip Data Centre	India	Bangalore	Southern Asia	Economics: Technology and Infrastructure
40. Monumen Pancasila Sakti	Indonesia	Lubang Buaya, Jakarta	South-Eastern Asia	Economics: Production and Resourcing
41. Palm oil plantation	Indonesia	Sumatra	South-Eastern Asia	Economics: Production and Resourcing
42. Freeport Grasberg mine	Indonesia	Grasberg	Oceania, Melanesia	Politics: Law and justice
43. Azadi Square,	Iran	Tehran	Southern Asia	Culture: Identity and Engagement
44. Abu Graib	Iraq	Baghdad	Western Asia	Politics: Security and Accord
45. Newgrange	Ireland	County Meath	Western Europe	Culture: Memory and Projection
46. Wailing Wall,	Israel/Palestine	Jerusalem	Western Asia	Culture: Identity and Engagement
47. Colosseum	Italy	Rome	Southern Europe	Culture: Creativity and Recreation
48. Lampedusa	Italy	Mediterranean Sea	Southern Europe	Politics: Law and Justice
49. Mount Fuji	Japan	Honshu, near Tokyo	Eastern Asia	Culture: Identity and Engagement
50. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park	Japan	Hiroshima	Eastern Asia	Politics: Dialogue and Reconciliation
51. Petra	Jordan	Wadi Musa	Western Asia	Politics: Organization and Governance
52. KazTransGas pipeline booster compression station	Kazakhstan	Zhambyl	Asia, Central	Economics: Production and Resourcing
53. Zapatista Outreach Centre	Mexico	Oventic, Chiapas	Central America	Politics: Communication and Critique
54. Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Plaza of the Three Cultures)	Mexico	Tlatelolco, Mexico City	Central America	Culture: Memory and Projection
55. Djemaa el Fna	Morocco	Marrakesh	Northern Africa	Economics: Consumption and Use
56. Nauru Regional Processing Centre	Nauru	Meneng District	Oceania	Politics: Law and Justice
57. Sagarmatha/ Chomolungma (Mount Everest)	Nepal and Tibet	Himalayas	Southern Asia	Ecology: Water and Air
58. Christchurch Cathedral	New Zealand	Christchurch	Oceania, Australasia	Culture: Belief and Meaning
59. Redeemed Christian Church of God	Nigeria	Lagos	Western Africa	Culture: Belief and Meaning
60. Port Harcourt Refining Company	Nigeria	Port Harcourt	Western Africa	Economics: Production and Resourcing
61. Kumsusan Palace of the Sun	North Korea	Pyongyang	Eastern Asia	Politics: Organization and Governance
62. Orangi Town	Pakistan	Karachi	Southern Asia	Economics: Wealth and Distribution
63. Panama Canal	Panama	Isthmus of Panama	America, Central	Ecology: Built-form and Mobility
64. Kokoda Trail	Papua New Guinea	Owen Stanley Range	Oceania	Politics: Security and Accord
65. Machu Pichu	Peru	Cusco region	Southern America	Culture: Identity and Engagement
66. Auschwitz-Birkenau	Poland	O?wi?cim	Eastern Europe	Politics: Ethics and Accountability
67. Kremlin	Russia	Moscow	Eastern Europe	Politics: Security and Accord
68. Winter Palace	Russia	St Petersburg	Eastern Europe	Politics: Organization and Governance
69. Mir Mine	Russia	Mirny, Siberia	Central Asia	Economics: Wealth and Distribution
70. Kigali genocide memorial	Rwanda	Kigali	Middle Africa	Politics: Ethics and Accountability
71. Great Mosque of Mecca	Saudi Arabia	Mecca	Western Asia	Culture: Belief and Meaning
72. Hira, the cave of Muhammad’s revelation	Saudi Arabia	Mecca	Western Asia	Culture: Belief and Meaning
73. Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves)	Senegal	Dakar	Western Africa	Economics: Labour and Welfare
74. Kenema Government Hospital	Sierra Leone	Kenema	Western Africa	Ecology: Embodiment and Sustenance
75. Sandton Mall	South Africa	Johannesburg	Southern Africa	Economics: Consumption and Use
76. Robben Island Prison	South Africa	Cape Town	Southern Africa	Politics: Law and Justice
77. Panmunjom, Joint Security Area	South Korea/North Korea	Truce Village of Panmunjom	Eastern Asia	Politics: Security and Accord
78. La Sagrada Familia	Spain	Barcelona	Southern Europe	Culture: Belief and Meaning
79. Large Hadron Collider	Switzerland/ France	Near Geneva on the Swiss side, and Cessy, Saint-Genis-Pouilly on the French	Western Europe	Culture: Enquiry and Learning
80. Yarmouk Camp	Syria	Damascus	Western Asia	Ecology: Habitat and Settlements
81. Ngorongoro Crater	Tanzania	Ngorongoro Conservation Area	Eastern Africa	Ecology: Flora and Fauna
82. Lumpinee Boxing Stadium	Thailand	Bangkok	South-Eastern Asia	Economics: Consumption and Use
83. Provincial government building and post office, Sidi Bouzid	Tunisia	Sidi Bouzid	Northern Africa	Politics: Communication and Critique
84. Grand Bazaar	Turkey	Istanbul	Western Asia	Economics: Consumption and Use
85. Bwindi National Park	Uganda	Bwindi	Eastern Africa	Ecology: Flora and Fauna
86. Dubai International Airport	UAE	Dubai	Western Asia	Ecology: Built-form and Mobility
87. Stonehenge	United Kingdom	Wiltshire	Northern Europe	Culture: Belief and Meaning
88. Westminster Abby	United Kingdom	London	Northern Europe	Culture: Belief and Meaning
89. British Museum	United Kingdom	London	Northern Europe	Culture: Learning and Enquiry
90. Gleann Comhann (Glencoe)	United Kingdom	Lochaber	Northern Europe	Ecology: Flora and Fauna
91. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant	Ukraine	Chernobyl	Eastern Europe	Ecology: Emission and Waste
92. Canyon de Chelly National Monument	United States of America	Navajo Nation territory	Northern America	Ecology: Habitat and Settlements
93. Wall Street	United States of America	New York	Northern America	Economics: Wealth and Distribution
94. Statue of Liberty	United States of America	New York	Northern America	Politics: Security and Accord
95. Pentagon	United States of America	Washington	Northern America	Politics: Security and Accord
96. Googleplex	United States of America	Silicon Valley	Northern America	Economics: Technology and Infrastructure
97. Kantubek	Uzbekistan	Vozrozhdeniya Island	Central Asia	Ecology: Emission and Waste
98. St Peters Basilica	Vatican City	Rome	Southern Europe	Culture: Belief and Meaning
99. War Remnants Museum	Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh City	South-Eastern Asia	Politics: Security and Accord
100. Victoria Falls	Zambia/ Zimbabwe	Zambezi River	Southern Africa	Ecology: Water and Air

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