GENEVA: More than 45 million people have voted so far in an Internet campaign to choose the seven “new” wonders of the world out of 21 shortlisted historical buildings or monuments, the organisers said on Monday.

The contest, aimed at raising global awareness about the world's shared cultural heritage, was set up by a Swiss filmmaker, curator and traveller Bernard Weber, following the destruction of Afghanistan's giant Buddha statues at Bamyan by the Taliban in 2001. In the most recent count published on May 7, the top 10 were the Acropolis in Greece, the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Coliseum in Rome, the Eiffel tower in Paris, the Great Wall of China, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, Petra in Jordan, the statues on Easter Island, Britain's Stonehenge and the Taj Mahal in India.

The organisers say they are trying to get ordinary people to follow the spirit behind the ancient seven wonders selected by intellectuals in the Mediterranean and Middle East around 200 BC. Only one of them, the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, still survives.

“This is something that is supposed to create global memory, really for the first time: Seven symbols of global unity, seven symbols of shared global heritage,” said New7Wonders spokeswoman Tia Viering.

“If you appreciate someone else's culture it's a lot harder to go to war with them,” she said.

Viering said votes were coming in from all over the world.

“We get a really incredible amount of enthusiasm from places where people are not used to voting and deciding things on their own,” she added. The competition closes on July 7 when the result is due to be announced in Lisbon.—AFP