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landmark

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Dictionary: landmark, maamerkki, jalón, tìr, pilotage, Big Ben, waymark, tourism, mære, cairn

noun

  1. a recognizable natural or man-made feature used for navigation
  2. a notable building or place with historical, cultural, or geographical significance
  3. a major or important item, denoting a change of direction or marking a beginning or an end


Encyclopedia: Landmark, Landmark (disambiguation), Landmark Education, Triumphal arch, Landmark decision, Landmark College, Landmark Trust, Chicago Landmark, Landmark Theatres, Landmark Theater

landmark literally meant a geographic feature used by explorers and others to find their way back or through an area. In modern usage, it is anything that is easily recognizable, such as a monument, building or other structure. In American English it is the main term used to designate places that might be of interest to tourists due to notable physical features or historical significance, even if only well-known locally, whereas in British English it tends to be reserved for identifying structures visible or significant due to size or history, without as much emphasis being put on it as a visitor attraction.

Landmarks in the British English sense are often used for casual navigation, such as giving directions. This is done in American English as well. Examples of landmarks include the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, Taj Mahal in Agra, Eiffel Tower in Paris, Big Ben in London, Mount Fuji in Japan, Stone Mountain near Atlanta, CN Tower in Toronto, Machu Picchu in Peru, Kremlin in Moscow and Sydney Opera House in Sydney.

A variant is a seamark or daymark, a structure usually built intentionally to aid sailors navigating featureless coasts. An example is the tower at Walton-on-the-Naze.

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Landmarks can also be split into two distinct categories - those naturally occurring (i.e. earth physical features such as waterfalls and mountains), and those structures constructed by man.

A list of the ten most recognizable man-made landmarks across the world today is as follows:

1. Great Pyramids, Cairo, Egypt

2. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

3. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia

4. Taj Mahal, Agra, India

5. Red Square/Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia

6. The Colosseum, Rome, Italy

7. Big Ben, London, England

8. Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

9. Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, USA

10. The Great Wall of China, China


Image:31-January-2004-Taipei101-Complete.jpg|Taipei 101, the world's tallest building (509m)since its completion in 2004, is located in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan)
Image:Toronto's CN Tower.jpg|The CN Tower in Toronto has been the Tallest Freestanding Structure on land ( 553.3m ) for 30 years, and has the highest public observation deck.
Image:CKS_Memorial_Hall.jpg|The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei City
Image:National_Palace_Museum_view.jpg|The National Palace Museum, one of the noted museums in Asia, in Taipei City , Republic of China (Taiwan)
Image:HK Chater Road LegCo view.jpg |Some buildings including Legislative Council Building are landmarks in Central, Hong Kong
Image:HK Chater Road Statue Square.jpg |HK Statue Square


See also


* Waypoint
* National Historic Landmark
* Tourism
* Yokohama Landmark Tower
* List of English songs whose title includes the name of a landmark
* Paper Landmarks



Category:Navigation


de:Landmarke
es:Mojón
ja:ランドマーク
no:Landemerke
nn:Landemerke
zh:地標

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wiktionary article "landmark" . It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Landmark" .