What Are the Tallest Structures in the World?

This article lists which structures are considered to be the 30 tallest. Of course, this list could change as current buildings grow bigger, and new structures come into place.

According to Building DIY, there are 20 structures which are known to be the world's tallest. This list does not consider tall hotels or other certain types of structures from wikipedia's list; therefore, we have included them as well.

1. Burj Khalifa (Dubai, United Arab Emirates): 2716 feet
2. KVLY-TV Mast (Blanchard, United States): 2063 feet
3. Canton Tower (Guangzhou, China): 1968 feet
4. Tapei 101 (Tapei, Taiwan): 1667 feet
5. World Financial Center (Shanghai, China): 1614 feet
6. BREN Tower (Nevada Test Site, United States) 1516 feet
7. Lualualei VLF Transmitter (Lualualei, United States): 1503 feet
8. Petronas Tower 1 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia): 1483 feet
9. Petronas Tower 2 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia): 1483 feet
10. Greenland Financial Center (Nanjing, China): 1476 feet
11. Sears Tower (Chicago, United States): 1451 feet
12. Guangzhou West Tower (Guangzhou, China): 1435 feet
13. Jin Mao Building (Shanghai, China): 1381 feet
14. Ekibastuz GRES-2 Power Station (Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan): 1377 feet
15. Two International Finance Centre (Hong Kong, China): 1362 feet
16. Trump International Hotel (Chicago, United States): 1362 feet
17. Dimona Radio Facility (Dimona, Israel): 1312 feet
18. CITIC Plaza (Guangzhou, China): 1283 feet
19. Kiev TV Tower (Kiev, Ukraine): 1263 feet
20. Shun Hing Square (Shenzhen, China): 1260 feet
21. Empire State Building (New York City, United States): 1250 feet
22. Central Plaza (Hong Kong, China): 1227 feet
23. Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong, China): 1205 feet
24. Gerbrandy Tower (IJsselstein, Netherlands): 1203 feet
25. Bank of America Tower (New York City, United States): 1200 feet
26. Almas Tower (Dubai, United Arab Emirates): 1191 feet
27. Emirates Tower One (Dubai, United Arab Emirates): 1165 feet
28. TV Tower Vinnystia (Vinnystia, Ukraine): 1161 feet
29. Tuntex Sky Tower (Kaohsiung, Taiwan): 1140 feet
30. Yangtze River Crossing at Jiangyin (Electricity pylon) (Jiangyin, China): 1137 feet

If you use the metric system, consider checking out Your Dictionary's Metric Conversion Chart or a tool from Online Conversion so that you are able to understand these great heights in metric calculations.

Similarities

What do you notice that practically all of these buildings have in common? The answer is location. Carefully look at the list. The tallest structures in the world are concentrated in the United States and Asia, particularly China. Just from considering what is going on in the world today, you could probably figure out the reason for this situation. Right now China and the United States have both a lot of power and a lot of money. Not only are they able to create these monuments, they have enough money to keep them going.

Relative Height

Clearly, the tallest structures in the world span a very wide range of different constructions. You have television towers and office buildings. Imagine how massive the 2716 foot Burj Khalifa must look, especially if you are standing right next to it. Even the "smaller" tallest structures in the world, such as the 1137 foot Yangtze River Crossing, tower above so much of the rest of the world, all while getting to look down upon it.